BlueSky Playground
BlueSky Playground
Playground provides interactive access to the models and calculations enabled by the BlueSky Framework. Users can enter basic fire information and compute various fuels, fire, and emissions information as well as model plume rise and smoke dispersion. This can be particularly useful for prescribed burns, potential burnouts, and other fires that may not have been picked up within the routine BlueSky daily runs.
Disclaimer:
Tools are provided for research purposes only, and may not accurately reflect what happened due to numerous reasons. Models are subject to errors and inaccuracies. Data are provisional and subject to change. Use at own risk.
Tool Link
Stable URL:
- https://tools.airfire.org/playground (currently shows version 2)
New Test Version:
- Version 3 (introduced April 2018) is currently in testing. Use https://pgv3.airfire.org/playground/v3 to access.
Current Version:
- Version 2 is the current version, but is due to be replaced by Version 3 in the near future. As such Version 2 is no longer receiving model updates.
Compatibility
This tool works best under Google Chrome. Internet Explorer / Edge browsers in particular may have issues and features are not guaranteed to work.
Help
Help Pages
An extensive set of help pages for Playground v3 is in development, and are split out according to specific user interface sections.
Demo Exercise
A demo exercise is available that includes instructions and a recorded walkthrough
Questions
Internal inquiries Air Resource Advisors should post questions / issues to the WFAQRP > #playground channel. System outages should be posted in the WFAQRP > #critical channel
External inquiries regarding the BlueSky Daily Run Viewer and the BlueSky Modeling Framework may be directed to Dr. Sim Larkin, USFS-AirFire, larkin (at) fs.fed.us.
Credits
Community Credits
BlueSky Playground would not be possible without the generous assistance and involvement of many people. We particularly wish to thank the model and data developers who have created the great fire information, fuels information, consumption models, emissions factors, meteorological forecasts, and dispersion models used within Playground.
FUELS INFORMATION DATASETS
FCCS – Fuels Characteristic Classification System, U.S. Forest Service FERA Team, esp. Dr. Don McKenzie
LANDFIRE – U.S. Forest Service Missoula Fire Lab
CONSUMPTION MODELS
CONSUME – U.S. Forest Service FERA Team, esp. Drs. Roger Ottmar, Susan Prichart, and Clint Wright also many thanks to MTRI and Prof. Nancy French.
EMISSIONS FACTORS / MODELS
FEPS – U.S. Forest Service FERA Team, esp. Dr. Sam Sandberg
DISPERSION MODELS
HYSPLIT – NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, esp. Dr. Roland Draxlar
VSMOKE-GIS – U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, esp. Dr. Scott Goodrick
METEOROLOGICAL FORECASTS
National 12-km Forecast – from the National Weather Service NAM forecast model
PNW 4-km Forecast – from the Northwest Regional Modeling Consortium, lead Prof. Cliff Mass, University of Washington
California / Nevada 2-km Forecast – from the California / Nevada Smoke and Air Consortium (CANSAC), led by Prof. Tim Brown, Desert Research Institute
Playground Development Credits
- Original Concept and Project Lead: Sim Larkin, USFS AirFire
- Major Development Lead: Susan O'Neill, USFS AirFire
version 3
- Front End Development (v3): Sonoma Technology, Inc.
- Backend Processing Through BlueSky v4 Pipeline Development: Joel Dubowy, UW SEFS
versions 1 and 2
- Lead Development: Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Playground development has been supported by numerous organizations, principally:
- US Forest Service
- National Fire Plan
- Joint Fire Sciences Program
- NASA
- Department of the Interior