Forest Information Management Forest Information Management Challenges in the Challenges in the

Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest TerritoriesKathleen Kathleen GroenewegenGroenewegen, GIS Specialist, GIS Specialist

Forest Management DivisionForest Management DivisionGovernment of the Northwest Territories, CanadaGovernment of the Northwest Territories, Canada

Data Management Breakout SessionData Management Breakout SessionInternational Workshop on Advances in Operational Weather SystemInternational Workshop on Advances in Operational Weather Systems for Fire Danger Ratings for Fire Danger Rating

July 14July 14--16, 200816, 2008

Network Issues

2 Headquarters offices5 Regional offices1,284,344.72 km2

~ 44,000 peopleIntermittently reliable network connectionsLow bandwidth – although improvingMISSION CRITICAL BUSINESS

Fire Perimeter MappingChallenges

Large land baseForest fires a natural phenomenon

NOT ‘Initial Attack’-driven

Limited base dataCostly to visit all firesReporting requirementsDifficult to estimate severity

SolutionsOperational fire mapping standards

GPS data collection standardsMap Templates

Research remote sensing for extent mappingBurn Severity Mapping

Researching Quick Bird

Values at Risk ManagementChallenges

Essential for forest protection decision makingErrors in historical datasetCostly to managePoint, line, polygon

CabinsTrap linesWildlife habitat

caribouwhooping crane nests

SolutionsStandard operating procedures for VAR data collectionActive management of datasetStrict quality controlExamining options for spatial VAR representationCollect new VAR coverage for the NWT

Fuel Cache ManagementChallenges

Need for up-to-date fuel cache status for fire operationsDuplication of effortFuel expiration

SolutionsFuel cache tracking in Forest Management Information System

Expiry datesQuantities availableSpatial locationsTracked inspections

FMIS Fuel Cache Module e.g.

FMIS Fuel Cache Module e.g.

FMIS Fuel Cache Module e.g.

FMIS Fuel Cache Module e.g.

Forest Management Information System

Forest Resource & Wildfire Management infoSQL Server databasesESRI ArcSDE 9.xCASE Tools for UML Modeling

MS Visio Pro 2003Front-end Wildfire Management module (EMBER) under construction

VB.net platform

EMBER Business Components:Manage FinanceManage Resource

PersonnelFuelTraining/certification

Manage Fire - (cont. on next slide)

EMBER / Manage Fire

Read info from Open Source Weather System

Built on PostgreSQLand PostGISAuto caller systemTracks precipitation and weather; performs risk calculations (CFFDRS)

Provides spatial displays and queriesProvides tracking / management of:

Initial assessmentsFire assessmentsIncident Response PlansFire close-out reports

Photographer: UnknownLocation: Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories, Canada