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Weather Forecasting Group

Fire Weather Workshop October 2003

Ash Wednesday Fires Australia

The aim of the workshop was to further understand the extent of research activities devoted to fire weather in various international agencies, to highlight current weaknesses or deficiencies that would benefit from national and international collaboration and to explore possibilities to develop such collaborative links.

It was recognised that there is significant existing coordination of fire related activities with high level coordination existing within ISDNR Panel of Experts and the WMO. However the emphasis is primarily on important climate related issues, community preparedness and remote sensing. Weather specific fire problems are being tackled by various agencies internationally with significant overlap in the problems faced. The workshop was looking to find mechanisms and possible responsibilities to facilitate increased collaboration between individual groups and if appropriate within the WWRP framework.

The workshop was hosted by BMRC and the WWRP from 9-10 October in BMRC, Melbourne, Australia. It followed the International Wildfires Meeting and associated meetings conducted in Sydney, Australia from 4-8 October, 2003.

Areas for discussion at the BMRC/WWRP meeting included:

• Short-range fire weather prediction

• Medium range to seasonal fire weather outlooks

• Fire weather under climate /climate variability change

• Fire behaviour models

• Impact of weather on fuel state

• Smoke transport

• Decision support systems

• Remote sensing issues

• Training/stakeholder education

• Identification of operational user requirements

• Links with other international programs"

Groups participating in the workshop included Desert Research Institute, Wildland Fire R&D Collaboratory, USDA-USFS Riverside, Bureau of Land Management, CSIRO FFP, University of Melbourne, Monash University, NT University, BMRC, Bureau of Meteorology.

Meeting Agenda

Meeting Summary

Meeting Participants