RII Track-1: Harnessing the Data Revolution for Fire Science

在过去的40年里，由于气候变化、燃料积累和入侵物种的影响，美国西部的野火发生的频率和严重性都有所增加。因此，野火现在是美国西南部最常见的自然灾害类型，对人类健康和生态系统服务(包括水的可获得性、能见度和娱乐)都是有害的。利用数据革命促进火灾科学(HDRFS)项目旨在了解“荒地火灾连续体”，即生态系统火灾前状态(植物群落组成、生态、水文状态等)的过程。确定燃料积聚的水平，从而帮助确定最终野火的条件。火灾后恢复又为循环中的下一场火灾设置初始条件，以建立火灾前状态。HDRFS研究和能力建设计划围绕着野地火灾连续体的相互关联的要素以及研究、计算和数据方面的协调努力来组织。除其研究和能力建设议程外，人类发展研究方案项目还包括一个雄心勃勃的教育和劳动力发展重点，旨在扩大内华达州人在K-12和社区大学一级的机会。HDRFS由内华达高等教育系统与内华达大学雷诺分校、拉斯维加斯内华达大学和沙漠研究所合作管理。其他参与的机构包括内华达州立学院和四所社区学院(南内华达学院、特鲁基草场社区学院、内华达西部学院和大盆地学院)。利用火灾科学的数据革命(HDRFS)将探索鼠尾草生态系统中跨尺度相互作用的不同过程的火灾连续体。目标包括：1)提高对火灾过程和影响在空间尺度上的理解；2)确定火灾与碳循环、水平衡、燃料积累和入侵物种的相互作用；3)提高我们对火灾引起的土壤疏水性及其对水文学的影响的机制的了解；4)改进火灾过程和生态水文火灾效应的模型；5)改进火灾排放及其老化的表征和建模；6)采用空中机器人，以便在危险或具有挑战性的条件下(例如，表征烟羽、火灾过程和生态水文学)大大改进数据收集；7)发展计算机视觉/机器学习数据融合，将多传感器数据处理并同化为火灾和生态系统模型。HDRFS研究将有助于理解火灾过程和影响在面积上超过8个数量级的空间尺度，目的是利用实验室和其他小规模结果来预测和模拟大规模荒地火灾过程和影响。在其研究和能力建设计划的同时，HDRFS还将通过一系列外展和劳动力发展活动吸引学生、教育工作者和从业人员，旨在实现内华达州更多样化、更有STEM能力的人口和劳动力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The frequency and severity of wildfires in the western U.S. has increased over the last forty years, caused by changes in climate, fuel buildup, and invasive species. As a result, wildfires are now the most prevalent type of natural disaster in the southwestern U.S. and are detrimental to human health and ecosystem services (including water availability, visibility, and recreation). The Harnessing the Data Revolution for Fire Science (HDRFS) project aims to understand the “wildland fire continuum,” the process in which an ecosystem’s pre-fire state (plant community composition, ecology, hydrological state, etc.) determines the level of fuel buildup and thereby helps determine the conditions of the eventual wildfire. Post-fire recovery in turn sets the initial condition for establishing the pre-fire state for the next fire in the cycle. The HDRFS research and capacity-building program is organized around interconnected elements of the wildland fire continuum and aligned efforts in research computing and data. Along with its research and capacity-building agenda, the HDRFS project includes an ambitious education and workforce development focus aimed at expanding opportunities for Nevadans at the K-12 and community college levels. HDRFS is administered by the Nevada System for Higher Education in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and the Desert Research Institute. Additional institutions involved include Nevada State College and four community colleges (College of Southern Nevada, Truckee Meadows Community College, Western Nevada College, and Great Basin College). Harnessing the Data Revolution for Fire Science (HDRFS) will explore the fire continuum of diverse processes interacting across scales in the sagebrush ecosystem. Goals include: 1) improving understanding of fire processes and effects over spatial scales; 2) determining fire’s interactions with carbon cycling, water balance, fuel buildup, and invasive species; 3) increasing our mechanistic understanding of fire-induced soil hydrophobicity and its influence on hydrology; 4) improving models of fire processes and eco-hydrological fire effects; 5) improving characterization and modeling of fire emissions and their aging; 6) adapting aerial robots for greatly improved data collection under hazardous or challenging conditions (e.g., characterizing smoke plumes, fire processes, and ecohydrology); and 7) developing computer vision/machine learning data fusion to process and assimilate multisensory data into fire and ecosystem models. HDRFS research will contribute to understanding the spatial scaling of fire processes and effects over ~eight orders of magnitude in area, with the goal of using laboratory and other small-scale results for predicting and modeling large scale wildland fire processes and effects. In parallel with its research and capacity-building program, HDRFS will also engage students, educators, and practitioners via a series of outreach and workforce development activities aimed at achieving a more diverse, STEM-capable population and workforce in Nevada.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.