ArcFuels

Internal Tool Developers: Alan Ager, Nicole Vaillant

External Tool Authors: John Anderson, Lead Programmer, BalanceTech, LLC

Planning vegetation and fuel management is complex, requiring sophisticated vegetation and fire behavior modeling that corresponds with the latest mapping data. Land management decisions must consider impacts to ignition probabilities, fire intensity and spread, and risks to ecological and manmade features.

ArcFuels streamlines fuel management planning, providing tools for quantitative wildfire risk assessment. Designed to integrate seamlessly with ArcMap mapping software and data, ArcFuels interfaces with common Forest Service modeling programs, too, such as the Forest Vegetation Simulator and FlamMap, to produce stand-level to landscape-scale analysis. The ArcMap framework can also incorporate data from a variety of sources, allowing users to customize their analysis to address project-specific issues.

ArcFuels is currently managed by the Forest Service's Missoula Fire Lab. For more information please watch the ArcFuels "Overview" webinar, or see a list of publications and case studies.

The online tutorial provides links to download ArcFuels, demonstration data, and exercises.