Session 15 The Science of Prescribed Fire: Weather and Smoke

Thursday, 16 January 2025: 1:45 PM-3:00 PM
202 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
Host: First Conference on Fire Weather, Technology, and Risk
Cochairs:
Marcus D. Williams and Aaron Piña, NASA Headquarters, Earth Science Division, Deputy Program Scientist, Weather Focus Area

Beneficial fire has a long-standing history of use as a land management tool with the intended aim of mitigating wildfires. Fire suppression in the  20th century in addition to the added influence of climate change has created a national wildfire crisis. Reintroducing fire to the landscape via prescribed or controlled burns and expanding the use of prescribed fires in ecosystems where it is already prevalent has been identified as a wildfire mitigation strategy. Weather, fuels, and topography make up the three components of the wildland fire triangle. Weather is the most  dynamic of the three components. When making decisions to apply fire to the landscape in prescribed fires, the need for sound scientific information for land managers is at a premium. This session serves as a space to disseminate research and technologies on prescribed fire weather and associated smoke effects.

Papers:
1:45 PM
15.1
2:00 PM
15.2
Informational Needs and Decision-Making for Prescribed Burns within the United States
Shadya Sanders Davis, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

2:15 PM
15.3
Identifying Optimal Weather Conditions for Prescribed Fires in California
Rochelle P. Worsnop, NOAA, Boulder, CO; and A. J. Hoell, M. L. Breeden, K. Blankenship, T. B. Chapman, Z. Tolby, B. J. Hatchett, and K. C. Short

2:30 PM
15.4
How to Compare Air Quality and Health Impacts between Wildfires and Prescribed Fires: A Review and a Proposal
Mehmet T. Odman, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA; Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA; and Z. Li, Y. Hu, and A. Vaidyanathan

2:45 PM
15.5
SmokePath Explorer, a New Smoke Management Tool for California
ShihMing Huang, Sonoma Technology, Inc., Holly Springs, NC; Sonoma Technology, Petaluma, CA; and F. Hosseinpour, PhD, S. J. Kramer, A. Zare Harofteh, K. Besong-Cowan, C. R. Scarborough, T. J. Brown, and N. Kumar

- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner