IFTDSS – What’s New, Top Five Uses, and More

Kim Ernstrom, Wendy Detwiler, and Josh Hyde present to the USDA Fuels Community of Practice. They cover new features added to IFTDSS over the past year, where to learn more about IFTDSS, and demonstrate some of the most common uses of IFTDSS for fuels and burn planning.

Using IFTDSS to add a Spatial Perspective to Prescribed Fire Planning - 2023 Burn Boss Refresher

Kim Ernstrom presents an overview of how IFTDSS can help inform Burn Plans using spatial fuels and fire behavior outputs with an emphasis on understanding Fuel Models inside and outside of the burn unit and fire behavior outputs indicating critical holding areas on the map.

• Part 1 - Using IFTDSS for Burn Plans: View, critique and understand fuel models on the map. Compare Fire Behavior outputs spatially when writing a prescription. Identify critical holding areas for Holding and Contingency Plans. 36 minutes.


• Part 2 - Compare Weather (Live Demo): Live demonstration of the Compare Weather feature in IFTDSS to understand Low, Moderate and High prescription parameters 10 minutes.


• Part 3 - Using Minimum Travel Time (MTT) for Spot Fire Scenarios: Demonstration of the Minimum Travel Time model (MTT) in IFTDSS for understanding spot fire potential and resource needs. Google Earth display to view landscape and topographic influences. 10 minutes.

Landscape Editing, Holding, and Contingency in IFTDSS (2 Parts) - 3 November 2022

A “Fuels Community of Practice” presentation on describing the process of selecting and applying edits to LANDFIRE landscapes in IFTDSS. Presented by Kim Ernstrom (Wildland Fire Management RD&A).

• Part 1: Landscape Editing Overview.
• Part 2: Using IFTDSS for Contingency and Holding, followed by discussion (in a separate video).

A transcript of questions and answers is available here (pdf).

Using IFTDSS for Prescribed Fire Planning: Model Comparisons and Case Studies - 6 October 2022

A “Fuels Community of Practice” presentation on the use of IFTDSS for prescribed fire planning, some examples of its use in the field, and a comparison with other modeling applications. Presented by Kim Ernstrom (Wildland Fire Management RD&A), Jennifer Anderson (NPS) and Wes Hall (Wildland Fire Management RD&A).

Exploring the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) - 16 February 2022

An overview of current IFTDSS features to the Science You Can Use Spring 2022 Webinar Series, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Research Station. Presented by Presented by Kim Ernstrom and Caroline Noble.

Using IFTDSS for Prescribed Burn Plans: Fuels Community of Practice Presentation - 20 January 2022

An overview of IFTDSS, and its use in prescribed burn planning, followed by a demonstartion of the Compare Weather feature. Presented by Kim Ernstrom.

FTEM Presentation for the Fuels Community of Practice - 6 Jan. 2022

An overview of FTEM presented to the Fuels Community of Practice. Presented by Frankie Romero, Caroline Noble, and Tessa Nicollet (USFS).

Compare Weather for Prescribed Burn Planning - October 2021

A presentation recorded for the Society of American Foresters (SAF) 2021 Convention Innovation Zone. This demonstration highlights the use of IFTDSS’ Compare Weather feature when creating burn plans. Presented by Bre Schueller (IFTDSS Technical Lead).

Learn about the New 'Compare Weather' Function in IFTDSS - May 26 2021

A presentation showcasing the "Compare Weather" feature newly released in IFTDSS version 3.4. A sixty minute presentation from Kim Ernstrom, Caroline Noble, and Bre Schueller.

IFTDSS Overview for the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab - November 5 2020

A 54-minute presentation from Nicole Vaillant to the USDA Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. This presentation includes an overview of IFTDSS features including Exposure Analysis and Risk Assessment, followed by a discussion of future development plans.

2020 SAF US Forest Service Innovation Zone: IFTDSS: Fuel Treatment Decision Support - October 30 2020

A 25-minute presentation from Kim Ernstrom to the Society of American Foresters 2020 Virtual Conference. This presentation includes a high level overview of basic functionality, a case-study demonstrating IFTDSS Exposure Analysis, and a brief discussion of the Quantitative Wildfire Risk Assessment feature.

Introducing Quantitative Wildfire Risk Assessment (QWRA) - July 21 2020

This webinar provides an introduction to the Risk Assessment workflow in IFTDSS. We walk you through the required pieces of the Risk Assessment and show you how to work through the application so you can view the final outputs in the Map Studio. Click here to download the questions and answers recorded for this webinar.

Exposure Analysis in IFTDSS May 28 2020

Two project examples from users currently working with the Exposure Analysis in IFTDSS. We wrap up with a look at What's coming next with Risk Assessment. Click here to download the questions and answers recorded for this webinar.

IFTDSS Briefing Feb 21 2020

Presentation on what IFTDSS can do today, and what is coming next.

Landscape Burn probability modeling - Fall 2019

A full demonstration of the Landscape Burn Probability (LBP) model.

The Questions and Answers referenced in the recording are now available as a PDF.

Development Status and Using Map Values - Fall 2019

Current and future development of IFTDSS and a demonstration of the Map Values feature that was added in Version 3.2.0.2.

The Questions and Answers referenced in the recording are now available as a PDF.

FTEM Batch Monitoring Webinar (11/02/2018)

A webinar to the Pacific Northwest on batch monitoring of treatments in FTEM.

FTEM Release Webinar for BIA

A webinar presenting the new Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Monitoring (FTEM) system to BIA.

FTEM Release Webinar for USFS

A webinar presenting the new Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Monitoring (FTEM) system to USDA FS.

FTEM Release Webinar for BLM

A webinar presenting the new Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Monitoring (FTEM) system to BLM.

FTEM Release Webinar for NPS & USFWS

A webinar presenting the new Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Monitoring (FTEM) system to NPS and USFWS.

Developing Treatment Alternatives

Treatment comparison is one of the more complex parts of the IFTDSS app. There's no doubt that comparing landscapes is tricky business. If you find yourself scratching your head or staring at the screen a lot, join us to help take some of the mystery out of landscape comparisons.

Modeling and Reports

The beauty of IFTDSS is that nearly everything is exportable as a report or summary, including landscape fire behavior. This webinar provides an in-depth look at landscape fire behavior and reports in IFTDSS. Recorded 30 March 2018. Download a pdf of the presentation.

Landscapes and Editing

Trying to figure out how to edit landscapes in IFTDSS or just interested in picking up some tips and tricks to do it better? This webinar is for those trying to learn how to edit landscapes in IFTDSS to better represent their area. Recorded 23 March 2018.

IFTDSS Map Studio Demonstration

In this webinar we demonstrate using Map Studio for finding an area of interest, adding landscapes and model runs, and working with shapes and shapefiles. Recorded 16 March 2018.

Navigating IFTDSS

This demonstration highlights the overall layout of IFTDSS. It includes the Planning Cycle, file storage in My Workspace, Map Studio interface, and Modeling Playground. Recorded 9 March 2018.