Calibration

In general, there are two kinds of decision aids required in fire management: the first is a predictive model to identify potential fire problems before they occur, and the second is an operational action plan to reduce the occurrence and mitigate the effects of serious fire situations. The predictive model is achieved through an FDRS which provides a quantitative means of estimating the physical aspects of fire (e.g., fuel consumption, emissions release rate). The operational action plan links fire management decisions to the predictive model. Different levels of operational activities in an action plan (e.g., reduce prescribed burning in specific regions, restrict the types of fuels being burned, increasing the size of restricted burning areas, etc. ) are directly related to a series of critical thresholds identified in the FDRS.

The calibration projects are designed to adjust the Canadian FDRS to tropical climate and fuels. The end goal is an operational system that can predict potential fire and smoke problems, and contains policy and operations response recommendations.

• Climate Calibration
• Fuels Calibration