THE MOST PRESSING NEEDS FOR IMPROVING SMOKE FORECASTING APPLICATIONS FOR FIELD CAMPAIGN SUPPORT ARE (1) PREDICTION OF FIRE SPREAD AND DECAY AND (2) PREDICTION OF HIGH-ALTITUDE SMOKE INJECTION. WHILE THESE TWO NEEDS ARE RELATED RECENT RESEARCH SHOWS THEY ARE NOT PREDICTED BY THE SAME SET OF CONDITIONS. THE COMBINATION OF METEOROLOGY FROM NUMERICAL FORECAST MODELS AND IMPROVED EXPLOITATION OF SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS HAS GREAT POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVING AUTOMATED REGIONAL FORECASTS OF FIRE BEHAVIOR AND SMOKE PRODUCTION ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRECHEM STUDY REGION. WE THEREFORE PROPOSE TO SUPPORT FIRECHEM WITH THE BEST POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF METEOROLOGY AND SATELLITE PRODUCTS INCLUDING EXISTING AND NEWLY DEVELOPED FORECASTING TOOLS.