PANEL DISCUSSION: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MAPPING OF FIRE AND POST-FIRE EFFECTS

Scientists are tasked with seeing their science applied, and, in turn, managers rely on the objectiveness of scientists to make defensible decisions. Scientists and managers currently use remote sensing to map, understand, and predict the ecological effects of fire. Although much has been learned, challenges remain; and there is an urgent need to provide science and tools that managers can use to address challenging fire management issues. In order to provide such data and products, scientists must understand the needs and expectations of fire managers. To facilitate bridging this gap between science and application, we brought together an expert panel of both researchers and managers to discuss information needs and challenges and to make recommendations for the mapping of active fire characteristics and post-fire effects. This paper provides a summary of this panel discussion, which highlighted challenges relating to terminology, interpretation, data availability, etc; and suggested recommendations for partnerships and strategies to address these challenges. BACKGROUND Fire science is shaped by the needs and expectations of fire managers, who make decisions regarding lives and property with real-world consequences. With the recent focus on accountability by the federal government, there is an urgent need to demonstrate the tangible benefits that research can offer to effectively address challenging fire management issues. Although both fire scientists and fire managers have long worked closely together, their communication, understanding, and collaboration must improve if they are to effectively address these challenges. Remotely sensed data are an important and widely applied resource for fire science and management. The size and inaccessible nature of many wildfires make remotely sensed data essential for the detection and assessment of conditions before, during, and after fires, in addition to providing a means to quantify patterns of variation in space and time (Morgan et al. 2001). These data can then be used to support management decisions in a timely and cost efficient manner. Scientists and managers use remote sensing to map, understand and predict the ecological effects of fire. Much has been learned; challenges remain. Many federal funding agencies (e.g., the National Science Foundation, the Joint Fire Sciences Program, etc.) require that scientists emphasize active technology transfer and obtain feedback on data and products from the audiences most likely to apply the science. To this end, we brought together an expert panel of researchers and managers to share their perceptions of the challenges and recommendations for the Mapping of Active Fire Characteristics and Post-Fire Effects. The foundation for this panel discussion was a recent article entitled, “Remote Sensing Techniques to Assess Active Fire Characteristics and Post-fire Effects” (Lentile et al. in press). This article reviewed current and potential remote sensing methods used to assess active fire behavior, post-fire effects, and ecological responses to fire. This article discussed challenges and future directions of firerelated remote sensing research from the researcher’s perspective. This article was circulated to the panellists, who