1 WRAP Fire Emissions Tracking System for Air Quality Planning, Tracking, & Decision Support December 6, 2007 Tom Moore | Shawn McClure | Dave Randall | Western Regional Air Partnership Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere Air Sciences, Inc.

2 Acknowledgments Thanks to: –FEJF Mark Fitch – USDA FS, Tonto National Forest (Co-Chair) Dan Redline – ID DEQ (Co-Chair) Other stakeholders participating in the FEJF’s Fire Tracking System Task Team –TSS Development Team Shawn McClure (CIRA) Joe Adlhoch (Air Resource Specialists) Gerry Mansell (ENVIRON) –EPA funding –In-kind work by staff from many agencies and organizations - 1,000s of hours Based on work of Fire Emissions Joint Forum

3 Purpose of Meeting Purpose of talk is to report the WRAP’s progress in developing the Fire Emissions Tracking System (FETS) and our plans for maintenance, operations, and enhancement of the FETS.

4 FETS Background (Why?) Regional Haze Rule –§309 requires a fire tracking system (FTS). WRAP’s FTS Policy –ID’s the essential components of an FTS. –ID’s ways that a FTS is useful for WRAP states & Tribes under §308 or 309. FEJF FTS Evaluation Study. –Key features of each ID’d. –ID’d technical enhancements and costs necessary to “upgrade” existing FTS ‘s to meet the regional haze planning needs of WRAP states and Tribes. FEJF decided to develop its own FTS. –Most cost effective (“commodity”-based development). –Tailored to meet Regional Haze Rule needs. –Provides database for air quality analyses –Integrated into WRAP’s Technical Support System (TSS)

5 What does the FETS do? (Why? (cont’d) ) Haze + other AQ management/planning need –Regional coordination –Long-term database for historic analyses –Emissions data source for submittals to NEI –EI storage

6 Colorado State University – Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) Integration with TSS Project oversight Database host Prime contractor to WRAP Air Sciences Inc. FETS development & maintenance Database design Data acquisition Fire sciences (fuel consumption, emissions, emission reduction techniques) GIS functions Subcontractor to CIRA FETS Development (How? & Who?) Wingate Design Web page design Web page functionality Web hosting Subcontractor to Air Sciences FEJF and Task Team Technical direction WRAP oversight, content & technical direction

7 Description of the FETS (What?) A fire activity and emissions database with a web interface for planned and unplanned fire events. Features: –efficient data acquisition, –stable data storage and availability, –real-time coordination among smoke managers Users can view fire data on-screen with a mapping tool –cost effective development of fire emission inventories Users can query the database for HTML listings of data for QA/QC and EXCEL spreadsheets for data summaries and analysis.

8 Description of the FETS (What?) A fire activity and emissions database with a web interface for planned and unplanned fire events. Fire Science: –Reliable and accepted technical methods to estimate fuel consumption and emissions from fire events. –tools to estimate emissions averted due to the application Emission Reduction Techniques. and.

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10 Wingate/ Air Sciences Air Sciences CIRA State/ Tribe/ Federal SMPs & air agencies

11 Wingate/ Air Sciences Air Sciences CIRA State/ Tribe/ Federal SMPs & air agencies

12 Wingate/ Air Sciences Air Sciences CIRA State/ Tribe/ Federal SMPs & air agencies

13 FETS “Commodity” Approach CommodityFunctionSupplier MS SQL Database server and developer’s license Database (mirrored to structure of TSS); security; server maintenance; storage space). CIRA’s server for TSS Web HostingWeb page and storage.Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosted by Wingate (~$15/mo) Technical NodePerforms technical services for fire science, GIS, and data acquisition. Air Sciences dedicated Linux server Cold FusionWeb development and communication between web page and database. Provided by VPS Google MapsMapping application on the web page.Open Source Python 2.4.4Manage data acquisition & communication between database and technical services. Open source GRASS 6.2Performs spatial calculations to determine fuel bed type, fuel & duff moisture. Open source CONSUMEFuel consumption and emission calculations. USFS free Java executable

14 MS SQL Architecture Web-based interface Automated data acquisition system Automated QC checks for submitted data Manual Data Entry Screens and Insta-QC Technical Node for fire sciences: CONSUME Fuel Loading & Moisture Emission calculations Regional Coordination Tools - Fire Map and SMP contacts Query and Reporting/ Export Functions Tool Tips and Technical Documentation Training for each User-Level (Webinars and in-person) Increase participation in data submittal Integrate FETS into TSS E.g., Emissions Review Tool “Smart” ideas to improve FETS E.g., interact with other Fire/Smoke data support systems (BlueSky/RAINS) E.g., integrate satellite burn-detect imagery as QC and/or data submittal tool Standard Operations and Maintenance Additional training and FETS-TSS integration focused on utilizing FETS data Additional “Smart” ideas

15 Conclusions & Discussion Questions Where does FETS fit in the larger world of state/EPA/federal agencies’ fire/smoke data support systems? Are there obvious functional limitations of the FETS or specific “smart” ideas that EPA would like the WRAP to consider for future development?

16 References WRAP web site WRAP Fire Emissions Tracking System WRAP Fire Tracking System Policy WRAP FTS Evaluation Study _Eval_ pdf _Eval_ pdf

17 Contacts Tom Moore WRAP – Air Quality Program Manager, WGA w/ e/ Shawn McClure CIRA – Software Engineer, Research Associate III w/ e/ Dave Randall Air Sciences – Principal Air Quality Scientist w/ x221 e/ Matt Mavko Air Sciences – Air Quality Scientist, GIS Specialist w/ x115 e/