WFAS, the Wildland Fire Assessment System, is an internet-based information system. The current implementation provides a national view of weather and fire potential, including national fire danger and weather maps and satellite-derived "Greenness" maps (Burgan and others 1997). Development is continuing. See News for current information.
WFAS was first made available in 1994. In 1999 operation was transferred from the Fire Sciences Laboratory (FS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula MT) to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC, Boise, ID).
WFAS was redesigned in 2002 to provide easier access to products and vastly improve the archival process. The archives now provide real-time access to past map images including fire danger, heavy fuel moisture, Haines Index, and greenness.
The navigation bar on the left organizes products by category. Selection provides access to links along with a description of the product.
The Quick Links table provides direct access to products, which are categorized as
- Current conditions
- Forecast
- Image archive (just pictures)
- Data archive
Archives are selected from a calendar. Variables available for each day are listed. Pop ups from wfas.net should be allowed. Maps/Data are loaded into seperate windows so different dates/maps can be compared. Animation of past 7 images is no longer available.