Incident Management Team coffee

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Team C coffeeOne of the Type 2 Incident Management Teams in the Rocky Mountain Geographic Area has developed their own coffee. Jay Esperance’s Rocky Mountain Team C voted on a custom blend of beans (dark roast) and then worked with Absolute Java in Rapid City, South Dakota which blends, roasts, packages, and labels the bags. The label was created by the talented staff at Absolute Java.

The Team held a competition to choose a name. Some of the runners-up included: Monday Morning Mop-up, Grounds for Safety, In the Black Blend, and Smoky Ridge Roast. The winner was Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire.

Jeni Lawver, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Division of Wildfire Suppression, the agency for which Mr. Esperance works, told us that anyone can purchase Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire from Absolute Java, but it might take a while for them to blend, roast, and print up the label for the coffee.

Ms. Lawver said:

It’s been a fun, team bonding experience and we’re looking forward to brewing our locally roasted, good quality custom blend at ICP!

 

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Transferring fire research results — to middle schools

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Natural InquirerState and federal governments spend millions of taxpayer dollars on research every year. If the knowledge gained through those efforts is kept locked away in for-profit journals or not made freely and easily available to the public, a person could argue — what is the point of paying for the research?

One avenue the U.S. Forest Service is using to transfer research results is through the “Natural Inquirer”, created so that scientists can share their research with middle school students. Each article on the site introduces scientific research conducted by Forest Service scientists.

Here is an excerpt from the web site:

…All of the research in this journal is concerned with nature, trees, wildlife, insects, outdoor activities and water. First students will “meet the scientists” who conduct the research. Then students read special information about science, and then about the environment. Students will also read about a specific research project, written in a way that scientists write when publishing their research in journals. Students become scientists when they do the Discovery FACTivity, learning vocabulary words that help in understanding articles.

This seems like a great idea, and deals with at least two issues. That of transferring research results, and helping to increase and improve the science programs in schools. It may also allow students to identify with scientists by linking research with individual employees in the USFS. Who knows, it might even encourage a middle school student to consider science as a profession.

Wildland fire is included as one of the many topics covered at the site, as you can see if you search for “fire” on their search page.

The Natural Inquirer has published a series of “Scientists’ Cards”. Below are the front and back of the card for Dr. Pepe Iniguez, a landscape fire ecologist:

Pepe Iniguez card

Pepe Iniguez

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Red Flag Warnings, April 14, 2013

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Red Flag Warnings, 4-14-2013

 

Red Flag Warnings for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Texas, New Mexico,  and Arizona.

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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 8:50 a.m. MT on Sunday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.

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Looking back at the 2003 Kelowna wildfire

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Even though I stayed overnight in Kelowna, British Columbia on a motorcycle trip last August, I was not aware of the nearby devastating Okanagan Mountain Park (map) wildfire in 2003 that destroyed hundreds of homes and threatened the lives of firefighters. Here is an excerpt from an article in the Kelowna Capital News:

During the 2003 Kelowna wildfire, a group of firefighters trapped in Kettle Valley were surrounded by 400 foot high flames, took shelter under fire trucks, and called home from their cell phones to say goodbye to their families.

“They couldn’t get out,” recalled former Kelowna fire chief and current city councillor Gerry Zimmermann as he welcomed more than 200 colleagues from around North America to the three-day Western Wildfire Conference in Kelowna Thursday morning.

But, everyone survived the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire, even though 30,000 people were evacuated, 239 homes were lost in two nights and 60,000 acres were burned across the south slopes, 10 years ago this summer…

Fire danger sign near Canmore, Alberta. Photo by Bill Gabbert

Fire danger sign near Canmore, Alberta. Photo by Bill Gabbert

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Forest Service receives new airborne sensor from NASA

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USFS IR aircraft, Cessna Citation Bravo

One of the U.S. Forest Service’s Infrared aircraft, their Cessna Citation Bravo, N144Z

The U.S. Forest Service has been using dedicated fixed wing aircraft with infrared sensors to detect and map wildland fires since the 1960s or 1970s. So I was intrigued after reading a news release from NASA about an airborne sensor that will help gather information about wildland fires. Here is an excerpt:

