Texas Smoke Management Plan

Texas A&M Forest Service

Smoke Management Plan

April 2018

Table of Contents

I. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2

Summary

Mission Statement

Disclaimer

II. Smoke Management Procedures .......................................................................... 4

Smoke Basics

Smoke Management Procedures

III. Smoke Sensitive Areas ........................................................................................... 5

Identifying Smoke Sensitive Areas

SSA Identification Tools

IV. Develop Proactive Smoke Impact Actions ........................................................... 8

Questions to Ask

Smoke Reduction

Public Notification

Visibility on Roadways

V. Determine Category Day ....................................................................................... 9

Fire Weather Forecasts

Category Day

Supplemental Weather Products

VI. Configure a Smoke Model .................................................................................... 11

VII. Check Forecasted Air Quality .............................................................................. 14

VIII. Smoke Observations ............................................................................................. 15

Potential Use of a Field Evaluator

IX. Special Considerations ......................................................................................... 15

Night time Smoke Dispersion and Super Fog

Super Fog Watch Out Factors

Pasquill Stability Class (For Super Fog Reference)

X. Glossary ................................................................................................................ 17

XI. Appendix ............................................................................................................... 17

XII. References............................................................................................................. 18

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 2

Introduction

Summary

Prescribed fire is recognized as an important forest and rangeland management tool in

Texas and across the Southeastern United States. Prescribed burning has a positive and direct

impact toward improving ecosystem health. Some specific benefits of prescribed fire include

reducing invasive or competing vegetation, site preparation for planting, and forest or watershed

health. Not only does prescribed fire serve as a resource management tool, but it also increases

public safety by reducing fuels. The application of prescribed fire reduces hazardous fuel loading

against future wildfires and directly protects lives and property. Although prescribed fire

provides many benefits to public safety and ecosystem health, it does produce a hazardous

byproduct: Smoke.

Smoke generated from prescribed fires can decrease air quality and aggravate health

problems. Smoke can reduce visibility and result in dangerous roadway conditions. The general

sight and smell of smoke can also be a nuisance to people with limited knowledge about this

important land management tool.

Texas is home to over 27 million people as of July 2016. From 2010-2016, Texas’s

population has increased by 10% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). A direct result of the increasing

population is the increase of the wildland urban interface (WUI). The WUI is where homes and

communities are adjacent or intermingle with undeveloped land and fuels. WUI areas have a

high potential of being impacted by smoke as prescribed burning occurs.

Most southern states have implemented some form of smoke management guidance for

prescribed burning. Many of the state’s smoke management procedures are voluntary guidelines,

although several states issue permits for burning. Texas A&M Forest Service does not have

regulatory authority for prescribed burning and does not issue burn permits.

The Texas A&M Forest Service will use this smoke management plan (SMP) as a

support document during the implementation of prescribed fire on public lands. The SMP will

serve as guidance to conduct agency burns.

Mission Statement

The SMP sets in place best management practices to limit impacts on air quality and

smoke sensitive areas before, during, and after burning. The guide is also designed to provide

educational material and references for proper smoke management across the state. The SMP

will be reviewed periodically to refine and improve smoke management guidance.

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 3

Disclaimer

The Texas A&M Forest Service Smoke Management Plan is a voluntary approach with

the Texas A&M Forest Service serving as a technical leader in the prescribed burning

community. The SMP is not expected to be a perfect tool for solving all smoke-related problems,

but can educate burn managers on how to reduce smoke impacts from prescribed fire.

The SMP is a decision support document providing fire managers an opportunity to better

manage their own operations. The SMP does not relieve the private landowner or company

conducting the burn from liability for fines or damages that might occur, or transfer any liability

to the state. The Texas A&M Forest Service recommends that a trained, experienced, and

certified (National Wildfire Coordination Group or Texas Department of Agriculture) burn boss

prepare the burn plan and conduct all prescribed burns.

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Smoke Management Procedures

Smoke Basics

Prescribed fire smoke is a

mixture of small particles, water

vapor, carbon dioxide, ash, organic

material, and other invisible gases.

