FFT Online: User Documentation

Getting Started

FFT Online bundles the fire modeling tools FCCS & Consume into a single web-based application.

• FCCS (the Fuel Characteristic Classification System) stores and classifies fuels data as fuelbeds and calculates fuel and carbon loadings, surface fire metrics, and FCCS fire potentials (available fuel, surface fire, and crown fire).
• Consume predicts burn outcomes for given FCCS fuelbeds, estimating fuel consumption, selected pollutant emissions, and heat release.
• FFT Online generates both
• 'By fuelbed' scaleless estimates (either tons/acre or Mg/hectare) for preburn biomass and projected burn consumption and emissions outputs under given environmental conditions.
• 'By burn unit' values which crunch the scaleless outputs into unit totals for given area inputs.
• Using the tool starts with selecting fuelbeds from the Fuelbed Library, consisting of 216 'standard' fuelbeds developed to represent the major vegetation types of the United States. Users can also access specialized fuelbed collections, including the Region 6 (R6) fuelbeds developed to represent changes in fuelbeds over time along natural and disturbance successional pathways.
• Selecting a fuelbed adds it to the Fuelbed Editor, where it can be used as defined or modified to create a customized fuelbed with general or site-specific data to address fire science management or research questions.

Quick Start Guide (4 Steps)

Step 1: Select and edit fuelbeds then click Run.

Step 2: Specify burn conditions (i.e., the EV Scenario), optionally define a burn unit, then click Get outputs. See the EV form help page for input definitions.

Step 3: View/download outputs. Results will appear below the fuelbed tables (you may have to scroll). See the FFT Outputs help page for more info.

The run's environmental scenario inputs are given first for reference.


Followed by calculator outputs given as downloadable tables, reports, and charts.

Step 4: Download the given run's fuelbeds for future use (if desired).

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Using FFT Online: A Closer Look

 

Setting up a run
With over 100 inputs to specify, building an FCCS fuelbed from scratch is a daunting and time-consuming task. To help users get started, the FCCS Reference Fuelbed Library was developed to represent wide variety of forests, shrublands, and grasslands across the US. To build a run, start by selecting up to 5 fuelbeds that represent your study/management area (see Selecting Fuelbeds for more information on using the fuelbed filters).

When selecting a reference fuelbed you have two options:

• Click View to use the fuelbed as-is. Reference fuelbeds are read-only, indicated by a gray cell background.
• Click Add a copy to edit to use the fuelbed as the starting point for a user fuelbed. You will be prompted for a unique fuelbed number to use (numbers < 1000 are reserved for reference and other fuelbed sets), with an appropriate suggestion (parent fuelbed number + 'u#') to accept or edit.

User fuelbeds either created during the current session or uploaded to the web tool will appear in the 'User Fuelbeds' section of the Fuelbed Library. They can be added to the editor by clicking either Add (to continue editing) or Add a copy to edit (to make another fuelbed based on the existing one).

Due to server contstraints, web tool runs are limited to a max of 5 fuelbeds. Users will notice a pause between clicking 'Get outputs' and the appearance of outputs. Crunch times will vary depending on user internet bandwidth. To process larger batches of fuelbeds we recommend running the apps locally from command line.

Here's a closer look at the user interface:

Editing species and litter compostion
Throughout fuelbeds, species composition is required for stratum subcategories. The ‘Species:Relative cover %’ columns that display the values are read-only. To edit these lists, click the row’s ‘Edit species’ button to reveal a 2 column sub-table for editing.

Litter type percents work in much the same way with the ‘Edit Litter’ button, except all 7 litter type options are listed statically.

Presence/absence of fuelbed components

 

Editing piled fuels. Piled fuels data (in the Wood stratum) are stored as loadings per cleanliness category.
Underlying those loadings are pile groups, defined in the embedded Pile Calculator.