Search This Blog

Friday, August 31, 2018

PODCAST: Tracking Tweets to Forecast Smoky Skies

Now, scientists at the U.S. Forest Service have analyzed 39,000 tweets like these from the 2015 wildfire season, and found that social media data can be a reliable way to augment existing air quality monitoring data in predicting the extent—and the public health effects—of wildfire smoke. The researchers presented the findings at a conference in Denmark earlier this month, and study author Sonya Sachdeva joins Science Friday to talk about how tweets can be a useful tool to learn about air quality and people’s perspectives on nearby wildfires.
Listen HERE.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Fire Weather Alert System Prototype

If you want to be notified of a specific type of weather event in your area, consider subscribing to a new service developed by the Firelab in Missoula, MT. Go to https://weather.firelab.org/fwas/ or just type "fire weather alert system" into your browser. Set your location and thresholds for weather variables in a specific radius from your location. You can also set the alert to expire in an amount of time up to seven days. For example, if you want to know if the RH drops below 22%, you can set it and wait for an alert by email or text. If you won't be in cell coverage, but still want the alert, you can ask your dispatch to configure the alert and warn you if it's activated. It's a pretty simple interface, but the developers would be interested in hearing from you if you use it!
The interface is simple, but also easy to use.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Looking for IR perimeters

Looking for IR perimeters or maps of fires? Here is one source: Incident Specific Data, a public-facing site, https://ftp.nifc.gov/public/incident_specific_data/