Indicator descriptions

Foresight indicator descriptions

Indicator Group Indicator Foresight mode layer is available Description Source Source System / Product Data point duration
(temporal resolution)		 Cell size
(spatial resolution)		 User Access
AFDRS (official) Indices and Ratings Fire Behaviour Index – Hourly 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Fire Behaviour Index (FBI) is a numerical scale from 0 to 100+ that indicates potential fire behaviour severity. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10161 Hourly 1.5 km All users
FDR per BOM District 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The official public facing Fire Danger Ratings (FDRs) for Victoria. FDRs indicate the potential level of danger should a bushfire start. These apply to BOM weather districts and are based on the highest FBI that is met by at least 10% of the district for that day. AFDRS AFDRS text product / IDV18556 Daily N/A (Rating applies to each area) All users
FDR per ICC 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 For agency use only. The FDR for Incident Control Centre Footprints (as per JSOP 2.03) based on the highest FBI that is met at least 10% of the ICC footprint for that day. CFA / TSU Area rating calculator (TBC) Daily N/A (Rating applies to each area) All users
Max Fire Danger Rating 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Maximum Fire Danger Rating for the day. AFDRS AFDRS text product Daily 1.5 km All users
Preliminary Forecast Preliminary Fire Behaviour Index Bushfire only Preliminary FBI values are an early indication to agencies of potential fire weather ahead of time. AFDRS Gridded Weather^ Hourly 1.5 km Advacned access
Preliminary Max Daily FBI Bushfire only This preliminary maximum FBI value provides an early indication up until 15 UTC. AFDRS Gridded Weather^ Daily 1.5 km Advanced access
Preliminary Max Daily FDR Bushfire only This preliminary maximum FDR provides an early indication. AFDRS AFDRS text product Daily 1.5 km All users
McArthur (unofficial) Indices and Ratings FDI Forest 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Forest Fire Danger Index expresses fire risk and behaviour for forest fuels. Inputs include temperature, relative humidity, average wind speed at 10m and fuel availability (drought factor). TSU Victorian FDI calculator (TBC) Hourly 3 km All users
FDI Grass 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Grass Fire Danger Index expresses fire risk and behaviour for grass fuels. Inputs include temperature, relative humidity, average wind speed at 10m and fuel condition (curing). TSU Victorian FDI calculator (TBC) Hourly 3 km All users
FDI Hourly Combined FFDI & GFDI 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A combined map of forest and grass FDI. The FDI displayed for each cell is based on the predominant fuel type for that cell. To determine which fuel type applies to a cell of interest – open the expanded cell data pop-up and compare the FDI Forest and FDI Grass values to the FDI Hourly Combined FFDI & GFDI. TSU Victorian FDI calculator (TBC) Hourly 3 km All users
McArthur FDR per BOM District 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 For agency use only. The forecast OLD FDRs (based on McArthur system, not AFDRS) for each BOM weather district calculated from the highest maximum fuel based FDI that applies to at least 10% of the BOM weather district for that day. CFA / TSU Area rating calculator (TBC) Daily N/A (Rating applies to each area) All users
McArthur FDR per ICC 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 For agency use only. The forecast OLD FDRs (based on McArthur system, not AFDRS) for each Incident Control Centre footprint calculated from the highest maximum fuel based FDI that applies to at least 10% of the ICC footprint for that day. CFA / TSU Area rating calculator (TBC) Daily N/A (Rating applies to each area) All users
McArthur FDR per LGA 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 For agency use only. The forecast OLD FDRs (based on McArthur system, not AFDRS) for each Local Government Area calculated from the highest maximum fuel based FDI that applies to at least 10% of the LGA for that day. CFA / TSU Area rating calculator (TBC) Daily N/A (Rating applies to each area) Advanced access
Fire Behaviour Rate of Spread 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The forecast rate of spread is the hourly rate of spread (m/h) at the selected time, defining the rate at which the head fire travels. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10138 Hourly 1.5 km All users
Fire Intensity 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Byram’s fire-line intensity. The intensity (kW/m) at the front of the fire. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10139 Hourly 1.5 km All users
Flame Height 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The flame height (m) is the average height of flames above ground height in the head fire. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10141 Hourly 1.5 km All users
Spotting Distance 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Only calculated for forest fuel types, in metres. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10142 Hourly 1.5 km All users
AFDRS Fire Behaviour Model 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A simplification of the AFDRS fuel type map into the 8 fire behaviour models DELWP Bushfire Fuel Dataset N/A (updated infrequently) 1.5 km All users
