FFT Webtool: User Documentation

Results

Clicking Get outputs on the Environmental Variables form runs the FCCS and Consume calculators and displays a summary of inputs followed by tables, reports, and charts beneath the editor tables (you may have to scroll).

INPUTS

This section reviews the calculator inputs as context for subsequent outputs. FCCS takes fuelbeds under given environmental conditions, Consume takes fuelbed loadings by stratum categories under given environmental conditions.

User Fuelbeds (if applicable)

While user fuelbeds will be persisted in the Fuelbed Library during a session, this section provides links to download the given run's user fuelbeds to upload in the future if needed. See Saving and Uploading User Fuelbeds and Fuelbed Field Definitions and XML file specifications.

Given Environmental Scenario

This section displays the environmental inputs given for each tool. In the upper right is the link to download this run's 'EV Scenario' (i.e., the collective environmental variables (EV) for the two tools) for reuse in future runs (by clicking the Load EV Scenario link at the bottom of the Environmental Variables form).

OUTPUTS

At the top of the Outputs box are three buttons: two green buttons to download to each tool’s calculated output CSV files (from which all the reports and charts draw their data) and a blue button to download all the print-and user-friendly reports as a single PDF.

Raw Outputs:

• FCCS outputs file (100 fields)
  The FCCS calculator generates estimated surface fire metrics (rate of spread, flame length, and reaction intensity), FCCS potentials (surface fire behavior (SFP), crown fire (CFP), and available fuel (AFP)) and subpotentials, and loadings by stratum needed by Consume for its estimates of consumption, heat release, and emissions. The table has 100 columns and as many rows (other than the header) as fuelbeds processed. See FCCS Outputs table for full list of fields with definitions. For more in-depth explanations of these values refer to the 2013 GTR Fuel Characteristic Classification System Version 3.0: Technical Documentation.
• Consume outputs file (195 fields)
  Consume generates estimated fuel consumption (broken out both by stratum and by fire phase), emissions for methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, non-methane hydrocarbons and organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter (also broken out by stratum and by fire phase), and heat release (by fire phase) based on supplied fuel characteristics and environmental conditions. This table has 195 columns with one row per fuelbed processed. See Consume Outputs table for full data dictionary. See also the ‘Interpreting Reports and Graphs’ section of the Consume 3.0 Users Guide.

Reports and Charts: Output subsets are presented in interactive charts, each accompanied by links to the underlying data given as a print-friendly PDF report and export-friendly CSV file. Each chart wil also have a link to download it as a static PNG image. Outputs are organized into the following sections.

Preburn

Total aboveground biomass and carbon by fuelbed stratum
This section provides preburn aboveground biomass and carbon per fuelbed stratum at the fuelbed level (tons/ac or Mg/ha) and optionally at the unit level (total tons or Mg for all fuelbeds combined within given area). The fuelbed report has one row per fuelbed and the unit report (if applicable) has a single row with unit totals.

• Total Aboveground Biomass
  FCCS loadings, summarized at the stratum level from fccs_outputs.csv, which breaks the values out into finer substratum categories.

  Report Field	CSV Field	Definition
  FB#	Fuelbed_number	Fuelbed number
  Total fuelbed	Total_aboveground_biomass	Total aboveground biomass (tree and shrub crowns excluded from this sum)
  Canopy	Sum of Tree, Snag, and LadderFuel loadings	Canopy loading
  Shrub	Sum of Primary and Secondary Shrub loadings	Shrub loading
  Herb	Sum of Primary and Secondary Herb loadings	Herb loading
  Wood	Sum of Wood, Stumps, and Pile loadings	Wood loading
  LLM	Sum of Litter, Lichen, and Moss loadings	Litter-lichen-moss loading
  Ground fuels	Sum of Duff, Basal Accumulation, and Squirrel Midden loadings	Ground fuel loading

  
  
• Carbon
  This PDF provides a formatted table of estimated carbon per stratum (currently assumed to be 50% of estimated biomass). These values are not given explicitly in the fccs output file.

