Fuel state observation

In the Northern Territory (NT), fire danger ratings are issued daily and describe the potential level of danger should a bushfire start.

The ratings provide important information so you can take action to protect yourself and others from the potentially dangerous impacts of a bushfire.

For more information on fire danger ratings, go to the SecureNT website.

Daily fire danger ratings for each district are published daily on the Bureau of Meteorology website.

How to become an observer

The AFDRS requires input from on-ground surveys of fuel loads.

Volunteers can become grass fuel state observers. They can help the AFDRS with observations for:

• curing rate
• fuel load and condition.

These are used by the Bureau of Meteorology to calculate the fire behaviour index and fire danger rating.

Register your interest

To become a grass fuel state observer volunteer you will need to do the following.

Step 1. Fill in the form to register your interest.

AFDRS fuel load observation registration form PDF (212.6 KB)
AFDRS fuel load observation registration form DOCX (98.3 KB)

Step 2. Do the free online training.

Go to the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services website.

Step 3. Select or be assigned to an observation site.

Observer selected sites are subject to approval by Bushfires NT.

Step 4. Do weekly observations on curing rate, fuel load and condition throughout mitigation and bushfire season.

All observations are entered into the fuel state editor on any web browser using any of the following:

• mobile phone
• iPad
• tablet
• computer.

How to record

Once you've registered, fire and land managers are provided access to the below tools to record data collected.

AFDRS Fuel State Editor

The editor is an interactive tool that allows fire and land management agencies to capture field information and update maps relating to the fuel component of fire danger.

This data is then exported to the fire danger calculation engine.

AFDRS Fire Danger Viewer

The viewer is an interactive planning and visualisation tool which uses real-time weather, fuel curing, load and condition estimates from:

• on-ground observations and
• BoM data for fire and land managers.

Contact

To register your interest in joining and get access to the fire danger viewer or fuel state editor, email bushfires.nt@nt.gov.au or call 08 8922 0844.