Head Fire Intensity (FireMod) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Headfire intensity indicates how intense an established fire is likely to be. Specifically, it displays the rate of heat release per unit length of flame combustion extending from the leading edge of the fire front to the rear of the flaming zone. DELWP / TSU FireMod* Hourly 3 km Advanced access
Minutes to 5 Hectares (FireMod) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Indicates the likely number of minutes it would take for a point source ignition to reach five hectares in size. DELWP / TSU FireMod* Hourly 3 km Advanced access
Ventilation Index 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Indicates the potential of the atmosphere to disperse airborne pollutants such as smoke in the lower atmosphere (from 0m to 3000m). DELWP / TSU FireMod* Hourly 3 km All users
Fuel State AFDRS Fuel Type (1.5km resolution) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The fuel type used to calculate fire behaviour and danger in each grid cell. There are 23 different fuel types available. AFDRS AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10161 N/A (updated infrequently) 1.5 km All users
Phoenix Fuel Type (60m resolution) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The fuel type used to calculate fire spread using the Phoenix software. DELWP Bushfire Fuel Dataset N/A (updated infrequently) 60 m Advanced access
Modelled Overall Fuel Hazard (Phoenix) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The overall fuel hazard scores (using Overall Fuel Hazard Assessment Guide, 4th edition) as modelled by DELWP. DELWP Bushfire Fuel Dataset N/A (updated infrequently) 60 m Advanced access
Modelled Total Fuel Load (Phoenix) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Modelled total fine fuel load (t/ha) using fuel types and time since fire data. DELWP Bushfire Fuel Dataset N/A (updated infrequently) 60 m Advanced access
Drought Factor 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 An indicator of the fuel drying trend. Specifically, it gives a measure of the proportion of fine fuel that is flammable based on the degree of rainfall versus the rate of drying over the last 20 days. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71127 3-hourly 3 km All users
KBDI 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Indicates the level of drought affecting vegetation. Specifically, it is a measure of the cumulative moisture deficiency in the upper soil layers (top 200mm of the soil profile). KBDI is used as an input when determining the Drought Factor. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71147 Daily (from 11am) 3 km All users
Curing 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A measure of the amount of fuel available to combust or the percentage of dead material in grasslands. Based on data supplied from the CFA to the AFDRS and then trimmed and modified by DELWP. TSU Weather data system (TBC) / modified from BOM IDZ10148) Daily 3 km All users
Slope 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Slope of the ground surface in 1 degree intervals DELWP eMap N/A (updated infrequently) 30 m All users
Grass Fuel Condition 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Whether the grass fuel is natural (3), grazed (2) or eaten out (1) AFDRS (from CFA) AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10149 N/A (updated infrequently) 1.5 km Advanced access
Grass Fuel Load 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Load (t/ha) of grass fuels (default is 4.5 t/ha) AFDRS (from CFA) AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10159 N/A (updated infrequently) 1.5 km Advanced access
Time Since Fire 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Years since grid cell was burned by a bushfire or planned burn. AFDRS (from DELWP) AFDRS gridded product / IDZ10162 N/A (updated infrequently) 1.5 km All users
Weather Temperature 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Ambient air temperature at ground level BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71000 Hourly 3 km All users
Relative humidity 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The most commonly used measure of atmospheric moisture and is defined as the ratio of the amount of water vapour measured to that which air could hold at saturation. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71018 Hourly 3 km All users
Dew point 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A measure of the moisture content of the air and is the temperature to which air must be cooled for dew to form. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71001 Hourly 3 km All users
Wind speed at 10m 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 The 10-minute averaged wind speed, based on a 10-metre standard height. Wind gusts can be 40 percent stronger than the average speeds presented. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71071 Hourly 3 km All users
Wind speed at 1500m 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Wind magnitude at 1500m above sea level in km/h BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71110 Hourly 3 km All users
Wind Gust at 10m 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Wind gust at surface level BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71072 Hourly 3 km All users
Daily Precipitation (25%) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Amount of rainfall (mm) for which there is a 25% chance of exceeding in the 24 hours from 15 UTC BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71014 Daily 3 km All users
