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Remote Automatic Weather Stations
Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS)
There are nearly 2,200 interagency Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) strategically located throughout the United States. RAWS are self-contained, portable, and permanent, solar powered weather stations that provide timely local weather data used primarily in fire management. These stations monitor the weather and provide weather data that assists land management agencies with a variety of projects such as monitoring air quality, rating fire danger, and providing information for research applications.
Most of the stations owned by the wildland fire agencies are placed in locations where they can monitor fire danger. RAWS units collect, store, and forward data to a computer system at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho, via the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). The GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The data is automatically forwarded to several other computer systems including the Weather Information Management System (WIMS) and the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) in Reno, Nevada.
Fire managers use this data to predict fire behavior and monitor fuels; resource managers use the data to monitor environmental conditions. Locations of RAWS stations can be searched online courtesy of the Western Regional Climate Center.
Dead fuel moisture responds solely to ambient environmental conditions and is critical in determining fire potential.
1-h, less than 1/4" diameter.
Fine flashy fuels that respond quickly to weather changes. Computed from observation time temperature, humidity, and cloudiness.
10-h, 1/4 to 1" diameter.
Computed from observation time temperature, humidity, and cloudiness. Or can be an observed value, from a standard set of "10-Hr Fuel Sticks" that are weighed as part of the fire weather observation.
100-h, 1 to 3" diameter.
Computed from 24-hour average boundary condition composed of day length, hours of rain, and daily temperature/humidity ranges.
1000-h, 3 to 8 " diameter.
Computed from a 7-day average boundary condition composed of day length, hours of rain, and daily temperature/humidity ranges.
Here's a breakdown of what 8.4 could mean in fuel moisture contexts:
100-hour Dead Fuel Moisture:
Dead fuels are classified by a "timelag" which is the time it takes for them to gain or lose moisture. 100-hour fuels are in the 2.5 to 6 inch diameter range. An 8.4% moisture content in this category would indicate a relatively dry fuel, suggesting a higher risk of ignition and spread.
Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC):
FFMC is a fire weather index that reflects the moisture content of shaded, fine fuels (like forest litter) and ranges from 0 to 101. A value of 8.4 in the FFMC would represent very dry conditions for those fuels, making them highly susceptible to ignition.
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