A process-based model of fine fuel moisture

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Matthews

This paper presents the first complete process-based model for fuel moisture in the litter layer. The model predicts fuel moisture by modelling the energy and water budgets of the litter, intercepted precipitation, and air spaces in the litter. The model was tested against measurements of fuel moisture from two sets of field observations, one made in Eucalyptus mallee-heath under dry conditions and the other during a rainy period in Eucalyptus obliqua forest. The model correctly predicted minimum and maximum fuel moisture content and the timing of minima and maxima in the mallee-heath. Under wet conditions, wetting and drying of the litter profile were correctly predicted but wetting of the surface litter was over-predicted. The structure of the model and the dependence of predictions on model parameters were examined using sensitivity and parameter estimation studies. The results indicated that it should be possible to adapt the model to any forest type by specifying a limited number of parameters. A need for further experimental research on the wetting of litter during rain was also identified.

Author(s):  
Chunquan Fan ◽  
Binbin He ◽  
Peng Kong ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Kellen Nelson ◽  
Daniel Tinker

Understanding how live and dead forest fuel moisture content (FMC) varies with seasonal weather and stand structure will improve researchers’ and forest managers’ ability to predict the cumulative effects of weather on fuel drying during the fire season and help identify acute conditions that foster wildfire ignition and high rates of fire spread. No studies have investigated the efficacy of predicting FMC using mechanistic water budget models at daily time scales through the fire season nor have they investigated how FMC may vary across space. This study addresses these gaps by (1) validating a novel mechanistic live FMC model and (2) applying this model with an existing dead FMC model at three forest sites using five climate change scenarios to characterize how FMC changes through time and across space. Sites include post-fire 24-year old forest, mature forest with high canopy cover, and mature forest affected by the mountain pine beetle with moderate canopy cover. Climate scenarios include central tendency, warm/dry, warm/wet, hot/dry, and hot/wet.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambarish Dahale ◽  
Selina Ferguson ◽  
Babak Shotorban ◽  
Shankar Mahalingam

Formulation of a physics-based model, capable of predicting fire spread through a single elevated crown-like shrub, is described in detail. Predictions from the model, obtained by numerical solutions to governing equations of fluid dynamics, combustion, heat transfer and thermal degradation of solid fuel, are found to be in fairly good agreement with experimental results. In this study we utilise the physics-based model to explore the importance of two parameters – the spatial variation of solid fuel bulk density and the solid fuel moisture content – on the burning of an isolated shrub in quiescent atmosphere. The results suggest that vertical fire spread rate within an isolated shrub and the time to initiate ignition within the crown are two global parameters significantly affected when the spatial variation of the bulk density or the variation of fuel moisture content is taken into account. The amount of fuel burnt is another parameter affected by varying fuel moisture content, especially in the cases of fire propagating through solid fuel with moisture content exceeding 40%. The specific mechanisms responsible for the reduction in propagation speed in the presence of higher bulk densities and moisture content are identified.


2014 ◽  
pp. 353-359
Author(s):  
Anita Pinto ◽  
Juncal Espinosa-Prieto ◽  
Carlos Rossa ◽  
Stuart Matthews ◽  
Carlos Loureiro ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 111797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Rao ◽  
A. Park Williams ◽  
Jacqueline Fortin Flefil ◽  
Alexandra G. Konings

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