Canada Wildfire Webinar

Upcoming Canada Wildfire Webinars

 Lightning fire occurrence prediction – modelling for operational use
Mike Wotton
July 8, 2022  09:30-11:00 MDT

This presentation is for both academic and operational audience in Canada’s wildfire community.  You will learn about lightning fire ignition and the important processes that determine the day to day variation of this important source of summertime fire activity in Canada. Examples from models developed and used in Ontario’s fire occurrence prediction system will be provided as well as some comparison to similar model development in other regions of the country. Reviewing the history and operational use of these models in Ontario provides useful examples of the challenges and opportunities (and ultimately the long-term investment required) in getting research into operational use in wildland fire management.

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Mike Wotton is a Senior Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service – Natural Resources Canada currently stationed at the University of Toronto in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. His research focuses primarily on developing models of fuel moisture exchange, fire ignition, spread and intensity that can be used to provide daily wildfire information to fire management agencies throughout Canada.   Dr. Wotton works closely with fire management agencies from across Canada in the application of the results of his research into daily fire management operations and coordinated the CFS’s development of a next generation of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System.