Haines Index

Haines Index is a weather index developed by meteorologist Donald Haines in 1988 that measures the potential for rapid forest fire growth. The index is derived from the stability (temperature difference between different levels of the atmosphere) and moisture content (dew point depression) of the lower atmosphere. These data may be acquired with a radiosonde. The index is calculated over three ranges: low elevation (950-850mb), mid elevation (850-700mb), and high elevation (700-500mb).^[1]

A Haines index of 6 means a high potential for large fire growth. 5 means medium potential, 4 low potential, and anything less than 4 means very low potential.

References

^ Noaa

Meteorological data and variables

General	Adiabatic processes Lapse rate Lightning Surface solar radiation Surface weather analysis Visibility Vorticity Wind

Condensation	Cloud Cloud condensation nuclei Fog Lifted condensation level (LCL) Precipitation Water vapor

Convection	Convective available potential energy (CAPE) Convective inhibition (CIN) Convective instability Convective temperature (T_c) Equilibrium level (EL) Helicity Level of free convection (LFC) Lifted index (LI) Bulk Richardson number (BRN)

Temperature	Dew point (T_d) Equivalent temperature (T_e) Forest fire weather index Haines Index Heat index Humidex Humidity Potential temperature (θ) Equivalent potential temperature (θ_e) Sea surface temperature (SST) Wet-bulb temperature Wet-bulb potential temperature Wind chill

Pressure	Atmospheric pressure Baroclinity Barotropicity

Haines Index

References

See also