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NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire (PMS 205)

Term Steward Status Definition
planetary boundary layer IWSC Incident Weather Subcommittee Approved That part of the earth's lower atmosphere that is directly influenced by the presence of the earth's surface and responds to surface forcings such as fronts, friction, evapotranspiration and convective mixing.
planimetric map PMC Fire Planning Management Committee, QMC Qualifications Management Committee, QSSC Qualifications Systems Subcommittee, LMC Logistic and Equipment Management Committee Approved A map that shows the positions of features without showing the elevations of all hills and valleys of the land. It can include rivers, lakes, roads, boundaries, or other human-made symbolic features.
planned ignition FMB Fire Management Board Approved see Prescribed Fire
planning interval QMC Qualifications Management Committee, NISC NIMS Integration Subcommittee Archived Period of time between scheduled planning meetings.
planning meeting QMC Qualifications Management Committee, NISC NIMS Integration Subcommittee Approved The meeting which serves as a final review and approval, by the Command and General Staff, of operational plans and resources requirements. This meeting is an element of the Planning Cycle.
Planning Section QMC Qualifications Management Committee, NISC NIMS Integration Subcommittee Approved The ICS Section that collects, evaluates, and disseminates operational information related to the incident and for the development of the IAP. This section also maintains information on the current/forecasted situation and on the status of resources assigned to the incident.
Plastic Sphere Dispenser (PSD) AMC Aviation Management Committee Approved Device installed, but jettisonable, in a helicopter, which injects glycol into a plastic sphere containing potassium permanganate, which is then expelled from the machine and aircraft. This produces an exothermic reaction resulting in ignition of fuels on the ground for prescribed or wildland fire applications.
plow line ETSC Equipment/Technology Subcommittee Approved Fireline constructed by a tractor plow.
plume FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved A convection column generated by combustion (of wildland fuel).
plume rise FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved How high above the level of release an emission plume rises.
plume-dominated wildland fire FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved A wildland fire whose activity is determined by the convection column.
PM10 FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved Particulate matter of mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) less than or equal to 10 micrometers.
PM2.5 FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved Particulate matter of mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers.
pocket weather meter IWSC Incident Weather Subcommittee Approved A handheld electronic device that measures temperature, humidity, wind speed, and possibly other atmospheric variables, depending on brand and model.
pockets of a fire FASC Fire Analysis Subcommittee Approved Unburned indentations in the fire edge formed by fingers or slow burning areas.
point date time IRSC Incident Reporting Subcommittee Approved The date and time that the fire point was collected in the field.
point name GISC Geospatial Information Subcommittee Approved An additional field to assist with identifying the feature.
point of attack IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee Approved That part of the fire on which work is started when suppression crews arrive.
point of origin FISC Fire Investigation Subcommittee Approved The exact physical location within the Ignition Area where a heat source and the local fuel interact, resulting in a fire.
point of origin on unprotected land IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee Approved Point of Origin of an incident for which no fire agency has been assigned as the protecting unit.
point source FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved A permanent source of air pollution that can be distinctly identified such as a smokestack.
point source fire predictions FMSC Fuels Management Subcommittee Approved Predictions that apply to an initiating fire burning during a time when conditions have been relatively constant, or where it can be assumed that the fire will maintain a basically elliptical shape.
point type GISC Geospatial Information Subcommittee Approved Description of the type of point.
point/zone protection IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee Approved A wildfire response strategy which protects specific assets or highly valued resources from the wildfire without directly halting the continued spread of the wildfire.
poise ETSC Equipment/Technology Subcommittee Approved Unit of fluid viscosity in fire retardant, defined as tangential force per unit area (dynes/square centimeter) required to maintain unit difference in velocity (1 centimeter/second) between two parallel planes separated by 1 cm of fluid (1 poise=1 dyne-second/cubic centimeter). 
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