Testing of new products is intended to provide information on the suitability of their use for operational monitoring, calibration and tuning of their visualization so that they are easy to read and understand for users. Testing has been ongoing since mid-June and will be completed at the end of September, possibly during October, depending on the weather conditions. Those in July were very suitable for testing such focused products, because dry and very warm weather prevailed. It brought increased fire danger and heat waves.
To monitor heat waves, the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was used, which takes into account air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and human physiological processes. The second product is the heat index (Heat Index – HI), which represents a simplified approach to the assessment of thermal comfort, since the input parameters include the maximum air temperature and relative air humidity. Both products very well operationally mapped the situation on the territory of Slovakia.
Two products were tested to monitor fire danger – fuel moisture (DFM10H) and Fire Weather Index (FWI). The testing of these tools takes place thanks to intensive cooperation with the Forests of the Slovak Republic, state enterprise, directly in the field through expert assessment by foresters. Engaged experts assess on a daily operational basis whether the information displayed in the map products of the Clim4Cast project corresponds to the reality in the locality of their forest administration.
More information:
https://www.shmu.sk/sk/?page=2049&id=1508