BlueSky Smoke Modeling System: Decision Support Tools for Fire and Air Quality Managers

Remote-sensing satellite data products developed by NASA to improve smoke modeling are becoming more available and accessible. Sonoma Technology and the USDA Forest Service made improvements to the BlueSky Framework and Modeling System, which predicts air quality impacts from wildland and prescribed fires. Sonoma Technology integrated and applied satellite-derived data to improve system performance and flexibility to expand the system's audience to include additional policy and decision makers. Enhancements to the existing BlueSky System include the addition of satellite fire observations as new inputs to the prediction system, reconciliation of satellite-observed and human-reported fires, and the expansion of the system to operate on a national scale.
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The results of this work support decision makers in the following ways:
<ul>
<li>Provides air quality managers with smoke predictions and information to issue air quality alerts and health advisories</li>
<li>Provides fire managers with information to support burn/no-burn decisions</li></ul>