Fire Weather Testbed

Urgent Need for Research and Action

Research dedicated to understanding the entire fire environment is fundamental to mitigating future impacts of wildfires. This entails both short-term and long-term research initiatives to generate a comprehensive understanding of wildfire behavior. Equally important is the expeditious transfer of research findings to operational platforms and applications, ensuring timely implementation of preventative measures. The Fire Weather Testbed is a strategic initiative aimed at expediting the distribution of crucial products and technologies.

NOAA Fire Weather Testbed?

Increasingly, Federal, State, Local, and Tribal governments require improved models and tools to address fire environment forecasts. To fully tackle this, a research testbed focused on the wildland fire environment is necessary. NOAA, with its eleven recognized testbeds, is ideally placed to lead this effort alongside its partners. Moreover, recent advisory reports urge for more testbed use for effective transitions. The Fire Weather Testbed establishes an infrastructure for researchers, operational experts, and partners to develop solutions for better operations and decision-making, utilizing the latest science and research.

Wildfire Activity

Wildfires are increasingly more intense and expansive across the U.S. and Canada. The average annual acreage burned in the U.S. has reached 6.9 million in the last decade. In 2020, wildfires consumed over 8.5 million acres.

Impacts on Communities and Infrastructure

Wildfires have significant effects on communities, causing displacement and destroying infrastructure. Greater impacts are seen on socially vulnerable communities. About 4.5 million U.S. homes face high or extreme risk of wildfires, with 2 million of these in California alone.

Economic Costs of Wildfires

In the past decade, the financial impact of wildfires has been enormous, with losses reaching a staggering $75.88 billion. On top of this, the cost of suppressing these fires has added a significant burden, averaging an additional $2.3 billion annually.

Environmental Consequences of Wildfires

Wildfires have substantial effects on forests and grasslands. They also cause regional and national issues due to smoke and emissions impacting air quality, health, and climate. Wildfires also contribute to soil erosion and degradation, which can negatively affect agricultural productivity and water quality. They can disrupt local ecosystems, leading to loss of biodiversity and extinction of certain species.

Recent Fire Weather Testbed Activities, Evaluations, and Publications

An end-of-day round table discussion following a 2024 evaluation exercise in the Fire Weather Testbed including participants composed of state fire managers and National Weather Service meteorologists as well as product developers, subject matter experts, and Testbed evaluators.

Field-Based Activities

Fire Weather Testbed evaluations and assessments include field-based activities to develop and strengthen community connections and knowledge-sharing. The 2024 evaluation group met with local firefighters who responded to the 2021 Marshall Fire at one of the wildland-urban interface locations where the fire transitioned from a wildland fire to an urban conflagration. Image from Wells et al. (2025).

Fire Weather Testbed Objectives

The NOAA Fire Weather Testbed is a collaborative effort between NOAA's GSL, National Weather Service (NWS), and National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).

Our Mission

Lead research and directed development through the transition of environmental data, models, products, tools, and services to support commerce, protect life and property, and promote a scientifically literate public.

Research Areas

Organizational Excellence, Earth System Prediction, Advanced Technologies, and Decision Support are the foundation to achieving the GSL Grand Challenge: Deliver actionable global storm-scale prediction and environmental information through advanced technologies to serve society.