Techniques and tools to understand, predict and manage smoke and air quality.
Southern Fire Exchange Archived Webinars
Climate-Driven Changes in Prescribed Fire in the Southeastern US: Burner Concerns, Needs, and Alternatives (2023)
Presenter: Megan Johnson, USDA Forest Service.
This webinar discussed research investigating the potential impacts of climate change on prescribed burner decisions, wildfire occurrence, and prescribed burn opportunities in the South.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Potential Impacts of Prescribed Fire Smoke on Air Quality, Public Health, and Vulnerable Populations in the Southeast (2021)
Presenters: Sadia Afrin and Fernando Garcia-Menendez, North Carolina State University.
This webinar discussed research investigating the potential impacts of prescribed fire smoke and avoided wildfire smoke on communities, including socially vulnerable communities in the Southeastern US.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Air Quality 101: Essential Concepts and Tools for Prescribed Burners (2020)
Presenters: Rick Gillam, Heidi LeSane and Scott Davis of the US Environmental Protection Agency-Region 4, Dr. Jim Boylan of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Randy Strait of the North Carolina Division of Air Quality and Jenn Fawcett of North Carolina State University Extension.
This webinar provided an introduction to the fundamental concepts and tools for understanding the who, what, why and how for managing prescribed fire smoke in the Southeast. Speakers from regional air quality regulation programs discussed topics including: smoke production, smoke prediction, regional regulations, health impacts and more.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Webinar Presentation Files (pdf):
Scott Davis
Rick Gillam and Hedi LeSane
Jim Boylan, Ph.D.
Randy Strait
Jenn Fawcett
Air Quality 101 for Foresters and Prescribed Burners (2017)
Presenters: Steve Scofield, Heidi LeSane and Scott Davis of the US Environmental Protection Agency-Region 4
Jim Boylan, Georgia Environmental Protection Division
Randy Strait, North Carolina Division of Air Quality
This webinar covered topics such as National Ambient Air Quality Standards, Ozone, Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), Nonattainment areas in the Southeast, Regional Haze and more.
Click here to view the archived webinar
An Introduction to VSmoke Web
Scott Goodrick, US Forest Service Research Meteorologist, introduces the use and application of the VSmoke smoke model.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Basic Smoke Management Practices
Pete Lahm, US Forest Service Fire Weather and Air Quality Specialist, discussed the development and principles of Basic Smoke Management Practices for prescribed burners.
Click here to view the archived webinar
El Nino, La Nina and the 1998 Florida Wildfire Season
Dr. Scott Goodrick, Research Meteorologist discussed the past and future implications of El Nino and La Nina events on fire weather patterns and wildfire occurences in Florida and the Southeast.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Integrated Smoke Management Curriculum
Jennifer Evans, NC State University Prescribed Fire Extension Assistant, discusses a train-the-trainer smoke management curriculum for teaching prescribed burners about smoke management.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Methods for Determining Mixing Height
Host: Southern Fire Exchange, NWCG Smoke Committee, North Carolina State University, Desert Research Institute, National Weather Service, and Montgomery Community College.
This webinar features researcher Matthew Fearon of the Desert Research Institute discussing recent research investigating various methods for estimating atmospheric mixing height. Following his presentation Robyn Heffernan with the National Weather Service discussed NWS plans for their mixing height determination procedures.
Click here to view the archived webinar
NWS Fire Weather Resources for the South
This one-hour webinar by Angie Enyedi, Lead Forecaster with the Jacksonville, Florida office of the National Weather Service explored numerous fire weather forecast products and tools developed by the Florida NWS. Angie specifically discussed topics related to Spot weather forecasts, meteograms, and dispersion indices.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Smoke Management: It Is The Name of The Game
In this webinar Dale Wade discusses many topics related to smoke management and planning during prescribed fire operations in southern ecosystems.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Using Smoke Prediction Models for Prescribed Burning Planning
Host: Southern Fire Exchange and Forestry & Natural Resources Webinar Portal
Daniel Stratton, USDA Forest Service, introduces the major characteristics of emission and smoke models such as the Fire Emission Production Simulator (FEPS), HYSPLIT, BlueSky, and VSmoke.
