CFFDRS in Alaska

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Applying the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS)
to Alaskan Ecosystems

http://www.frames.gov/cffdrs

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) has been used in Alaska since 1992. The CFFDRS is comprised of two major subsystems: the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System and the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System. The FWI System has six standard components: 1) the Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC); 2) the Duff Moisture Code (DMC); 3) the Drought Code (DC); 4) the Initial Spread Index (ISI); 5) the Buildup Index (BUI); and 6) the Fire Weather Index (FWI). These six components provide relative numerical ratings of wildland fire potential for a standard fuel type on level terrain based on weather inputs. The FBP System provides for actual quantitative estimates of various fire behavior parameters for 16 distinct fuel types and topographic situations based in part on inputs from the FWI System (primarily the ISI and BUI).

Link to the CFFDRS website at Natural Resources Canada

CFFDRS Publications

Name	Person (Last Name)	Year
A comparison of fire-weather severity in Northern Alberta during the 1980 and 1981 fire seasons	Harvey, Alexander, Janz	1986
A field guide for predicting grassland fire potential: derivation and use	Fogarty, Alexander	1999
A pocket card for predicting fire behavior in grasslands under severe burning conditions	Alexander, Fogarty	2002
Advanced fuel type modeling - powerpoint	Alexander	2008
Assessing the probability of crown fire initiation based on fire danger indices	Cruz, Alexander, Wakimoto	2006
Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System: training now available on CD-ROM	St. John, Alexander	2004
CFIS: a software tool for simulating crown fire initiation and spread	Alexander, Cruz, Lopes, Viegas	2006
Crown Fire Initiation and Spread Software System (CFIS)	Cruz, Alexander	2006
Development and structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System		1992
Fire behavior in moderately heavy logging slash: documenting the past with photographs	Alexander, Viegas	2010
Fire danger monitoring using RADARSAT-1 over northern boreal forests	Abbott, Leblon, Staples, MacLean, Alexander	2007
Foliar moisture content input in the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System for areas outside of Canada	Alexander, Viegas	2010
Forecasting diurnal variation in fire intensity to enhance wildland firefighter safety	Beck, Alexander, Harvey, Beaver	2002
Forest floor moisture content and fire danger indices in Alaska	Jandt, Allen, Horschel	2005
Forest health: fire behavior considerations	Alexander	2006
Incorporating breaching and spotting considerations into PROMETHEUS - the Canadian wildland fire growth model	Alexander, Tymstra, Frederick	2004
Information systems in support of wildland fire management decision making in Canada	Lee, Alexander, Hawkes, Lynham, Stocks, Englefield	2002
Introduction to the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System
Perspectives on experimental fires in Canadian forestry research	Alexander, Quintilio	1990
Predicting and interpreting fire intensities in Alaskan black spruce forests using the Canadian system of fire danger rating	Alexander, Cole	1995
Predicting crown fire behavior to support forest fire management decision-making	Cruz, Alexander, Wakimoto, Viegas	2002
Predicting forest floor moisture for burned and unburned Pinus banksiana forests in the Canadian Northwest Territories	Abbott, Alexander, MacLean, Leblon, Beck, Staples	2007
Predicting sustained smouldering combustion in trembling aspen duff in Elk Island National Park, Canada	Otway, Bork, Anderson, Alexander	2007
Prescribed burn documentation and fire danger ratings: a case study	Alexander, Viegas	2006
Proposed revision of fire danger class criteria for forest and rural areas in New Zealand	Alexander	2008
Rating fire danger in Alaska ecosystems: CFFDRS provides an invaluable guide to systematically evaluating burning conditions	Alexander, Cole	2001
Relating changes in duff moisture to the Canadian forest fire weather index system in Populus tremuloides stands in Elk Island National Park	Otway, Bork, Anderson, Alexander	2007
Science, technology, and human factors in fire danger rating: the Canadian experience	Taylor, Alexander	2006
Strategy for a fire module in dynamic global vegetation models	Fosberg, Cramer, Brovkin, Fleming, Gardner, Gill, Goldammer, Keane, Koehler, Lenihan, Neilson, Sitch, Thornicke, Venevski, Weber, Wittenberg	1999
Surface fire spread potential in trembling aspen during the summer in the boreal forest region of Canada	Alexander	2010
Systems for rating fire danger and predicting fire behavior used in Canada	Van Nest, Alexander	1999
The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System	Alexander, Stocks, Lawson	1996
The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System: an overview	Stocks, Lawson, Alexander, Van Wagner, McAlpine, Lynham, Dube	1989
Updates and revisions to the 1992 Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System	Wotton, Alexander, Taylor	2009

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