Skip to main content
Wildfire Ahead
Aerial view of a Canadian landscape of dense forest wrapped around a wide blue lake.

How it works

See the platform

Eight screens, in the order wildfire work happens. Each is the product as captured, marked with whether it shows live data, reference data or a simulation.

Captured 2026-09-12

  1. The Research Workbench data page in reference mode: counts of datasets, acquisitions, quarantine findings and corrections above a table of three datasets from Environment and Climate Change Canada, NASA FIRMS and Natural Resources Canada.
    Reference data Captured 2026-09-12

    Acquire and check

    The data catalogue

    Every registered dataset with its provider, quality tier, registry state and revision, beside what was acquired, held in quarantine and corrected. Reference mode shows three sample datasets.

    If you are a resident
    What reaches the public map starts as a row here, tied to the agency that published it.
    If you are an agency
    A figure can be traced back to its provider and revision before anyone relies on it.
    If you are a researcher
    Catalogue, acquisitions, connector health, quarantine and lineage sit behind one row of tabs.

    Open it in reference mode

  2. The Research Workbench smoke page in reference mode, marked unvalidated, with the smoke time bases, a check on crossing from a concentration to an index, and a check on reported uncertainty.
    Reference data Captured 2026-09-12

    Understand

    What a smoke figure means

    Before any smoke figure is computed, the screen states that none of it is validated, which conversions are allowed, and which approvals from outside the platform are still missing.

    If you are a resident
    A smoke number never arrives dressed as health advice. Health messages come from your health authority.
    If you are an agency
    Each step from a measurement to an index to a message is shown as an assumption that someone owns.
    If you are a researcher
    Uncertainty intervals are checked to widen as monitors thin out and forecasts disagree.

    Open it in reference mode

  3. The Research Workbench fuels page in reference mode, describing the Canadian Fire Behavior Prediction fuel types and two United States fuel model sets, with the comparisons refused between them.
    Reference data Captured 2026-09-12

    Compare

    Fuel systems that do not translate

    The Canadian and United States fuel systems side by side, with the comparisons the platform refuses to make between them.

    If you are a resident
    A fire map from one country is never quietly redrawn in the other country’s terms.
    If you are an agency
    A cross-border comparison states what it loses, so a neighbour’s figure is not read as your own.
    If you are a researcher
    Every crosswalk carries its conditions and its losses, and some pairings are refused outright.

    Open it in reference mode

  4. The Research Workbench experiments page in reference mode, showing two reference runs, one succeeded and one running, each with its seed, compute budget and lifecycle.
    Reference data Captured 2026-09-12

    Train

    The run ledger

    Every model run with its capability, seed, compute budget, lifecycle and evidence. The runs shown are reference runs; the live ledger holds none yet.

    If you are a resident
    Nothing a model produces reaches you without a record of how it was made.
    If you are an agency
    A run can be repeated from its seed and specification, so a result can be checked rather than trusted.
    If you are a researcher
    Specifications, execution evidence and the latest run for each capability are one click apart.

    Open it in reference mode

  5. The Research Workbench model qualification page in reference mode: the artifact chain reports no break found, and the smoke hindcast cohort reports empty and unvalidated with zero cases.
    Reference data Captured 2026-09-12

    Qualify

    A qualification screen that admits it is empty

    The smoke hindcast cohort reads empty and unvalidated, says why, and states that no skill claim is permitted.

    If you are a resident
    When the platform cannot show that a model works, it says so on the screen rather than leaving it out.
    If you are an agency
    No model is presented as qualified until there is evidence a reviewer could check.
    If you are a researcher
    The count a skill figure could rest on is shown apart from the admitted total.

    Open it in reference mode

  6. The Wildfire Ahead workspace gateway, with a sign-in button, an option to explore with reference evidence, and six workspaces listed by role.
    Live data Captured 2026-09-12

    Coordinate

    One sign-in, and the workspaces your role opens

    The door to the protected workspaces, from the agency portal to incident coordination and aviation evidence. The rooms behind it need sign-in, so this tour shows the door.

    If you are a resident
    Signing in grants no authority to issue alerts, direct evacuation or dispatch resources, and the screen says so.
    If you are an agency
    A workspace opens only for a membership that a person assigned, never for a label.
    If you are a researcher
    The Research Workbench can be explored with reference evidence, without an account.

    Open the workspace gateway

  7. The drone operations site page titled How a drone flight becomes wildfire evidence, with a five-step loop in which a person decides before any aircraft flies.
    Simulated Captured 2026-09-12

    Fly

    How a drone flight becomes wildfire evidence

    Where to look, a person decides, the agency’s aircraft flies, what came back, and what we now know. The steps drawn dashed are designed and not yet built.

    If you are a resident
    Nothing flies because the platform ranked a place. A named person decides, under the agency’s authority.
    If you are an agency
    The mission console behind this site runs in simulation only, with no dispatch to a provider.
    If you are a researcher
    The drone site publishes its own evidence page, separating what is built, simulated and gated.

    Open the drone site

  8. The Wildfire Ahead map of current information, showing published locations across Canada and the United States, with zoom controls and a link to the text-only view.
    Live data Captured 2026-09-12

    Publish

    The public map

    Locations published in current official records, on a map a reader can move and zoom, with a complete text-only view beside it.

    If you are a resident
    Each dot or shaded area is a location from a published record. Select one to see which record it comes from.
    If you are an agency
    What the public sees is the published record, never a working layer from an incident team.
    If you are a researcher
    The records come from the public API, which anyone can query without an account.

    Open the map

What these screens prove, and what they do not

A screen shows that a part of the platform exists. Whether live data has flowed through it from end to end is a separate question, answered on its own page.

What is provenGet access