App designed to help see progression through fire

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Things change over time. A man’s hairline, his beltline and retirement fund are some examples of the process.

Many of these changes are gradual and go unnoticed on a day-to-day basis. However, if he were to compare a snapshot of the top of this head from years ago to how it looks now, the changes could be drastic.

That is the concept behind a new app created by Oklahoma State University’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Rather than hair and body weight, this app lets land managers see how effective their prescribed burning efforts have been.

“The RxBurnTracker app allows anyone who uses it to see the progression of the property through the use of prescribed fire,” said John Weir, NREM research associate.

Available for both Android and Apple, the app allows users to name each burn unit and pinpoint certain areas within the unit to use as reference points. A user can take a “before” picture, which will be saved within the app and used as a ghost image to be able to take photos from the exact same spot for the “after” shots.

The app also includes areas for data input such as wind speed, humidity and other weather conditions on the day of the burn.

“We’re hoping this app will help promote prescribed burning and let land managers know what is actually happening over time,” Weir said. “In the future, we will be adding a GPS feature and the ability to download the information onto a computer.”

A SUNUP video introducing the new app is available at:http://sunup.okstate.edu/category/seg/2015-second-half/090515-growth