Review of: Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Process

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Process

Description

The purpose of the BAER program is risk management and responding to risk by changed environmental conditions created by fire.?This process includes identifying significant post-fire threats of human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources, working to recognize risks and take preemptive action to manage risk or minimize damages. BAER is funded with support from fire suppression budgets.?

Duration: 1-2 weeks

Assessments typically take 1-2 weeks depending on geographical size of the fire. If there is a need for federal assistance there must be a request for funding within 7 days of fire containment.?The Federal BAER Teams must deploy after significant containment of the fire.?They have up to 14 days to identify the post fire conditions and their potential cascaded effects (CalFire, 2015).

Responsible Resources

Five Federal Agencies run BAER type programs on their land, however, state activities are to be run by the Forestry agency teamed with emergency management on non-federal land, as in the case of California and Washington State. In the case of the Federal Agencies most of the Subject Matter Experts positions are pre-assigned, at the district level. However, the State Post Fire Watershed Emergency Response Team (SPFWERT), in California, was staffed with both State and Federal personnel (CalFire, 2015).

Triggers

There is no common emergency management trigger. However, the Forest Service has an established threat level.?The requirement for BAER activation is any fire greater than 500 acres or ones that encroach upon urban developments. Threat levels for fires on non-FS land, require a threat level to be established by the dependent community/responsible party.

Predecessors

In the Forest Service, as in other federal land management agencies, actions taken beforehand include preparedness actions, pre-season training, and predetermined team assignments.?The Forest Service personnel carry Red Card qualifications for the BAER team.

Input Requirements

BAER Teams require:

1)??????FEMA flood insurance maps

2)??????satellite imagery (Pre-Fire Reflectance) infrastructure data and site maps

3)?????Burn Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) maps.

Products

The BAER produces treatment plans for:

• Watershed areas categorized in the natural recovery
• Administrative closures
• A soil burns severity map from ground validation, such as field surveys and aerial reconnaissance when imagery is not available due to cloud and smoke cover, of the BARC data?

A standard report captures:

·????????Burn severity expanse

·????????Locations at risk

·????????Potential severity

·????????Prescribes treatments to manage soil and vegetation on slopes, upstream of buildings, roads, culverts, and bridges.

·????????Cost estimate for recommended actions

The BAER team provides the final Soil Burn Severity Map. They produce this by field validating the BARC data. The Soil Burn Severity Map is required for flood, erosion, and debris flow modeling.??

Issues/Other Considerations

1. Production of the final version of the Soil Burn Severity Map is not the highest priority for the BAER teams. This map is critical, and the flood, debris flow, and erosion models cannot be produced without it.

2. There are no independent processes for emergency management agencies to map this BAER process on their own and therefore, are dependent on each coordinator to create their own model.?

3. There are no deliberate triggers that can start a BAER process to enable the responsible agencies to participate with at-risk communities in a timely manner.?

Process to create Soil Burn Severity Map (SBS Map)

Description

The Soil Burn Severity Map establishes the baseline change in soil conditions and is a critical tool in assessing threat change.?The product is developed through the BAER process by validating the four (unburned, low, moderate, and high severity) soil classification used in the BARC Map and adjusting them accordingly.?The BARC Map is derived from satellite information comparing pre and post wildfire vegetation cover (Geospatial technology and Application Center, 2016). These satellite images are taken from United States Geological Survey (USGS) EROS owned Landsat 7 EMT+ & Landsat 8 OLI satellites.??These satellites overlap rotations every 16 days. Further development of the BARC Map is derived from burn comparison from inference which are made about burn severity and soil conditions. 256 reflectance ranges are reclassified into four categories, which are unburned, low, moderate, and high severity.?This reclassification is verified in the field by the BAER team that publishes the final Soil Burn Severity Map.

Duration: 4 days to 4 weeks

The duration for creating a SBS maps is highly variable, it can range from a few days to several weeks depending on the satellite availability. An opportunity to take a satellite image exists every eight days.?Two satellites are available to take these images, they each run on a sixteen-day orbit.?Once Geospatial technology and Application Center (GTAC) has acquired the images, there is an average turnaround time of 4 days.?The data has a typical modeling time of 4-6 hours, this process is largely automated. Sometimes the publication of the map is delayed due to other important tasks being performed by the field teams, for instance the development of mitigation projects for at-risk infrastructure.??

