Overview & Applicability
Fuel and Fire Tools (FFT) is a software application that integrates several fire management tools, including the Fuel Characteristics Classification System (FCCS - version 3.0), Consume (version 4.2), Fire Emission Production Simulator (FEPS - version 2.0; in development until Spring, 2015), Pile Calculator, and Digital Photo Series into a single user interface.
Fuelbeds vary widely in their physical attributes, potential fire behavior, and fire effects. The FFT suite of tools uses fuels data classified into fuelbeds to predict a suite of outputs related to prescribed and wildland fire. These outputs include several variables relevant to carbon accounting and quantification, such as estimations of carbon stores for different fuelbeds, carbon emissions from fire, and carbon flux from fire (before/after carbon estimations). The fuelbeds are designed to represent the diversity of fuels found throughout the United States.
History
The FFT started out as several separate standalone tools, all developed by the Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team (FERA). Many of these tools have been in development since the 1990’s and have gone through several versions and updates. Several of these applications have been integrated into other tools and processes, likeBlueSky Playground,Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System (IFT-DSS), andWildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS). See the FFT main page for more detail.
Inputs and outputs
Inputs vary depending on the specific application. However, all applications require the user to choose the fuelbeds that most closely resemble their assessment area as a starting point. Users can select from an assembled list of fuelbeds which were compiled from published & unpublished literature, fuels photo series, fuels data sets and expert opinion. Alternatively, users can customize existing descriptions to create a set of fuelbeds to represent a particular scale of interest, or upload a fuelbed list from LANDFIRE. Environmental inputs are also required and vary by application.
FCCS:
Inputs include moisture content (%) of live herbaceous and shrub fuels, 1-hr, 10-hr and 100-hr woody fuels; midflame windspeed; and slope gradient. A default set of environmental variables is provided, which can be customized if environmental conditions vary across the assessment area.
Outputs include a calculation of fuel loadings, carbon and other summary fuel characteristics; and a prediction of surface fire behavior, crown fire potential, and available fuel potential index based on a scale of 0- 9 for each fuelbed.
Consume:
Inputs include fuel moisture (%) of 1000-hr woody fuels and duff; and the percent burned area for different fuels. Additional inputs are optional for extra applications.
Outputs include a prediction of total fuel consumption, pollutant emissions (including carbon dioxide emissions), and heat release for fuelbeds and burn units.
FEPS: (Please note: FEPS is under active development and is not fully functional within FFT at this time):
Inputs include minimums and maximums for air temperature, relative humidity, midflame and transport windspeed; fire shape; and times (0-23 hr) for fire start, stop sunrise, midday, and sunset.
Outputs include predictions of hourly fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and heat release characteristics for prescribed burns and wildland fires.
Two additional applications are available as a part of FFT:
- The web-based Digital Photo Series (DPS) can be launched within the FFT fuelbed editor for reference purposes. It is also available as a separate web-based tool on the FERA website.
- The Pile Calculator is integrated within the Fuelbed Editor to allow creation and editing of pile information within fuelbeds. It is also available as a stand-alone tool and a web-based tool on the FERA website.
Restrictions and limitations
The FFT tools make point-based calculations of fuel characteristics and potential fire behavior and do not simulate fire spread across landscapes. However because fuelbeds have no inherent scale, outputs can be easily mapped in GIS by assigning polygons or raster cells with a unique fuelbed identification number. Since fuelbeds are used as the basis for each of the FFT applications, it is important that these are characterized accurately across the landscape of interest; default options are provided, but there are many ways to add customization within the FFT tools. It is also important to note that several environmental variables (e.g. fuel moisture) are required for each application and have a substantial impact on FFT predictions of fire behavior and emissions. Default values are provided in some situations, but if environmental conditions vary across a landscape, custom fuelbeds with custom environmental variables will be needed.
As noted above, the Fire Emission Production Simulator (FEPS) application is still in development and is not fully functional at this time.
Accessing the tool and additional information
The FFT suite of tools can be downloaded here: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fera/fft
Links to the individual applications, and to peer-reviewed publications: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fera/fccs.shtml