Articles | Volume 18, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-5995-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-5995-2026
Data description article
 | 
25 Aug 2026
Data description article |  | 25 Aug 2026

A daily gridded dataset of the Fire Weather Index across Canada, with calculations based on the sun's elevation

Clémence Benoit, Jonathan Durand, Philippe Gachon, Jonathan Boucher, and Yan Boulanger

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Cited articles

Alpizar, M., Di Luca, A., Gachon, P., and Roberge, F.: Mesoscale Convective Systems in Northeastern North America: identification and evaluation with the convection-permitting version of the Canadian Regional Climate Model, Clim. Dynam., 64, 129, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-026-08102-6, 2026. 
Baldwin, K., Allen, L., Basquill, S., Chapman, K., Downing, D., Flynn, N., MacKenzie, W., Major, M., Meades, W., Meidinger, D., Morneau, C., Saucier, J.-P., Thorpe, J., and Uhlig, P.: Vegetation Zones of Canada: a Biogeoclimatic Perspective. [Map] Scale 1:5,000,000, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lake Forestry Center, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada, https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/22b0166b-9db3-46b7-9baf-6584a3acc7b1 (last access: 8 July 2026), 2019. 
Benoît, C. and Durand, J.: era5-fwi-sn v1.0.0, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21398765, 2026. 
Benoit, C., Demers, I., Roberge, F., Gachon, P., and Laprise, R.: Inondations des printemps 2017 et 2019 dans le bassin versant de la rivière des Outaouais (Québec, Canada): analyse des facteurs physiographiques et météorologiques en cause, in: Les inondations au Québec: risques, aménagement du territoire, impacts socioéconomiques et transformation des vulnérabilités, edited by: Buffin-Bélanger, T., Maltais D. and Gauthier, M., Presse de l'Université du Québec, 29–58, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3405p58.11, 2022. 
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Short summary
In this data description paper, we present the ERA5-FWI-SN dataset, which consists in a gridded dataset of the daily Forest Fire Weather System (FWI) components across Canada, derived from the hourly ERA5 reanalysis products. For the first time, FWI calculations use surface weather readings taken at the local solar noon. This new method enables a more physically realistic spatial distribution of FWI components values across the east–west extent of a single time zone.
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