  Report Field	Definition
  FB#	Fuelbed number
  Total fuelbed	Total aboveground carbon (tree and shrub crowns excluded from this sum)
  Canopy	Canopy carbon
  Shrub	Shrub carbon
  Herb	Herb carbon
  Wood	Wood carbon
  LLM	Litter-lichen-moss carbon
  Ground fuels	Ground fuel carbon

Predicted Fire Behavior

This section provides estimated fire potentials and surface fire behavior metrics for each fuelbed.

• Potentials
  FCCS 4.0 Potentials Report. This PDF provides a formatted table with the FCCS Potential values.

  Report Field	CSV Field	Definition
  FB#	Fuelbed_number	Fuelbed number
  FCC_Code	FCC_Code	3-digit code comprised of the dimensionless potentials (0=min, 9=max) for surface fire behavior (SFP), crown fire (CFP), and available fuel (AFP)
  SFP	Surface_fire_potential	Surface fire behavior summary potential (SFP), calculated as the maximum of the flame length potential (FP) and reaction potential (RP), scaled to values of 0 to 9 (dimensionless)
  Reaction	Reaction_potential	A subpotential of SFP, reaction potential (RP) represents the reaction intensity (energy release per unit area per unit time) under dry fuel conditions (0-9 index).
  Spread	Spread_potential	A subpotential of SFP, spread potential (SP) is proportional to the R (distance per unit time at benchmark environmental conditions) in surface fuels (0-9 index).
  Flame	Flamelength_potential	A subpotential of SFP, flame length potential (FP) is the predicted flame length (in feet, at benchmark environmental conditions) proportional to fireline intensity or FL (0-9 index).
  CFP	Crown_fire_potential	Crown fire behavior summary potential (CFP) (0-9 index)
  Initiation	Crown_initiation_potential	A subpotential of CFP, crown fire initiation (IC) represents the likelihood that a surface fire will propagate into a crown fire.
  Transmissivity	Crown-crown_trans_potential	A subpotential of CFP, crown-to-crown transmissivity (TC) represents the potential for fire to carry through a forest canopy (0-9 index).
  CSpread	Crownfire_spread_potential	A subpotential of CFP, crown fire rate of spread (RC) is a relative index of crown fire spreading potential (0-9 index).
  AFP	Available_fuel_potential	Available fuel summary potential (AFP), an estimate of the mass of fuel present within the outside shell of layers of canopy, surface, and ground fuel elements that are potentially combustible under dry conditions in the flaming, smoldering, and residual smoldering phases of combustion (0-9 index).
  AFFlame	Flame_available_potential	A subpotential of AFP, flame available fuel (FA) is the sum of mass within ½ in of the surface of the fuel element available for the flaming phase of combustion (10 tons/ac - can exceed 9 to represent actual available loading values). FA is the sum of flame-reactive surface available fuel (the mass of fuel consumed in the flaming front of a spreading surface fire), flame-available postreactive surface fuels (the remainder of flame-available surface fuel after the passage of the flaming front), and flame-available canopy fuel (the mass of tree canopy and fine twigs).
  AFSmolder	Smolder_available_potential	A subpotential of AFP, smoldering available fuel (SA) is the sum of mass between ½ and 2 in of a fuel surface (10 tons/ac - can exceed 9 to represent actual available loading values).
  AFResidual	Residual_smolder_potential	A subpotential of AFP, residual available fuel (RA) is the sum of mass between 2 and 4 in of a fuel surface (10 tons/ac - can exceed 9 to represent actual available loading values).

  
  
• Surface Fire Behavior
  FCCS Surface Fire Behavior Report. This PDF provides a formatted table with FCCS’s estimated surface fire behavior metrics (given in the FCCS outputs file (fccs.csv) fields starting with the prefix Custom_) for each fuelbed included in the run for the specified environmental scenario (given in the FCCS Input Variables report).

