Rural Fire Danger - FWI and RCM Forecast

The FWI index can be computed (i) at the level of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), with subsequent spatialization for the desired resolution or (ii) directly in regular grids, either with NWP models or for Meteosat satellites pixels.

FWI observations are calculated from observations of meteorological parameters obtained at AWS. FWI forecasts for one station location are obtained in the same way as FWI observations, but using the meteorological parameter forecast values. In particular, at IPMA, forecasts result from the application of a statistical methodology with an observation/forecast adjustment which is based on surface observations from AWS and on NWP model forecasts, namely from AROME and ECMWF models.

RCM observations are calculated by combining the rural fire hazard and the spatialization of FWI observations at station level. RCM forecast are obtained in the same way as RCM observations, but using a spatialization of FWI forecasts calculated with the meteorological parameters forecasts resulting from the statistical methodology referred above. Charts of RCM observations and forecasts for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours, are available daily.