Projects

Browse present and past projects.

Displaying 26 - 50 of 168
2012-Present
Considerable effort is expended to determine fuel loadings and to map those loadings across the landscape, yet there is little or no work being done to determine how to incorporate those measurements into the next generation of fire behavior models… more

2014 - 2016
Wildland fires emit a substantial amount of atmospheric pollutants including carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and black carbon particles (BC). These… more
Contact(s): Shawn Urbanski

2001-2006
Predicting Post-fire Douglas-fir Beetle Attacks and Tree Mortality in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Tree mortality following fire is influenced by multiple factors. Many coniferous species have life history traits and characteristics that can… more
Contact(s): Sharon Hood

2008-present
Mapping Potential Dry Lightning Strikes Dry lightning refers to strikes that produce 0.10 inch or less of rainfall nearby (or 0.25 inch east of the Mississippi River). This kind of lightning storm occurs frequently in the western U.S. during the… more
Contact(s): Paul Sopko

2003-2010
Prescribed Burning: Can We Do It Without Killing the Trees We Are Trying to Save? The use of prescribed fire has become a major tool for restoring fire-dependent ecosystem health throughout the west and use will likely increase in the future.… more
Contact(s): Sharon Hood

2000-2003
Effectiveness of hands-on education in fire science using the FireWorks educational program. Two research projects investigated effectiveness of hands-on learning techniques for increasing understanding of wildland fire and changing attitudes about… more
Contact(s): Ilana Abrahamson

2011-2013
Synthesis of Wildland Fire Emission Factors Smoke from wildland fires is a rich and complex mixture of gases and aerosols. Over 200 gas compounds have been identified in biomass smoke and wildland fires are a significant source of carbonaceous… more
Contact(s): Shawn Urbanski

2013-present
Increasingly intense fire seasons, rapidly changing ecosystems, and an expanding wildland-urban interface all increase the hazard that fires pose to communities, watersheds, and ecosystems. Fuel treatments offer managers an opportunity to… more

2015
The Upper Tenmile Watershed is located southwest of the City of Helena, Montana, on the Helena National Forest (HNF). The watershed is an important source of drinking water for the city and is also a popular recreational area for nearby residents.… more

1994-2010
**FARSITE4 is no longer be supported or available for download. FlamMap6 now includes FARSITE.** See FlamMap for more information.

2020-present
Advanced 3D fire models offer new possibilities for detailed analysis of fuel treatments and prescribed fires. However, the spatially explicit, detailed 3D fuels data they require is difficult to get, particularly for large areas. FastFuels opens… more
Contact(s): Russell Parsons

2006-present
For a quick overview see our FFI: Ecological Monitoring Story Map FFI is designed to help managers fulfill monitoring requirements set forth in Federal legislation and agency policy. It supports scalable (project to landscape scale) monitoring at… more
Contact(s): Duncan Lutes

2008-2011
Characterizing Information on Fire and Invasive Plants Wildland managers need detailed information about the responses of invasive species to fire and the conditions that increase site invasibility in order to effectively manage fire without… more
Contact(s): Kris Zouhar

2016 - 2021
We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database includes records from 164,293 individual trees with records of fire injury, tree diameter, and… more
Contact(s): Sharon Hood

2009 - present
The fire characteristics chart is a graphical method of presenting primary surface or crown fire behavior characteristics or U.S. National Fire Danger Rating (NFDRS) indices. It is a stand-alone component of the BehavePlus fire modeling system. A… more
Contact(s): Faith Ann Heinsch

1986-present
Thousands of scientific articles and reports are published each year on wildland fire, making it difficult for managers, planners, and scientists to find, read, and use the best available science. A team of ecologists reviews this information and… more
Contact(s): Ilana Abrahamson

The Seminar Series runs from Fall to Spring
The Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory has been hosting an annual seminar series since 1998. Hour-long seminars are presented by Fire Lab employees and other researchers from throughout the world. Seminars cover current research and management about… more

2013-2014
Observations and Recommendations on Fire Management in Nepal In April, 2013, Forester and Spatial Fire Analyst Chuck McHugh spent two weeks in Nepal providing comment and review of the Nepalese fire management program. His visit was coordinated… more
Contact(s): Charles McHugh

2014 - present
A team of four individuals, supported through the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, convened in October 2014 to conduct a fire regime assessment in Eastern Province of Zambia. The team, which included a multinational assemblage from the… more

2007 - presetn
FMSF is a place to run wildland fire behavior and effects models for use within other systems. It brings improved performance, consistent data, and faster analysis results. FMSF also provides a key feature to users by greatly reducing the… more
Contact(s): Nicole Vailant

2011-2014
Classifying Fire Severity Based on simulated surface fuel combustion and heat transfer. Fire severity classifications summarize and distill ecological impacts of fire on fuels, vegetation, wildlife, and soils in recently burned areas with the… more
Contact(s): Pamela Sikkink

2017-Present
Image The Fire Weather Alert System (FWAS) has been designed to warn on-the-ground firefighters of dangerous weather conditions in their area. Users set custom weather thresholds and the FWAS sends… more

2008-2013
Understanding Fire Whirl Genesis and Impacts to Firefighter Safety Synthesis of existing knowledge and new research was used to understand fire whirl genesis, behavior, and firefighter safety impacts. Fire whirls, especially the larger ones,… more
Contact(s): Jason Forthofer

2011-present
This project is a continuation and expansion of several past research projects on fire-induced tree mortality. Please see individual project page for details on specific projects (Douglas-fir and Fire, Post-fire Tree Mortality, Wildfire effects in… more
Contact(s): Sharon Hood

2010-2016
Disturbance and disturbance interactions drive multiple ecosystem processes over multiple spatial and temporal scales. This project investigated the role of frequent, low-severity fire in Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forests in altering the… more
Contact(s): Sharon Hood