Responsible Resources

The BARC model and map is produced at the GTAC by USGS and USFS personnel and their contractors in Salt Lake City, Utah. The final Burn Severity Map is validated and produced by the team running the BAER process.?

Triggers

The team running the BAER process must request the acquisition of the BARC data.?

Predecessors

BAER/field survey teams must be formed before the BARC is acquired from the satellites via and online request.

?Input Requirements

Part 1: BARC

1)?????Digital elevation model from which slope elevation can be derived.?

2)?????Landsat 7 & 8 images

3)?????Rainfall recurrence intervals estimates from National Oceans Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

?Part 2: Soil Burn Severity Map

1)?????BARC reclassification data

2)?????Field team validation data

?Products

·????????BARC map shape file.

·????????Data Table of the reclassified soil.?

·????????The Soil Burn Severity Map.?

Issues/Other Considerations

1. Federal wildfire customers are priority for GTAC, while external customers, such as FEMA or state forestry agencies can be given priority consideration.?All other customers are considered situational.?However, the treatment of these requests has been inconsistent and a stable funding process may not exist.??
2. Landsat imagery is acquired on a regular schedule, which cannot be modified.?GTAC works with the BAER Teams regarding image acquisition.?
3. Contract rules to fund BARC models do not create a direct avenue for non-federal wildfire customers.
4. Prioritization of BARC data and completion of the Soil Burn Severity Map is critical for all downstream modeling.?Potentially several weeks can be saved in the risk analysis process by prioritizing the development of these two products.??

Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) Spatial Mapping Products

The BARC map shows the burn severity of the soil, prior to field validation.?The following is an example of a GIS text box required for Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC).

Table 1: Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) Spatial Mapping Products (Watershed Clearinghouse FEMA-4240-DR-CA)

Table 1 represents the products produced by the BAER teaming using the BARC data to evaluate features in the burned area that are at risk, such as bridges, roads, and culverts. ?The Geospatial Mapping Products include name of the map, descriptions, naming conventions, and inputs. (Watershed Clearinghouse Data and Products_20151120.xlsx, Ethridge)

NGA Assessed Buildings

Description

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) identifies affected Structures in and around the Fire Perimeter. Imagery analysis using remote sensed imagery (RSI) techniques on post fire conditions in conjunction with multiple public and proprietary data sources.

BAER Assessment: Bridges/Culverts/Dams in Burned Area

Description

This map depicts locations of bridges, culverts, and dams that may potentially be impacted by debris flow from the burned areas of the Valley/Butte Fire. The sites are made of field assessed locations from the SPFWERT Phase 1 report, the NBI, and NID. This map also includes data from the Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) developed by the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team.

Naming Convention

FireName_Bridge_ Extent_BARC_date

Input (Key Data Layers) BARC, Bridges, Culverts, Dams, Potential Debris Impacted Culverts, Wiers

BAER Assessment: BAER SME Sites in Burned Area

Description

This map depicts assessment sites from the SPFWERT Phase 1 report that may potentially be impacted by debris flow from the burned areas of the Valley/Butte Fire. The map also includes BARC data developed by the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team of the U.S. Forest Service.

Naming Convention

FireName_CF_Assessment_LifeHazard_BARC_date

Input (Key Data Layers) BAER SME Risk and Project Locations

BAER Damage Assessment: NGA Building Damage Assessment in Burned Area

Description

This map depicts the damage assessment buildings layer created by the (NGA) for the Valley/Butte Fire. The map also includes (BARC) data developed by (BAER) Team.

Naming Convention

FireName_NGA_Assessment_BARC_date

Input (Key Data Layers) NGA Preliminary Damage Analysis

BAER Damage Assessment: NGA Building Damage Assessment in Burned Area

Description

This map depicts the damage assessment buildings layer created by the (NGA) for the Valley/Butte Fire. The map also includes (BARC) data developed by the (BAER) Team of the U.S. Forest Service.

Naming Convention

FireName_NGA_Assessment_BARC_date

Input (Key Data Layers) NA6:D8GA Preliminary Damage Analysis

Appendix