Daily Precipitation (50%) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Amount of rainfall (mm) for which there is a 50% chance of exceeding in the 24 hours from 15 UTC BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71015 Daily 3 km All users
3-Hourly Precipitation (25%) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Minimum amount of precipitation forecast with 25% certainty BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71032 3-hourly 3 km All users
3-hourly Precipitation (50%) 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Minimum amount of precipitation forecast with 50% certainty BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71033 3-hourly 3 km All users
Cloud Cover 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A measure of the percentage of cloud cover in the atmosphere. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV 71017 Hourly 3 km All users
Continuous Haines 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 An indicator of atmospheric instability and dryness. These factors contribute to plume dynamics, so the Continuous Haines (C-Haines) shows where there is potential for the development of a significant smoke column, plume-dominated fire and/or a pyrocumulonimbus event. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71115 3-hourly 3 km All users
Mixing Height 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A measure of the upper height, in metres above sea level, to which the lower atmosphere will undergo mixing (mechanical or turbulent) resulting in a nearly uniform air mass. BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71109 Hourly 3 km All users
Lightning Activity Level 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A measure of the likelihood and amount of lightning from 0 (No lightning) to 3 (Widespread lightning) BOM Gridded Weather^ / IDV71114 3-hourly 3 km All users
Weather overlays BOM Weather Stations 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Locations of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and other non-automatic weather stations from which the BOM collects observation data. AWS generally provide observations every half hour. Non-AWS data is less frequent (e.g. twice daily). BOM BOM observations N/A N/A All users
Fuel Moisture Stations 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Locations of FFMVic fuel moisture stations where weather variables, fuel moisture and soil moisture data are colleted. DELWP Fuel Monitoring Portal N/A N/A All users
Wind at 10m Animated 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 An animated representation of forecast wind particle movement. Produced using the gridded weather forecast. BOM Gridded Weather^ Hourly 3 km All users
Wind at 10m Barbs 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 A combined indicator of forecast wind speed (10-minute averaged wind speed, based on a 10-metre standard height) and wind direction BOM Gridded Weather^ Hourly 3 km All users
Incidents DELWP/CFA Bushfires 1) Bushfire;
2) Planned Burning		 Recorded fire incidents in Victoria DELWP eMpa N/A N/A All users
DELWP/CFA Burns Bushfire only All burns from status ‘Ready’ to ‘Under Control – 2’ DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Burns – Ready Planned Burning only This is a planned burn that is ready to be ignited. DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Burns – Scheduled Planned Burning only This is a planned burn that is scheduled for ignition. DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Burns – Ignition Authorised Planned Burning only This is a planned burn that is authorised and awaiting scheduling. DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Burns – Ignition Planned Burning only This is a planned burn that is being ignited. DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Burns – Under Control Planned Burning only This is a planned burn where ignition is complete but may have hot spots and is being patrolled DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users
Prescription Evaluation Planned Burning only Overall evaluation based on prescription recorded in the Fuel Management System. Green outer circle shows planned burns that meet the prescription for that hour. Yellow outer circle shows planned burns with only one variable out of prescription, or only a few out by less than 10% for that hour. Red outer circles show planned burns outside of prescription. Grey outer circles shows planned burns where no prescription has been recorded in FMS. DELWP FMS and Foresight Hourly N/A (Applies to burn point) All users
Fuel Treatment Areas Planned Burning only Total burn polygon area DELWP eMap / FMS N/A N/A All users

^Gridded Weather

The Gridded Weather is:

  • a compilation of datasets (NetCDF files) of forecast weather variables for the present day and the week ahead.
  • produced by the BOM using the Graphic Forecast Editor (GFE) system.
  • produced at a 3km resolution using data sourced from a range of global weather forecasting models.
  • updated twice daily.

The morning update (usually completed by 6am) provides updated NetCDF files where only the data for the current day has been updated.

The afternoon update provides a full update of all days in the forecast period.

See the Gridded Weather video for further information.

*FireMod

FireMod uses the Gridded Weather, together with fuel and topography datasets, to calculate a range of forecast fire weather and fire behaviour spatial data sets.

The FireMod system is maintained by TSU within Forest, Fire and Regions at DELWP.

FireMod will be triggered to run when the BOM release updated Gridded Weather.