Composition of smoke will vary

between different fuel types being

consumed. Particulate Matter (PM)

levels are measured in micrometers

with 2.5 micrometers (Image 1)

being used as the base threshold to

determine respiratory and visibility

impacts (Environmental Protection Agency, 2017).

Smoke Management Procedures

A consistent process to best manage smoke will help prescribed fire managers complete the burn

objectives and reduce smoke impacts (Table 1). The following five steps for smoke management

are recommended to determine if the burn can be conducted when fuel and weather conditions

are appropriate for burn objectives.

Table 1: Smoke Management Procedures

Action

Purpose

Recommended

Completion

Identify Smoke

Sensitive Areas

To plan for potential impacts

When writing the burn plan

Develop Smoke

Contingency

Actions

Have pre-determined actions known if

smoke becomes hazard

When writing the burn plan

Determine

Category Day

Provide guidance on smoke dispersion

based on Transport Winds and Mixing

Height

Day Before and Day of Burn

Configure Smoke

Model

Have documented predicted movement

of smoke if burn is complex or large

Day of the Burn

Check Air Quality

Index

Determine if smoke will reduce air

quality to high levels of health

concerns

Day of the Burn

Smoke

Observations

Monitoring Smoke Impacts

During the Burn and After

Image 1

Source: EPA

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Smoke Sensitive Areas

Identifying Smoke Sensitive Areas

Identifying smoke sensitive areas (SSA) is the first and most important step in developing

a SMP. A smoke sensitive area contains people, livestock, or crops that are sensitive receptors

susceptible to negative impacts from prescribed fire smoke (Texas Commission on

Environmental Quality, 2015). Other SSAs are those with high volumes of traffic either on major

roadways or airspace. The identification of SSAs should be completed when writing the

prescribed burn plan well in advance of the burn. The distance of identifying SSAs from the burn

unit will depend on the size of the burn and fuel type.

If smoke models and weather conditions indicate that a SSA will be impacted, mitigation will be

needed to reduce smoke impacts at these areas or the burn will be postponed until a time the SSA

is no longer at risk of being impacted by smoke. Steps that can be taken include reducing the

size of the burn or using a different burn technique (i.e. back burn)

Below are examples of Smoke Sensitive Areas

 Nursing Homes/Hospitals

 Schools

 Designated “Class 1” areas of Texas Big Bend National Park Guadalupe Mountain

National Park (EPA, 2017)

 Airports

 Interstate Corridors

 Chemical Emission Factories

 Livestock/Crops (nursery plants, cultivated mushrooms, plants used for pharmaceutical

drugs)

SSA Identification Tools

With identification of SSA adjacent to the burn unit and a burn plan with weather/fuel

parameters, the burn boss should model potential smoke impacts. This can be done using the

internet based V-Smoke or hand drawn 30° diagram

V-Smoke is a web-based (http://weather.gfc.state.ga.us/GoogleVsmoke/vsmoke-Good2.html)

smoke modeling tool developed by the state of Georgia. A burn boss may navigate to Texas and

input fuel/weather parameters to view potential impacts on air quality on SSAs

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 6

V-smoke can provide the expected air quality (Table 2) adjacent and downwind from the burn

site (Image 2). A KML file can be exported and opened into Google Earth if desired (Image 3).

Image 2

Image 3

Table 2

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A hand drawn 30° smoke diagram can also determine the general smoke path and

potential impacts. Based on wind direction written in the burn plan, the burn boss can draw a line

of predicted smoke trajectory for a small burn (Figure 1.). Additional lines drawn 30° on both

sides of smoke trajectory provide guidance for minor shift in general wind direction.

For large burns (Figure 2), the burn boss should draw a line from the center of the burn unit and

then lines in the same direction at both ends of the unit and add the 30° vector line. Using this

method, the burn boss can identify any SSA that may be impacted. If SSAs are within this

vector, decisions should be made or actions completed to minimize smoke production.

Source: United States Forest Service

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Develop Proactive Smoke Impact Actions

Questions to Ask

The burn boss should determine if any proactive actions can be completed prior to burning to

limit prescribed fire smoke impacts. The following questions need to be addressed.

 What can be done prior to burning to reduce smoke production?

 Do adjacent landowners and SSAs need to be notified before burning? If so, how?

