Identification Information

Title Flame Length

Date 2010-09-30

Date Type Publication

Cited Responsible Party

Organization Name The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico

Role identify

Presentation Form raster digital data

Abstract Flame length was modeled using FlamMap, an interagency fire behavior mapping and analysis program that computes potential fire behavior characteristics. The tool uses eight spatial input data layers to represent biophysical conditions and weather parameters to simulate wind and fuel moisture conditions. The spatial input layers were created by Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Project (LANDFIRE) and include elevation, slope, aspect, canopy closure, fuel model 40, canopy base height, and canopy bulk density. The weather parameters were collected from the RAWS weather stations in New Mexico. Flame length was modeled by individual fire zones, created by the Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC). The weather data for the northern and western fire zones (101, 102, 103, 109, 110, and 113) represents the average early summer (May and June ) conditions; the weather data for the eastern fire zones (104, 108, 114, 115) represents the average early spring (March and April ) conditions; and the weather data for the southern and central fire zones (105, 106, 107, 111, 112) represents the average spring (April and May) conditions

Purpose Flame length is the distance from the base of the flame to the tip of the flame in a fire burning in surface fuels. Flame length is an indicator of fire intensity at the active, flaming front and is a good measure of what suppression resources can be used on a fire. The intensity of a surface fire is also an important measure of the likelihood of a fire moving into the forest canopy. As a general rule, flame lengths less than four feet can be managed by ground crews, between four and eleven feet requires aerial equipment, greater than eleven feet are unmanageable even with aerial equipment.

Data Set Credit The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico

Status Complete

Point of Contact

Individual Name

Organization Name EMNRD, Forestry Division

Position Name GIS Specialist

Role Point of contact

Voice 505-476-3346

Facsimile

Address

Delivery Point 1220 St. Francis Drive
City Santa Fe
Administrative Area NM
Postal Code 87505
Country

Electronic Mail Address trent.botkin@state.nm.us

Maintenance and Update Frequency As needed

Descriptive Keywords NM Statewide Natural Resources Assessment

Access Constraints None

Use Constraints All data is provided "as is." Energy Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Forestry Division makes no representation or warranty as to the completeness, accuracy or utility of any specific data. It is strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with this data

Language English

Topic Category environment

Extent

Geographic Bounding Box

West Bound -109.324845
East Bound -102.936542
North Bound 37.065742
South Bound 31.320252

Temporal Extent

DateTime Unknown

Data Quality Information

Attribute Accuracy Report

Report Unknown

Quantitative Attribute Accuracy Assessment

Attribute Accuracy Value
Attribute Accuracy Explanation

Logical Consistency Report The technical team reviewed the initial FlamMap results and noted that the results were lower than expected for fire zone 101 (northwest portion of state, particularly in the Navajo checkerboard area), fire zone 102 (in the piñon-juniper and sagebrush surrounding the Jemez and Taos Box), and fire zone 113 (in the upper elevations of the Sacramento Mountains). For fire zone 101 and 102 much of the landscape that was identified as piñon juniper, sagebrush and intermountain steppe were modeled by LANDFIRE as grass fuel models. The fuel model 40 input layer was changed for those vegetation types to a shrub model and the Flam Map models were re-run. In fire zone 113, the timber models more closely correlated to the vegetation classification of timber, however, the recorded RAWS data was significantly lower than expected. The model was rerun with averages from Gila with no significant increase. The technical team noted that for this zone the flame length is lower than expected. However, overall the statewide flame length layer is representative of expectations and useful for landscape (not project) planning and prioritization.

Completeness Report Unknown

Lineage

Source Information

Source Citation

Source Scale Denominator 9999

Type of Source Media Unknown

Source Time Period of Content

DateTime Unknown
Source Currentness Reference publication date

Source Citation Abbreviation Unknown

Source Contribution Unknown

Process Step

Process Description Flame length was modeled using FlamMap, an interagency fire behavior mapping and analysis program that computes potential fire behavior characteristics. The tool uses eight spatial input data layers to represent biophysical conditions and weather parameters to simulate wind and fuel moisture conditions. The spatial input layers were created by Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Project (LANDFIRE) and include elevation, slope, aspect, canopy closure, fuel model 40, canopy base height, and canopy bulk density. The weather parameters were collected from the RAWS weather stations in New Mexico. Flame length was modeled by individual fire zones, created by the Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC). The weather data for the northern and western fire zones (101, 102, 103, 109, 110, and 113) represents the average early summer (May and June ) conditions; the weather data for the eastern fire zones (104, 108, 114, 115) represents the average early spring (March and April ) conditions; and the weather data for the southern and central fire zones (105, 106, 107, 111, 112) represents the average spring (April and May) conditions. The fire zone results were mosaiced together and resulting lgrid was reclassfied into five groups 1 = low flame length (0 to 1 feet), 2= = low/medium flame length (1 to 4 feet), 3 = medium flame length (4 to 8 feet), 4 = high flame length (8 to 11 feet), and 5 = extreme flame length (>11 feet). The orginal values and reclassed values were combined into one grid.
Process Date Unknown
Process Time
Process Contact

Process Step

Process Description Metadata imported.
Process Date 2010-04-01
Process Time 13:51:48
Process Contact

Process Step

Process Description Dataset copied.
Process Date 2010-04-01
Process Time 15:57:18
Process Contact

Flame Length

Metadata from the RGIS Metadata Repository

Identification Information

Distribution Information

Spatial Reference Information

Data Quality Information

Metadata Reference Information