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PMS 936-1

Run Analysis & Update Metadata


Run Analysis

Several geographic calculations and analyses are commonly used to answer questions posed during a wildfire incident.

Calculations should only be run on an Offline Copy. Never run any processes or tools on the entire National Incident Feature Service.

Required Geometry calculations:

  • For new or updated Event Polygons, calculate Acres using the Calculate Geometry tool or Python.
  • For new or updated Event Lines and Perimeter Lines, calculate Length in Feet using the Calculate Geometry tool or Python.
  • For new or updated Event Points and Accountable Property, calculate Latitude and Longitude using Python and .cal files in the \tools folder to ensure coordinates are rounded to 3 decimal places.

Note: Always perform geometry calculations on a selection of data, never on the entire dataset.

Other common analyses include:

  • Calculating area by ownership

  • Calculating line length(s) by feature category

  • Calculating percent containment

Instructions are included for calculating geometry, calculating area by ownership, calculating line length(s) by feature category, and calculating percent containment.

Note: The US Survey Foot has been deprecated as of January 1, 2023. Use ‘International Foot’ and ‘International Acres’ for calculations.

Calculate Geometry 

As of Pro 2.9, the Calculate Geometry tool provides both Geodesic and Planar options. Geodesic calculations may differ slightly from planar calculations for very large fires. Discuss with the incident SITL if there is any doubt in which to use, consistency is key when reporting.

Acres

  1. From the attribute table, select the features to update geometry and right-click the Acres column header and select Calculate Geometry.
    Event Polygon table with Acres selected and Calculate Geometry highlighted.
  2. The Calculate Geometry window will open.
    Select Acres as the Field and International Acres as the Area Unit.
    Select Area for a planar calculation or Area (geodesic) for a geodesic calculation.
    Populate the Coordinate System to the local Projected Coordinate System.
    Calculate Geometry Window with box around Area (geodesic) selection.

Length

  1. From the attribute table, select the features to update geometry and right-click the Acres column header and select Calculate Geometry.
    Event Line table with LengthFeet selected and Calculate Geometry highlighted.
  2. The Calculate Geometry window will open.
    Select LengthFeet as the Field and Feet as the Area Unit.
    Select Area for a planar calculation or Area (geodesic) for a geodesic calculation.
    Populate the Coordinate System to the local Projected Coordinate System.
    Calculate Geometry window with International Feet selected as the length unit.

 

Calculate Geometry with Python

In earlier version of Pro, it was sometimes necessary to use a Python expression to calculate feature geometry. Geodesic calculations may differ slightly from planar calculations for very large fires. Discuss with the incident SITL if there is any doubt in which to use, consistency is key when reporting.

Calculate Area and Length with Python

These calculations will use the spatial reference of the feature class, not the map frame.

  1. Open the layer attribute table, select the features to update geometry, right-click the Acres or LengthFeet field, and select Calculate Field. Alternatively, click Calculate, and select Acres as the field name in the Geoprocessing pane.

    Event Polygon attribute table with one row selected.  Acres and Calculate Field highlighted.
  2. Enter !shape.geodesicArea​@acres! into the expression field and click Run to calculate the geodesic are of the feature(s) in acres.
    Enter !shape.geodesicLength​@FeetInt!  into the expression field and click Run to calculate the geodesic length of the feature(s) in feet.

Geoprocessing pane with GISAcres = !shape.geodesicArea​@acres! entry highlighted.
Geoprocessing pane with LenthFeet = !shape.geodesicLength​@feetint! entry highlighted.

Calculate Latitude and Longitude in WGS84DDM with Python

These calculations are independent of the spatial reference of the feature class and the map frame. The resulting coordinates will be WGS84 Degrees Decimal Minutes rounded to 3 places.

  1. Open the layer attribute table, select the features to update geometry, right-click the Acres or LengthFeet field, and select Calculate Field. Alternatively, click Calculate, and select Acres as the field name in the Geoprocessing pane.

    Event Point attribute table with Lattitude and Calculate Field highlighted.
  2. In the Calculate Field pane, click the Import button below the Code Block box.
    Calculate Field Pane with Import button highlighted.
  3. Navigate to and select the calculate_Lat.cal expression file (located in the tools folder).
    Import window open with Project, Folders and WGS84_Lat.cal and OK selected.
  4. This will populate the expression and code block with the necessary script to calculate Latitude in WGS84 DDM. Click Run. If the error “Parameter is missing or invalid” is returned, click within the Code Block window and try again.