 What actions need to take place if smoke begins to affect an SSA?

 What actions need to take place if smoke starts to settle on a roadway?

Smoke Reduction

Depending on the prescribed fire objectives, actions can be taken before and during a prescribed

fire to reduce the amount of smoke produced. Below are actions to consider before and during

the burn to reduce smoke production:

 Thin or reduce fuel loading in the burn unit prior to burning.

 Burn unit in smaller sections over a period of time.

 Adjust firing technique to reduce amount of fuels consumed and smoke produced.

 Do not burn if smoke production will cause negative impacts toward SSAs.

Public Notification

The following actions should be set in place within a reasonable timeframe prior to the burn and

also on the day of the burn for public notification purposes.

 Provide written or verbal statement of prescribed burn operation and smoke production to

TFS (Texas Administrative Code 111.217 and 111.219)

 Post “Prescribed Fire in Progress” signs in proximity of State/ Interstate roads (Signs will

be posted the morning of the burn by a burn boss designee.)

 Facebook and Twitter Notifications for burn area (This will be a standardized post to cut

down on the time factor and the discrepancies between different areas. Coordination with

communication department needed for TFS social media accounts)

Visibility on Roadways

Alerting motorists of smoke impacts from a prescribed burn may be done with the placement of

prescribed burn signs along road(s) adjacent to the burn unit. Monitoring conditions and reduced

visibility on roads should be done throughout the entire burn operations. Based on visibility, the

actions below are recommended (Table 3).

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Table 3: Roadway Visibility and Prescribed Fire Smoke

Visibility on Roadway (feet)

Recommend Action

300 +

Continue to monitor

< 300

Slow traffic to 25 mph (use pilot cars)

< 200

Slow traffic to 15 mph (use pilot cars)

<100

Start one-way traffic

< 50

Close the road to traffic (Adjust burn technique to clear road way,

or shut down burn and begin mop-up)

Determine Category Day

Fire Weather Forecasts

Texas is served by 13

NWS offices (See Appendix for

link to NWS Offices), each with a

fire weather forecast page. At

minimum, prescribed fire

managers should utilize NWS

fire weather text forecasts the

day of the planned prescribed

fire (Image 4). SPOT weather

forecasts are available and

may be requested by

government officials/burn

bosses only.

Each NWS office fire weather

forecast web pages are unique in

the content provided. Below are

some helpful conversions.

1 meter (m) = 3.28 feet (ft.)

1 knot (kt) = 1.15 miles per hour (mph)

Image 4

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 10

Category Day

A Category Day forecast can provide a burn manager guidance toward the dispersion and

movement of smoke. Category Day forecasts can be found in the NWS Fire Weather Forecast

web page or be determined using the Ventilation Index System (Kansas Flint Hills Smoke

Management, 2017).

Ventilation Index System = Mixing Height (Meters) x Transport Winds (Meters/Second)

With either the forecast Category Day or calculated Ventilation Index System, the burn manager

can use the Category Day recommended guidelines (Table 4) for decision making.

Table 4: Category Day Recommended Guidelines

Ventilation Index System

(meters)

Category

Day

Guidelines

< 2,000

No Burning, Mixing Height and Transport

Winds too low to disperse smoke

2,000-3,999

No burning until after 10 AM and not before

surface inversion has lifted. Recommended fire

operations near completion by 4 PM for

sufficient ventilation

4,000-7,999

Daytime burning only,but not before surface

inversion has lifted

8,000-16,000

Burning Anytime

>16,000

Unstable and Windy, Excellent smoke dispersal,

burn with caution

Supplemental Weather Products

A supplemental tool for prescribed burn managers and smoke management planning is

the NWS Activity Planner tool. The Activity Planner provides a 48-hour graphical display of

several meteorological conditions (Image 5) from a selected latitude and longitude. Forecast data

can be used for planning purposes before, during, and after the prescribed fire.

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Configure a Smoke Model

The NOAA Air Resources Laboratory has developed the HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-

Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) trajectory and dispersion models for point source

emissions of potentially harmful materials emitted and transported into the atmosphere using

gridded weather data. The HYSPLIT is limited in scope as the user is unable to incorporate fuels

and burn duration into the model. This is an advanced modeling tool that may have application

for smoke management on complex prescribed burns or larger burn units (> 2,000 acres) in

Texas. A HYSPLIT smoke model is only a recommendation if the burn boss feels a model is

needed.

