Development of a WebGIS-Based Analysis Tool for Human Health Protection from the Impacts of Prescribed Fire Smoke in Southeastern USA

Yongtao Hu, Ha Hang Ai, Mehmet Talat Odman, Ambarish Vaidyanathan and Armistead G. Russell
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Yongtao Hu: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Ha Hang Ai: School of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Mehmet Talat Odman: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Ambarish Vaidyanathan: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Armistead G. Russell: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: We have developed the Southern Integrated Prescribed Fire Information System (SIPFIS) to disseminate prescribed fire information, including daily forecasts of potential air quality impacts for southeastern USA. SIPFIS is a Web-based Geographic Information Systems (WebGIS) assisted online analysis tool that provides easy access to air quality and fire-related data products, and it facilitates visual analysis of exposure to smoke from prescribed fires. We have demonstrated that the information that SIPFIS provides can help users to accomplish several fire management activities, especially those related to assessing environmental and health impacts associated with prescribed burning. SIPFIS can easily and conveniently assist tasks such as checking residential community-level smoke exposures for personal use, pre-screening for fire-related exceptional events that could lead to air quality exceedances, supporting analysis for air quality forecasts, and the evaluation of prescribed burning operations, among others. The SIPFIS database is currently expanding to include social vulnerability and human health information, and this will evolve to bring more enhanced interactive functions in the future.

Keywords: air quality; exposure; forecasting; wildland fire; DDM-3D; source impact; burn acreage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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