NASA Imaging Sensor Prepares for Western Wildfire Season

WASHINGTON – Airborne imaging technology developed at NASA and transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS) in 2012 is being tested to prepare for this year’s wildfire season in the western United States.
The Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) is a scanning spectrometer designed to help detect hot-spots, active fires, and smoldering and post-fire conditions. Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and USFS engineers installed it on a Cessna Citation aircraft that belongs to the Forest Service. The USFS plans to use it in operational fire imaging and measurement…

Having experience as an Infrared Interpreter (IRIN), converting data on infrared images to maps so that the information can be used by firefighters on the ground, I wanted more information about how this sensor will be used in wildfire management. I knew that the person with the answers would be Woody Smith, an Avionics and Infrared Technician with the U.S. Forest Service’s National Infrared Operations (NIROPs) unit. I sent him some questions by email and here is his response:

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(Woody said:)

The main purpose for the transfer of the AMS Sensor to the USFS is for additional remote sensing needs. Missions such as forest health sensing, post fire analysis, and earth mapping. The AMS has the capability to map wildfires and will be used as an additional system in a third aircraft if one becomes available.

But to answer your questions in order:

Is this replacing previous sensor(s)?

No. This will be an additional system to enhance our capabilities for busy seasons. Though for now, it “lives” on the Citation (N144Z) for testing and comparison purposes. Once the NIROPs Unit begins to get busy we will remove this system and reinstall the Phoenix System. We anticipate using the AMS sensor during the “off season” for earth observation and post fire analysis.

What is the advantage of this sensor?

The AMS Sensor has 16 channels that can be used to map the earth simultaneously. Most of the channels are in the visual range and color IR. There are 4 used for thermal IR (TIR) and as soon as I get permission from the guys at NASA I will send you a briefing paper that explains the origin and uses of the AMS. For now, the USFS intends to map some vegetation areas for various other government agencies and fly real time comparison flights over wild land fires. We need to assess its operational capabilities. One advantage is the capability to perform scientific earth observation for post fire analysis while collecting and mapping wild land fires.

On the new AMS system, is liquid nitrogen still used to cool the sensor, like on the Phoenix System currently being used?

No. The TIR (thermal infrared) channels use sterling coolers and thermo electric (TE) coolers. But as the Phoenix System will hold LN2 for over 16 hours we only have to fill them once a day before the night’s flights begin. (Sterling coolers and thermo-electric cooling is very expensive while liquid nitrogen is very cheap!)

How many sensors does the USFS IR system use?

We currently own 6 ea 2-channel thermal IR scanner systems. 2 from Daedalus and 4 that we developed ourselves known as the Phoenix Wild Land Fire Mapping Systems. We could field 3 Phoenix Systems simultaneously but we only have 2 aircraft capable of carrying IR equipment so we use the additional hardware as spares for “quick repairs” during the fire season.

Will similar AMS sensors be installed on other IR aircraft?

No.

Are there any major changes to the Infrared program for this year?

Two exciting changes coming have not yet been implemented. The first is improved heat detection and the second is with the quality of the image itself. The signal processing changes we made last year has already vastly improved the heat detection and image quality as well as sped up the delivery time. But due to a busy year (2012) we are lagging behind our anticipated schedule. As soon as these are implemented I will send you an email.

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Here is a link to a Word document with a (very) technical description of the AMS sensor.

AMS-Wildfire scanhead

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Everglades National Park’s Boy Scout prescribed fire

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Everglades National Park has produced another excellent video about their prescribed fire program. You may have seen one of their others, River of Grass, by then National Park Service employee Jennifer Brown, who now has her own video production company, Into Nature Films. Ms. Brown made this video as well, working with Fire Management Officer/Executive Producer Rick Anderson.

Here is the description of this video:

“National Park Service managers conduct a prescribed fire in cooperation with Boy Scouts of America. Camp Everglades is in the Pine Rocklands of Everglades National Park. This active Boy Scout Camp is in a fire dependent pine forest. Plants and animals that live in this rare and imperiled forest have adapted to frequent fires that are ignited by the abundant lightning that visits the land during summer storms. Humans may have used fire in this area to stimulate the growth of fresh green shoots in this otherwise nutrient poor forest. Coontie, a primitive plant who’s roots were processed to make a starch-rich bread by Native peoples and Florida pioneers, responds well to frequent fire. Everglades fire managers work with the Boy Scouts to reduce accumulations of brush and other flammable vegetation to reduce the threat of severe unplanned wildfires.”

 

Thanks go out to Tristan

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