Creating a Stratified Cost Index (SCI)

NOTE: The WFDSS application automatically generates and accepts SCI for fires over 300 acres that start on federal lands. The SCI is currently processed once a day.

Anyone with editing privileges for the incident can create a Stratified Cost index (SCI) for an incident. Only the person who created the SCI can edit it or accept the calculations. An SCI cannot be created on the day a fire originates, as it takes 24 hours to generate the weather stream that informs the calculation.

Before creating an SCI, you need the following information:

• A fire located on federal jurisdiction.
• The Unit ID for the responsible agency. (This is auto-filled when you enter the latitude and longitude for an incident.)
• An estimated fire size of 300 or more acres.

NOTE: Because SCI runs a Basic Fire Behavior analysis when you request it, it may take several minutes for the SCI run to appear in your list. Click Create only once. From the left menu, select Stratified Cost Index to refresh your view.

If SCI results are accepted, the results will be available in the incident content tree (within the decision editor) for you to add to a decision.

To create an SCI:

1. From the Incident List, select the incident you want to create an SCI for.
2. Click View Information. The Edit Incident Information page appears.
3. Click the Cost tab.
4. Locate the Stratified Cost Index section, and then click View SCI List. The Stratified Cost Index List appears. If no one has created an SCI for the incident, the list will be empty.

   A message appears at the top of the screen reminding you that SCI applies only to the federal wildfire agencies within the continental United States, federal wildfire agencies excluding the US Forest Service in Alaska, and that SCI is valid only for fires of 300+ acres.

5. Click Create. The screen reloads with the SCI Parameters.
6. Enter an SCI Name.

   This name appears in the incident decision tree, so be as specific and descriptive as possible (e.g., 3/30/2009 1000-5000 acres)

7. Enter Estimated Acreage for each alternative cost, starting with the actual burned acres.

   Note: If you entered an incident size on the Edit Incident Information page, the Acres Burned field will be auto-filled with that number. If the acreage on the Incident Information page is less than 300 acres, 300 will be used as the default. Results for fires less than 300 acres may not be accurate.

8. Click Save. A message appears at the top of the screen telling you that the parameters have been saved.
9. Click Return. The Stratified Cost Index List refreshes, and displays your SCI request.
10. Go to the Editing and Accepting an SCI task.

If your request doesn't appear in the SCI List within an hour, contact the HelpDesk.

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   Last updated on 1/10/2013 2:54:11 PM.

In This Section Stratified Cost Index To create an SCI:

See Also Editing and Accepting an SCI Copying an SCI Viewing SCI Details Deleting an SCI

Reference Field Descriptions Glossary Resources Spatial Data Reference Landscape Data Source Reference Relative Risk Reference Organization Assessment Reference Fire Behavior Reference About the WFDSS Decision Editors