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To load perimeters for multiple fires into one fire record
WFDSS is designed with the idea of a 1:1 relationship between decisions and wildfires. Similarly, WFDSS is built in a way that when a perimeter is uploaded for an incident, the perimeter data are dissolved and the data becomes associated with that incident. The integrity of individual fire data is critical to an analysts ability to make sense of a situation and for upwards reporting. When data for multiple incidents is combined under one fire record, this integrity is compromised.
Impacts of loading perimeters for multiple fires into one fire record in WFDSS include:
- The “Latest perimeter Size” field in WFDSS is calculated based on the perimeter uploaded to the incident with the latest effective date in WFDSS. This value is shared with IRWIN as “Calculated Acres”. It then is displayed in other systems, including EGP and Inform. If perimeters for multiple fires are loaded into one record in WFDSS, it will inflate the Calculated Acres value reported resulting in a distorted picture of the fire situation, which can lead to confusion for those viewing the data.
- The National Incident Feature Service (NIFS) and it’s derivative products display the Calculated Acres field as shown in IRWIN. If perimeters for other fires are included in the wrong incident, this can result in a large disconnect between the acres shown from IRWIN, from NIFS, and from other authoritative sources such as Sit/209.
- Users occasionally download a fire perimeter from WFDSS to use in the National Incident Feature Service or for final fire reporting. If perimeters are loaded for multiple fires into one fire record in WFDSS, someone may inadvertently download a “perimeter” made up of the perimeters of multiple fires and upload that into a final fire reporting system, distorting the record. It can be very difficult for a user, looking at data collected during a fire, to tell if a perimeter consisting of multiple parts was from one fire that had spots or was actually two for more fires. The system, expecting that a fire perimeter shape was intended for the fire in which it’s loaded, does not maintain GIS attributes that allow a user to separate them later.
At the end of the calendar year, WFDSS perimeters are pulled together into a Historic Fire Perimeters dataset. Because there is no automated way to check perimeters to see if perimeters for multiple fires were loaded into a single fire record, all of those multiple perimeters become part of the Historic Fire Perimeters dataset, labeled with the name of the incident into which they were loaded. This can cause confusion for users who are later trying to use the data for situational awareness or in masks and barriers for fire behavior modeling.
Here are a few suggestions to effectively deal with needing to see or use perimeters from fires within a WFDSS record when they are perimeters for a different record.
- WFDSS does not provide support for creating complexes, adding incidents to complexes, or removing them, but WFDSS does provide a way to view the incidents in a complex through the WFDSS Groups tab. When viewing a Group Map, you can see current and published planning areas, fire perimeters, Management Action Points, Incident Objective Shapes, and points of origin for all fires in the group on the same map.
- When using the incident Situation Map, turn on the WFDSS Fires Since 1/1/2021 layer under Disturbance History and zoom so that you can see all of the relevant fires.
- On the Incident Situation Map, you can put fire perimeters into the Incident Objective Shapes layer. This has an added optional benefit of being able to associate an incident objective with the perimeter of a fire.
- When modeling for a group of fires under one incident, you do not need all of the perimeters in the Fire Perimeter for the fire. You can upload fire perimeters to be used as barriers, masks, and ignitions in those layers. If using ignitions for the various fires, the analysts can model their runs from the group of incidents, and agency administrators or other people can see the potential impacts of the fires on common values at risk or other management considerations.
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Last updated on 12/30/2021 9:57:43 AM.
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