BlueSky Playground
BlueSky Playground
Playground provides interactive access to the models and calculations enabled by the BlueSky Framework. Users can enter basic fire information and compute various fuels, fire, and emissions information as well as model plume rise and smoke dispersion. This can be particularly useful for prescribed burns, potential wildfire burnouts, and other wildland fire simulations.
Disclaimer: Tools are provided for research purposes only, and may not accurately reflect what happened due to numerous reasons. Models are subject to errors and inaccuracies. Data are provisional and subject to change. Use at own risk.
Tool Link
Version 3.5
Use https://tools.airfire.org/playground/v3.5 to access.
See what's new in this version: Updates Log
Compatibility
This tool works best under Google Chrome. Internet Explorer / Edge browsers in particular may have issues and features are not guaranteed to work.
Help
Help Pages
An extensive set of help pages for Playground v3.5 is in development, and are split out according to specific user interface sections.
Demo Exercise
A demo exercise is available that includes instructions and a recorded walkthrough
Questions
Internal inquiries Air Resource Advisors should post questions/issues to the WFAQRP > #playground channel. System outages should be posted in the WFAQRP > #critical channel
External inquiries Questions regarding the BlueSky Playground, the BlueSky Daily Run Viewer, and the BlueSky Modeling Framework may be directed to Dr. Sim Larkin, USFS-AirFire, sim.larkin (at) usda.gov.
Credits
Community Credits
BlueSky Playground would not be possible without the generous assistance and involvement of many people. We particularly wish to thank the model and data developers who have created the great fire information, fuels information, consumption models, emissions factors, meteorological forecasts, and dispersion models used within Playground.
FUELS INFORMATION DATASETS
FCCS – Fuels Characteristic Classification System, U.S. Forest Service FERA Team, esp. Dr. Don McKenzie
LANDFIRE – U.S. Forest Service Missoula Fire Lab
CONSUMPTION MODELS
CONSUME – U.S. Forest Service FERA Team, esp. Drs. Roger Ottmar, Susan Prichart, and Clint Wright also many thanks to MTRI and Prof. Nancy French.
EMISSIONS FACTORS / MODELS
Emissions Factors – from Prichard et al. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19066
DISPERSION MODELS
HYSPLIT – NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, esp. Dr. Roland Draxlar
VSMOKE-GIS – U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, esp. Dr. Scott Goodrick
METEOROLOGICAL FORECASTS
National 12-km Forecast – from the National Weather Service NAM forecast model
National 3-km Forecast – from the National Weather Service NAM forecast model
PNW 4-km Forecast – from the Northwest Regional Modeling Consortium, lead Prof. Cliff Mass, University of Washington
PNW 1.33-km Forecast – from the Northwest Regional Modeling Consortium, lead Prof. Cliff Mass, University of Washington
California / Nevada 4-km Forecast – from the California / Nevada Smoke and Air Consortium (CANSAC), led by Prof. Tim Brown, Desert Research Institute
California / Nevada 1.33-km Forecast – from the California / Nevada Smoke and Air Consortium (CANSAC), led by Prof. Tim Brown, Desert Research Institute
Arizona / New Mexico 1.8-km Forecast – from the University of Arizona
Alaska 12-km Forecast – from the National Weather Service NAM forecast model
Playground Development Credits
Original Concept and Project Lead: Sim Larkin, USFS AirFire
Major Development Lead: Susan O'Neill, USFS AirFire
version 3
Front End Development (v3): Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Backend Processing Through BlueSky v4 Pipeline Development: Joel Dubowy, UW SEFS
versions 1 and 2
Lead Development: Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Playground development has been supported by numerous organizations, principally:
US Forest Service
National Fire Plan
Joint Fire Sciences Program
NASA
Department of the Interior