Image 5

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Below are the Basic HYSPLIT model outputs from a NWS SPOT Weather Request in either a

stand along map or KML file able to be loaded into Google Earth.

Trajectory Model - Colored arrows/lines represent single air parcel movement over a default 72-

hour period at different heights Above Ground Level (AGL). The time frame is set and cannot be

changed.

Dispersion Model – Single

air parcel plume showing

the concentration of

emissions over a period of

time. This output does not

take into account continued

emissions that occur during

a prescribed fire. There is no

guarantee that smoke will be

located in area based of

model output. Several

dilution factor maps are

generated showing

differences in time, but of

the default single parcel.

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 13

Particle Cross Section

Model– This model

provides a vertical profile

of potential smoke

concentrations based on a

default single emission.

This output may be used for

long range impacts on

larger (> 2,000 acres) burn

units. Several particle cross-

section maps are generated

showing differences in

time, but of the single

emission.

With the SPOT Weather forecast data, burn bosses may default to V-

Smoke or the 30 Diagram to determine smoke impacts on the day of the

burn.

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Check Forecasted Air Quality

The AirNow (www.airnow.gov) web based index that surveys the daily air quality index

(AQI) for the United States. This webpage provides six color coded air quality index values. The

EPA has assigned a specific color to each AQI category to make it easier for people to

understand quickly whether air pollution is reaching unhealthy levels in their community.

Referencing this index (Table 5) is recommended to check forecasted air quality conditions

before adding more particulates into the air from the prescribed fire. The burn boss should use

caution if attempting to burn at moderate (51-100) AQI and hold off from burning when

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101-150) is forecasted.

Table 5: Air Quality Index

Air Quality Index

Levels of Health

Concern

Numerical

Value

Meaning

Good

0 to 50

Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution

poses little or no risk.

Moderate

51 to 100

Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants

there may be a moderate health concern for a very

small number of people who are unusually sensitive to

air pollution.

Unhealthy for

Sensitive Groups

101 to 150

Members of sensitive groups may experience health

effects. The general public is not likely to be affected.

Unhealthy

151 to 200

Everyone may begin to experience health effects;

members of sensitive groups may experience more

serious health effects.

Very Unhealthy

201 to 300

Health alert: everyone may experience more serious

health effects.

Hazardous

301 to 500

Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire

population is more likely to be affected.

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 15

Smoke Observations

Potential Use of a Field Evaluator

The burn boss is responsible for observing and documenting smoke production from the burn

unit. Depending on the complexity of the burn, delegation of smoke observations may be given

to a field evaluator to assist the burn boss during low or moderate complexity prescribed fires.

During a high complexity burn, a field evaluator will be used to assist the burn boss with the

overall observation of the fire.

This observer will be monitoring:

 Smoke Dispersion (Making sure roadways are clear, Monitoring SSAs)

 Fire Behavior

 Are burn and smoke objectives being met?

 Checking weather (Every Hour or 30-minutes, Use of belt weather kit, Kestrel, RAWS

site)

 Recording Information on significant events

Special Considerations

Night time Smoke Dispersion and Super Fog

Once prescribed burn operations are completed, the burn boss is still responsible for the

smoke generated during the smoldering phase of operations. Smoldering may continue

throughout the overnight hours

At night, surface temperatures cool with the loss the solar radiation and low level atmospheric

stability normally occurs. Winds typically decrease and less mixing occurs, therefore there is less

smoke dispersion and transport decreases. Colder air at the surface is denser and will pool in

lower areas such as valley or river drainages. Smoke can settle in these lower topographic

features and impact SSAs and roadways.

Super fog is a condition where fog develops and mixes with remnant smoke and can greatly

reduce visibility on roadways. There have been documented Super fog events that have caused

multiple fatalities on roadways in the Southeastern United States.

