Canadian Fire Management Agency Readiness for WildFireSat: Assessment and Strategies for Enhanced Preparedness

Fire

article

Colin B. McFayden¹  Emily S. Hope¹  Den Boychuk²  Lynn M. Johnston¹  Ashlin Richardson³  Matthew Coyle⁴  Meghan Sloane¹  Alan S. Cantin¹  Joshua M. Johnston¹  Timothy J. Lynham¹ 

[1] Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre;Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services;British Columbia Ministry of Forests;Forest Management Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources

关键词: satellite;    wildfire;    remote sensing;    wildland fire management;    forest fire;   

DOI  :  10.3390/fire6020073

学科分类：环境科学（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Wildfires are worsening in Canada and globally, partly due to climate change. The government of Canada is designing and building WildFireSat, the world’s first purpose-built operational satellite system for wildfire monitoring. It will provide new fire intelligence to support decision-making. It takes time for fire management agencies to use new information: to understand it and its implications, change processes, develop training, and modify computer systems. Preparing for the system’s prelaunch will allow agencies to benefit more rapidly from the new information. We present (1) an assessment of the readiness of 12 Canadian fire management agencies to integrate WildFireSat information and (2) guidance for reducing readiness gaps. We used survey and other data to score readiness indicators for three readiness components: understanding, organization, and information technology. We weighted the influence of each indicator score on each component. We modelled scoring and weighting uncertainties and used Monte Carlo simulation to generate distributions of aggregated agency readiness. The results indicated that most agencies have a moderate level of readiness while others have a higher level of readiness. Cluster analysis was used to group agencies by similarity in multiple dimensions. Strategies for increasing readiness are highlighted. This identifies opportunities for agencies and the WildFireSat team to collaborate on enhancing readiness for the forthcoming WildFireSat data products.

【 授权许可】

CC BY