    Geoprocessing pane showing imported Code in Code Block.  Run button is highlighted.
    Calculate field window with the Code Block section highlight with the text "Click Here"
  5. Repeat the same steps for the Longitude field but select the calculate_Long.cal expression file instead.
  6. The Latitude and Longitude fields will now be populated.
    Attribute table showing calculated Latitude and Longitude coordinates.

 

Acreage Burned by Ownership

Prior to calculating the acreage by ownership, a polygon dataset of land ownership will need to be acquired. County level parcel data is often the most accurate; however, national datasets can be used as well. Most common is the “Surface Management Agency” data from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com).

  1. With the ownership data added to the map, open the Geoprocessing pane, search for, and open the Clip tool.
    Map with ownership data.  Geoprocessing pane open with Clip tool highlighted.
  2. Enter the Ownership data as the Input Features, Event Polygon as the Clip Features, and save it to an appropriate location following GeoOps naming.
    Geoprocessing window with input as ownership, clip features and event polygon and output feature class populated.
  3. Open the resulting feature class’ attribute table and add a field.
    Ownership Clip attribute table with Add Field button highlighted.
  4. Name the field Acres and set the Data Type to Double. Click Save on the Ribbon.
    Fields view with Acres and Double highlighted.
  5. Calculate the Acres field.
    Attribute table with populated Acres column highlighted.

Note: If the ownership data has multiple polygons for the same owner, Summary Statistics or Dissolve can be used to combine them.

Line Distance by Feature Category

Calculate the amount of line in the field by type.

  1. After calculating the LengthFeet field, right-click Feature Category, and select Summarize.
    Event Line attribute table with Feature Category selected and Summarize highlighted.
  2. The Summary Statistics window will open.
    Enter LengthFeet and Sum as the Field and Statistic Type. Set the output to the Other Incident Data gdb or an appropriate folder and name following GeoOps standards. Click OK.
    Summary Statistics window with Statistics Field, Statistics Type and Case field populated.
  3. The resulting table will return the total length in feet for each feature category present.
    Line Summary table by FC Line Type, Frequency and sum of length in feet.

Percent Containment

The percent containment of a fire is generally the percentage of fire edge that Ops has designated as Contained. Always check with the SITL before publishing or printing anything that displays percent containment.

There are many methods and custom tools to calculate containment. The simplest way is to open the Chart provided with the Perimeter Line after calculating the LengthFeet field and syncing the Offline Copy.

Edit Map table of contents with the Perimeter Line layer expanded and highlighted.

The Perimeter Line Containment chart showing the percent containment automatically calculated.

  1. To calculate from the polygon, on the Map tab of the ribbon, in the Inquiry section, select Measure Features from the Measure dropdown.
    Map ribbon.  Measure selected and Measure Features highlighted.
  2. Set the Distance Units to Feet under the Options and click on the current Wildfire Daily Perimeter.
    Measure Features window showing Area and Perimeter.
  3. If there are multiple polygons, click each, and the Sum portion will add them together.
  4. Take the total length of Contained features from performing a Line Distance Summary operation described above on the Perimeter Line feature class and divide that by the total Perimeter from the measure tool. E.g. 7753 / 71,798 = .1079 or 10.8%.

Update Metadata

After each round of edits is complete, best practice is to update the DynamicTextUpdate table in the other_incident_data.gdb with the following information:

  • Source Statement, Acres, and Acres Effective Date of the Wildfire Daily Fire Perimeter
  • Date and Operational Period for maps that will be created or updated 
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Editing the DynamicTextUpdate table should be done from the Edit Project only while all other projects are closed. Values in the DynamicTextUpdate table will be used to update multiple map elements dynamically on all map layouts. Save edits after updating the attributes of the DynamicTextUpdate table. Round Acres to the nearest whole number. Use military time for the Acres Effective Date field.

Modified / Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee Releases New Equipment Bulletins

Date: September 27, 2024
Contact: Equipment Technology Committee

The Equipment Technology Committee (ETC) has released three new Equipment Bulletins:

  • ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers.
  • ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories.
  • ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance.

These bulletins remind field going personnel of important issues related to equipment for wildland firefighting efforts.