It is recommended that the burn boss or manager consult the local National Weather Service for

fog potential. Mitigation measures and decisions should be made if fog development is

forecasted. The Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index (LVORI) can be a tool to indicate reduced

nighttime visibility. The range of 1-10 is used to determine the likelihood of smoke or fog

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 16

contributing to motor vehicle accidents. A LVORI of 10 is the highest likelihood. The

Atmospheric Dispersion Index can be requested by the local National Weather Service office.

Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index

Super Fog Watch Out Factors

The burn boss should monitor forecasted weather conditions for the evening and night time hours

after the burn. Meteorological factors can be found in SPOT Weather Request or directly from

the National Weather Service.

Factor

Watch Out Thresholds

Surface Temperature

≤70°, Critical ≤55°

Relative Humidity

Critical >90%

Surface Wind speed

Critical ≤ 4 mph

Cloud Cover

Critical < 40%

Stability Class

E or F

Atmospheric Dispersion Index

Critical ≤ 6

Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index

≥7, Critical ≥ 9

Transportation Corridor

≤ 3 miles from burn site

Pasquill Stability Class (For Super Fog Reference)

Class

Description

Extremely unstable conditions

Moderately unstable conditions

Slightly unstable conditions

Neutral Conditions

Slightly Stable conditions

Moderately stable conditions

Extremely stable

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 17

Glossary

Category day – a scale from 1 to 5 based on transport wind speed and mixing height. For smoke

dispersal, 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

Class I area – an area set aside under the Clean Air Act to receive the most stringent protection

from air quality.

Inversion – increase of temperature with height in the atmosphere. This condition often exists in

the morning and prevents smoke from rising into the atmosphere.

Mixing height – the layer of the atmosphere that pollutants are dispersed into due to turbulent

mixing. A forecast of mixing height indicates the height of the top of the layer with respect to

mean sea level.

Prescribed fire – any fire ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives.

Prescribed fire Burn Manager/Burn Boss – person responsible for managing a prescribed fire,

from planning to ignition and mop up.

Smoke management – conducting a prescribed fire under fuel moisture, meteorological

conditions, and firing techniques that keep the impact of the smoke on the environment within

acceptable limits.

Smoke plume – the column of smoke resulting from prescribed fire.

Smoke-sensitive area – areas that can be harmed by smoke. Examples: airports, major

highways, communities, Class 1 areas, recreation areas, schools, hospitals, nursing homes,

factories, etc.

Transport wind – the average wind speed and direction through the mixing height. Higher wind

speeds allow for more rapid transport of pollutants downwind.

Ventilation Rate-The rate at which the lower atmosphere is able to diffuse and disperse smoke.

It is the mathematical product of the mixing height and transport wind speed.

Appendix

National Weather Service Offices serving Texas

http://ticc.tamu.edu/PredictiveServices/FireWeather.htm

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Outdoor Burning in Texas

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/publications/rg/rg-049.html

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Area and Regional Offices

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/comm_exec/pubs/gi/gi-002.pdf

TEXAS SMOKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – APRIL 2018 18

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (2017) Particulate Matter (PM) Pollution.

https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-matter-pm-basics

Environmental Protection Agency. (2017). Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials.

https://www3.epa.gov/ttnamti1/files/ambient/smoke/wildgd.pdf

Forest Service Southern Research Station. (2012). Introduction to Prescribed Fire in the

Southern Ecosystems. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/su/su_srs054.pdf

Office of the Secretary of State (2017). Texas Administrative Code: Outdoor Burning.

http://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=5&ti=30&pt=1&ch=111&sch

=B&rl=Y

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Air Resources Laboratory. (2017). HYSPLIT.

http://www.arl.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT_info.php

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Air Resources Laboratory. (2017).

Pasquill Stability Classes. https://www.ready.noaa.gov/READYpgclass.php

Southern Fire Exchange (2014). Basic Smoke Management Practices for Prescribed Burning.

http://southernfireexchange.org/SFE_Publications/factsheets/2014-1.pdf

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. (2015). Outdoor Burning in Texas.

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/publications/rg/rg-049.html

United States Census Bureau (2017). Quick Facts: Texas.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/TX#viewtop

Special thanks to Sean Luchs with the National Weather Service Houston Office for providing

technical guidance toward the smoke modeling section.

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