  Report Field	CSV Field	Definition	English units	Metric units
  FB#	Fuelbed_number	Fuelbed number
  ROS	Custom_ROS	Predicted rate of spread under user-defined environmental scenario	ft	m
  FL	Custom_FL	Predicted flame length under user-defined environmental scenario	ft	m
  RI Total	Custom_RI	Predicted surface reaction intensity under user-defined environmental scenario	Btu/ft2/min	KJ/m2
  RI shrub	Custom_RI_Shrub	Shrub component reaction intensity under user-defined environmental scenario	Btu/ft2/min	KJ/m2
  RI herb	Custom_RI_Herb	Herb component reaction intensity under user-defined environmental scenario	Btu/ft2/min	KJ/m2
  RI wood	Custom_RI_Wood	Downed wood component reaction intensity under user-defined environmental scenario	Btu/ft2/min	KJ/m2
  RI llm	Custom_RI_LLM	LLM component reaction intensity under user-defined environmental scenario	Btu/ft2/min	KJ/m2
  XWalk13	Custom_Crosswalk13	Crosswalk to one of 13 original fire behavior prediction system (FBPS) fuel models defined by Anderson (1982) based on vegetation type, predicted rate of spread (ROS) and flame length (FL) under user-defined environmental scenario
  %ROS13	Custom_ROS%13	Percent difference of given fuelbed's Custom_ROS from the assigned Custom_Crosswalk13 fuel model's predicted rate of spread (under the same user-defined environmental scenario)	%	%
  FL%13	Custom_FL%13	Percent difference of given fuelbed's Custom_FL from the assigned Custom_Crosswalk13 fuel model's predicted flame length (under the same user-defined environmental scenario)	%	%
  Xwalk40	Custom_Crosswalk40	Crosswalk to one of the 40 standard fire behavior fuel models defined by Scott and Burgan (2005) based on assigned Crosswalk13, predicted rate of spread (ROS) and flame length (FL) under user-defined environmental scenario
  %ROS40	Custom_ROS%40	Percent difference of given fuelbed's Custom_ROS from the assigned Custom_Crosswalk40 fuel model's predicted rate of spread (under the same user-defined environmental scenario)	%	%
  %FL40	Custom_FL%40	Percent difference of given fuelbed's Custom_FL from the assigned Custom_Crosswalk40 fuel model's predicted flame length (under the same user-defined environmental scenario)	%	%

Consumption & Emissions

This section provides Consume consumption and emission estimates broken out by fuelbed stratum and fire phase, at the fuelbed level (tons/acre or Mg/ha) and the unit level if applicable (total tons or Mg for defined area). These values are taken from the Consume Output CSV (consume-output.csv).

• Fuel consumption by fuelbed stratum
  This PDF provides a formatted table with the consumption estimates by stratum calculated for the given run. The fuelbed report has one row per fuelbed and the unit report (if applicable) has a single row with unit totals.

  Report Field	CSV Field	Definition
  FB#	fuelbeds	Fuelbed number
  Preburn Loading
  Total	c_total	Estimated amount of vegetative biomass consumed during the specified burn
  Canopy	c_canopy	Estimated canopy fuel consumption during the specified burn
  Shrub	c_shrub	Estimated shrub fuel consumption during the specified burn
  Herb	c_herb	Estimated herbaceous fuel consumption during the specified burn
  Wood	c_wood	Estimated woody fuel consumption during the specified burn
  LLM	c_llm	Estimated consumption of litter-lichen-moss during the specified burn
  Ground	c_ground	Estimated ground fuel consumption during the specified burn

  
  
• Emissions by Pollutant
  This PDF provides a formatted table with the total emissions by pollutant estimated for the given run. The fuelbed report has one row per fuelbed and the unit report (if applicable) has a single row with unit totals.

