Last updated on 7/1/2011 12:50:37 PM.
This data set is used to delineate the Fire Weather Zones that are used by National Weather Service in the fire weather forecast program.
All attributes were verifed by the individual Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) by inspection of the data with a GIS or by viewing a hard or software image of the data. Error reports of errors received from WFO's and external users also contributed to the accuracy of the Attributes.
These data are believed to be logically consistent. Testing was performed by finding the smallest polygons and determining them to be "slivers" or genuine polygons and by overlaying a large polygon and combining, to find "holes' in the data. Since this data set is a polygon shapefile line geometry is presumed to be topologically clean.
The shoreline boundaries of the data is dependent on the shoreline edges of rivers and bays as delineated on a USGS DLG The edges or borders of the boundary might change as the natural land changes and WFOs request changes. The zone boundaries are consistent with county boundaries when county boundaries coorespond to zone boundaries and the accuracy of the zone boundries that do not lie on county boundaries as provided by the WFO or other sources containing boundaries for National and State Forests.
The data was created from USGS 1:2,000,000 DLG county data and assumed to have the same horizontal accuracy of that data. set. The internal accuracy of the zones that "split" counties varies depending on the criteria used to "split" the county (township line, coutour line, hand drawn, etc).
Source: |
National Weather Service (OST/SEC GIS Map Group) |
Projection/Datum: |
GCS, NAD 83 |
Data Download: |
Go to NWS Download |
Change History |
The WFDSS application is "data rich". It requires data which is spatially oriented and graphically displays information to support wildland fire and other natural resource decisions. Due to the type and number of interagency spatial data sets required in April 2009 an interagency GIS Team was formed to provide data support for WFDSS. This Team is responsible for acquiring, consolidating, and validating their agency spatial and tabular data. In addition this team developed and maintained communications among local, regional, and national agency personnel to improve the collection process and provide explicit guidance on data needs. The members of the WFDSS GIS Team are:
Table 1: WFDSS GIS Team Contacts
WFDSS GIS Team Contacts |
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Amanda Rumsey
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Susan McClendon |
Jill Kuenzi
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Joseph Kafka |
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Andrew Bailey |
Skip Edel |
Julie Osterkamp
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Jennifer L. Jenkins BLM-Alaska Fire Service 907.356.5587 send email
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