References:

NWCG Alerts

ETC-EB-24-003 Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in fuel containers

ETC-EB-24-004 Two-compartment fuel and oil container (Dolmar) unavailable in the United States (US) and reminders for upkeeping current inventories

ETC-EB-24-005 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Inspection, Care, and Maintenance

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee is looking for your feedback on Staff Rides

Date: September 20, 2024
Contact: Ashleigh D'Antonio and George Risko, Leadership Committee

The Experiential Learning Subcommittee needs to hear from the field about where the greatest need lies regarding staff rides and their accessibility.

  • Do you have an event you would like to turn into a learning experience?
  • Do you have a staff ride built, but are struggling to implement the delivery?
  • Do you need help building capacity?
  • What other ideas do you have to support experiential leadership training?

Fill out this short survey below to help us help you.

References:

Staff Rides: Feedback

Staff Rides

Updated NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

Date: September 19, 2024
Contact: Incident Business Committee

The Incident Business Committee has updated the NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934. This update expands the provisions for hiring emergency personnel.

References:

NWCG Single Resource Casual Hire Information, PMS 934

IBC Memorandum 24-03

NWCG 2024 Spring/Summer Highlights

Date: September 13, 2024

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Forest Service Logo
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Bureau of Indian Affairs Logo
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Bureau of Land Management Logo
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National Park Service Logo
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Fish & Wildlife Service Logo
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State Foresters Logo
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U.S. Fire Administration
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Intertribal Timber Council Logo
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International Association of Fire Chiefs
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Department of Defense Logo

Welcome to our latest highlights from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, where we explore the latest updates, insights, and efforts that develop interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners.

The Performance Support Package, which for ABRO includes the Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Book were developed through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. The Performance Support Package will support trainees, those qualified in the position, and evaluators.
 


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NASA Logo

NASA JOINS NWCG!

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is officially an associate member of NWCG. As such, NASA is beginning to collaborate with wildland fire management agencies with the goal of increasing collaboration across agencies and leveraging NASA data, technology, and innovation for nation-wide efforts in wildland fire management. NASA has a rich history of research, development, and technology transfer in the areas of Earth science, space technologies, and aeronautics that support the NWCG mission.


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NWCG new website look.

WWW.NWCG.GOV HAS A NEW LOOK AND DESIGN

The NWCG web team dedicated the past two years to making a significant upgrade to the www.nwcg.gov site. This upgrade involved a comprehensive redesign of over 7,700 web pages.

The modernization of NWCG’s website involved migrating to Drupal 10, a cutting—edge content management system, and leveraging Amazon Web Service GovCloud for secure and efficient hosting. These upgrades help ensure that the NWCG website remains current in content management practices, offering enhanced customization, improved performance, and an overall superior user experience.


NWCG Leadership Committee

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WFLDP Professional Reading Program logo
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WFLDP PRP book covers

The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program announced the Professional Reading Program’s 2024 list!

The years books include:

  • Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
  • The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William H. McRaven
  • The Art of Clear Thinking by Hasard Lee
  • Emotional Agility by Susan David
  • Writing to Persuade by Trish Hall

Learn more at the NWCG Leadership Committee


INCIDENT PERFORMANCE AND TRAINING MODERNIZATION

In 2023, NWCG kicked off the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. A training system overhaul focused on developing a performance-based training system designed to shift training to on-the-job when appropriate.

Over the next five years, NWCG intends to analyze all positions within the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1. To date we are currently working on 30 incident positions, and planning for 20+ in calendar year 2025.

Subject Matter Experts from a variety of geographical areas and agencies recently completed the position analysis for 16 positions. From this analysis, Incident Positions Standards and a Next Generation Position Task Book will be developed for each position.

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Incident Performance and Training Modernization

NEXT GENERATION POSITION TASK BOOK

In April 2024, NWCG launched the new Next Generation Position Task Book (Next Gen PTB) which is a key component of the IPTM effort. This revised evaluation tool is designed to work in conjunction with the newly developed Incident Position Standards.

Major Next Gen PTB changes:

  • Structured to improve constructive conversations between evaluators and trainees.
  • Reference new Incident Position Standards.
  • Include only tasks required to be evaluated for successful performance.
  • Trainees will be rated on their performance vs. initialing whether a task was completed.
  • Must include written feedback when trainee does not meet the standard.
  • Will be position specific (no combined PTBs).
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Screen shot of the Next Gen Position Task Book

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Banner image of the Wildland Fire Learning Portal website

NWCG’s training course catalog is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP).

To access the training course catalog, visit WFLP and either set up an account or login as a guest.