Experimental Product Maps
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Current Conditions
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Forecast
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Image Archive
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Data Archive
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Fire Potential Index
- FPI
- FPI, RG, 10h, fire danger (4 panel)
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US48
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The experimental fire potential index map uses satellite derived
Relative Greenness, an NFDR fuel model map (both 1 km resolution),
and an interpolated 10-hour timelag map as inputs to weight the
relative influence of live and dead vegetation to fire potential.
The scale ranges from 0 (low) to 100 (high). Except for 10-h
moisture content, the calculations used in the National Fire Danger
Rating System are not part of the Fire Potential Index.
The fire potential index is described by Burgan and others (1998). This paper was modified
in 2000 to include more recent work. The revised paper is available
online. The major modification consists of a
new maximum live ratio map for the U.S. In the original formulation
of the FPI algorithm, maximum live ratios were determined as a
function of the live and dead loads assigned to each fuel model.
However, this resulted in similar live ratios for fuel models that
represent very different vegetation types--not a realistic
situation. The effect was to overestimate the FPI in the eastern
U.S. during summer, when the vegetation is normally very green.
This dilemma was resolved by deriving a maximum live ratio map from
the maximum NDVI map of the conterminous United States, under the
assumption of a direct relationship between the two. A second
modification was made to smooth the ten hour fuel moisture
calculation near its upper and lower limits, thus avoiding
calculation discontinuities.
If you have questions contact:
Bob Burgan, Retired
Missoula Fire Sciences Lab
PO Box 8089
Missoula, MT 59807
Ph: 406-728-0172
e-mail: firebug@centric.net