Developing a Wildfire Component for the NIDIS California Drought Early Warning System

This project intended to build upon the California-Nevada Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) through development of enhanced visualization and analysis tools and establishment of a stronger and more direct link between drought early warning and wildfire management and planning. The goals of the project were to (1) interact with stakeholders to determine specifically what type of drought information is most pertinent for them to manage potential wildfire risk; (2) collaborate with a key stakeholder(s) to develop drought-related, decision-support information and tools; and (3) enhance the California DEWS. The work aimed to orient around a deliberate co-production of science approach with stakeholders from several groups, including Predictive Services, U.S. Forest Service, and CAL FIRE.

This project was part of the FY 2016 Coping with Drought research competition, which focused on advancing specific NIDIS regional Drought Early Warning Systems (DEWS), targeting specific communities and sectors within these areas. The four targeted regions and their associated focus areas included the Missouri River Basin (agricultural and/or water supply focus); Midwest along the Mississippi River (transportation, agricultural, and/or water supply focus); Colorado River Basin (water supply, recreation, tourism, and/or energy focus); and California (water, agricultural, and/or wildfire focus).

For more information, please contact Amanda Sheffield (amanda.sheffield@noaa.gov).