  Report Field	CSV Field	Definition
  FB#	fuelbeds	Fuelbed number
  CH4	ch4	Estimated methane emissions during the specified burn
  CO	co	Estimated carbon monoxide emissions during the specified burn
  CO2	co2	Estimated carbon dioxide emissions during the specified burn
  NH3	nh3	Estimated ammonia emissions during the specified burn
  NMOC	nmoc	Estimated emissions of non-methane organic compounds during the specified burn
  NOx	nox	Estimated emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO + NO2) during the specified burn
  SO2	so2	Estimated sulfur dioxide emissions during the specified burn
  PM10	pm10	Estimated PM10 (inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller) emissions during the specified burn
  PM2.5	pm25	Estimated PM2.5 (fine inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller) emissions during the specified burn

  
  
• Emissions by Stratum and Fire Phase for selected pollutant
  This section PDFs provide reports and charts with Consume’s estimated pollutant emissions by stratum and fire phase for the given run, under provided environmental conditions. Starting with PM_2.5, these reports/charts are also available for CH₄, CO, CO₂, NMOC, NOx, SO₂, and PM₁₀.

Command Line Files

These are the csv files taken as arguments when runing each tool at command line. See Batch Processing instructions.

• FCCS Moisture CSV
  Single line input file taken as optional argument when running FCCS from command line.
  java –jar fuelbed.jar SampleFB\*.xml –p moisture_file=fccs-moisture.csv
  
  Data dictionary for fccs-moisture.csv

  Field	Definition (units)	Sample data
  oneHourFM	Fuel moisture content of 1-hr fuels (%)	6
  tenHourFM	Fuel moisture content of 10-hr fuels (%)	7
  hundredHourFM	Fuel moisture content of 100-hr fuels (%)	8
  liveNonWoodyFM	Live fuel moisture content of herbaceous fuels (%)	60
  liveShrubFM	Live fuel moisture content of shrubs (%)	90
  crownFM	Life fuel moiustre content of tree crowns (%)	90

  
  
• Consume Input CSV
  Environmental input file taken as an argument when running Consume from command line, containing as many rows as fuelbeds.
  python consume_batch.py activity consume-input-file.csv -f consume_loadings.csv
  
  Data dictionary for consume-input-file.csv with default values as examples.

  Field	Definition (units)	Sample data
  fuelbeds	Fuelbed number (one per row)	220u1
  area	Area (acres)	1
  fm_duff	Fuel moisture content of duff (%)	40
  fm_1000hr	Fuel moisture content of 1000-hr fuels (%)	15
  can_con_pct	Percent of canopy stratum blackened by fire (%)	0
  shrub_black_pct	Percent of shrub stratum blackened by fire (%)	50
  pile_black_pct	Percent consumption of piles (%)	90
  units	Specified output units (tons or tons per acre)	tons
  ecoregion	Boreal, Southern, or Western	western
  fm_litter	Fuel moisture content of litter (%)	10
  season	Winter, spring, summer, or fall	fall
  duff_pct_available	% duff available for consumption, 0-100%	55
  sound_cwd_pct_available	% sound coarse woody debris available for consumption, 0-100%	55
  rotten_cwd_pct_available	% rotten coarse woody debris available for consumption, 0-100%	70
  Activity fuels only:
  slope	Slope gradient (%)	0
  windspeed	Windspeed (mph)	4
  days_since_rain	Number of days since significant rainfall (> ¼ inch)	7
  length_of_ignition	Time to ignite burn unit (min.)	30
  fm_type	Type of fuel moisture (MEAS-Th or NFDRS-Th)	MEAS-Th
  fm_10hr	Fuel moisture of 10-hr wood	10

  
  
• Consume Loadings (always English units)
  FCCS-calculated loadings by substrata for each fuelbed, formatted for input to Consume at command line (consume-loadings.csv).
  python consume_batch.py natural consume-input-file.csv -f consume-loadings.csv
  
  This table has 51 columns with one row per fuelbed. See the Consume Inputs: Loadings data dictionary for field definitions (essentially a repackaging of fields from fccs.csv as specfied by Consume).