Click here to view the archived webinar
WindNinja – Modeling Winds in Complex Terrain for Wildland Fire Applications
In this webinar Dr. Natalie Wagenbrenner of the USFS Missoula Fire Science Lab described the fundamentals and workings of WindNinja and demonstrated how WindNinja can be used to create high spatial resolution near-surface wind forecasts.
Click here to view the archived webinar
Wildland Fire Smoke and Roadway Visibility Series
For the last 40 years smoke events have beset fire management and field personnel. Incidents have occurred across the country. This webinar is an effort to eliminate the risk through:
- Enhancing our knowledge base
- Informing wildland fire personnel on the tools available
- Assisting wildland fire personnel in their cognitive awareness of smoke’s risk
- Predictability of smoke events whereby timely actions can be taken before severely reduced visibility occurs
- Click here for more information about the series, and how to view each archived webinar.
Part 1: Superfog
1:00 pm Eastern
Presented by: Gary Achtemeier, former Research Meteorologist USFS Southern Research Station – Retired
- What is Superfog and how it forms on your burn site
- How common is Superfog on burn sites
- Superfog weather: What conditions allow superfog to leave your burn site and how far will it go
- Superfog weather: Identifying conditions that turn a typical safe burn into a disaster
- Click here to view the archived webinar.
Part 2: Weather Information & Tools
Presented by: Gary M. Curcio, former Fire Environment Branch Head NC Forest Service – Retired
- Obtaining and tracking key environmental variables
- Reviewing operationally developed indexes (Turner Stability Index (TS), Atmospheric Dispersion Index (ADI), Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index (LVORI)
- Superfog Matrix Smart Tool for NWS Weather Forecasting Offices
- Click here to view the archived webinar.
Part 3: PB – Piedmont, Superfog Potential and Estimated Smoldering Potential
1:00 pm Eastern
Presented by: Matthew Fearon, research meteorologist –Dessert Research Institute
- PB-Piedmont Web, Super-Fog Potential, and Estimated Smoldering Potential – moving science to a usable tool.
- Click here to view the archived webinar.
Other useful archived webinars on this subject
Indoor Air Quality During Wildland Fires
The NWCG Smoke Committee (SmoC) recently hosted this webinar which included two presentations—“Coping with Indoor Wildfire Smoke: Lessons from the Colville Reservation” (Kris Ray, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) and “Wildfires and Prescribed Burns in Colorado: Impact on Indoor Air Quality, and the Effect of Mitigation Measures” (Shelly Miller, University of Colorado).
Click here for links to related publications.
Click here to view the recorded webinar.
Making Sense of Wildland Smoke
Host: Lake States Fire Science Consortium
This webinar, presented by Gary Curcio, Kari Fleegel, and Warren Heilman, highlights a range of current perspectives, activities, developments, and emerging issues concerning smoke from wildland fires.
Click here to view the recorded webinar.
On the Causes and Movement of Smoke-Induced Fog
Host: LLC-JFSP-IAWF
Gary L. Achtemeier presents information about predicting the occurrence and transport of smoke-induced dense fog (superfog), which has been implicated in roadway accidents around the nation. The webinar summarizes 20 years of collaboration between land managers in the southeastern U.S. and the USFS Smoke Management Team located at Athens, Georgia.
Click here to view the recorded webinar.
Validation of Fuel Consumption Models for Smoke Management Planning in the Eastern United States
Host: LLC-JFSP-IAWF
Roger Ottmar and Susan Prichard present fuel consumption data collected from 18 prescribed fires in southern pine forest and sand pine scrub fuelbed types in the Southeastern United States, and from 11 mixed hardwoods and pitch pine fuelbed types in Northeast and North Central states.
Click here to view the recorded webinar.