Estimating canopy fuel characteristics in five conifer stands in the western United States using tree and stand measurements

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 2803-2814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Reinhardt ◽  
Joe Scott ◽  
Kathy Gray ◽  
Robert Keane
Keyword(s):  
Tree Height ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Computational Techniques ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Canopy Fuels ◽  
Adjustment Factors ◽  
Fuel Characteristics ◽  
Crown Base Height ◽  
Interior West ◽  
The Vertical Distribution

Assessment of crown fire potential requires quantification of canopy fuels. In this study, canopy fuels were measured destructively on plots in five Interior West conifer stands. Observed canopy bulk density, canopy fuel load, and vertical profiles of canopy fuels are compared with those estimated from stand data using several computational techniques. An allometric approach to estimating these canopy fuel characteristics was useful, but, for accuracy, estimates of vertical biomass distribution and site-adjustment factors were required. Available crown fuel was estimated separately for each tree according to species, diameter, and crown class. The vertical distribution of this fuel was then modeled within each tree crown on the basis of tree height and crown base height. Summing across trees within the stand at every height yielded an estimated vertical profile of canopy fuel that approximated the observed distribution.

Allometric equations for estimating canopy fuel load and distribution of pole-size maritime pine trees in five Iberian provenances

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Jiménez ◽  
José Antonio Vega ◽  
José María Fernández-Alonso ◽  
Daniel Vega-Nieva ◽  
Juan Gabriel Álvarez-González ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Height ◽  
Maritime Pine ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Tree Biomass ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Fuel Characteristics

Adequate quantification of canopy fuel load and canopy bulk density is required for assessment of the susceptibility of forest stands to crown fire and evaluation of silvicultural treatments aimed at reducing the risk of crowning. The use of tree biomass equations and vertical profile distributions of crown fuels provide the most accurate estimates of the canopy fuel characteristics. In this study, 100 pole-size maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) trees were destructively sampled in five different sites, covering a wide range of its geographical distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. To estimate crown fuel mass, allometric equations were fitted separately for needles, twigs, and fuel available for crown fire. Models were also fitted to characterize the vertical fuel distributions as a function of tree height. All models were fitted simultaneously to guarantee additivity among tree biomass components, and corrections were also made for heterocedasticity and autocorrelation. Diameter at breast height was the best explanatory variable for all the allometric models. The vertical distribution of crown biomass fractions along tree height depended on the crown size and tree dominance. The system of equations provides a good balance between accurate predictions and low data requirements, allowing quantification of canopy fuel characteristics at stand level.

scholarly journals Utah juniper and two-needle piñon reduction alters fuel loads

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kert R. Young ◽  
Bruce A. Roundy ◽  
Stephen C. Bunting ◽  
Dennis L. Eggett
Keyword(s):  
Block Design ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Understorey Vegetation ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
Canopy Fuels ◽  
Utah Juniper ◽  
Pinus Spp

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) and piñon (Pinus spp.) trees have encroached millions of hectares of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)–bunchgrass communities. Juniper–piñon trees are treated to reduce canopy fuel loads and crown fire potential. We measured the effects of juniper–piñon infilling and fuel-reduction treatments on fuel load characteristics at four locations in Utah. At each location, treatment areas were burned, left untreated, or trees were cut or masticated in a randomised complete-block design. We measured standing and downed fuels by size and type along 30-m transects on 15 subplots (30 × 33 m) per location before and 1–3 years after treatment. Increased tree cover was associated with decreased shrub and herbaceous fuel loads (P < 0.01). By 2 years post-treatment, herbaceous fuel loads were greater than pretreatment in all treated areas (P < 0.01). Cut and mastication treatments increased surface woody 10- and 100-h fuel loads and wood/bark cover (P < 0.01). Masticated-tree depth was a good estimator of fuel loads (R2 = 92). The conversion of canopy fuels to surface fuels reduced fuels that enable crown fire and extreme fire intensity. Cool-season prescribed fire may need to follow mechanical treatments to reduce surface fuel and the potential for wildfire damage to perennial understorey vegetation.

scholarly journals Estimación de la distribución vertical de combustibles finos del dosel de copas en masas de Pinus sylvestris empleando datos LiDAR de baja densidad

2019 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Fidalgo-González ◽  
S. Arellano-Pérez ◽  
J. G. Álvarez-González ◽  
F. Castedo-Dorado ◽  
A. D. Ruiz-González ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Distribution ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Cross Model ◽  
Canopy Fuels ◽  
Structural Variables ◽  
Fire Initiation ◽  
Using Data

<p>Canopy fuel load, canopy bulk density and canopy base height are structural variables used to predict crown fire initiation and spread. Direct measurement of these variables is not functional, and they are usually estimated indirectly by modelling. Advances in fire behaviour modelling require accurate and landscape scale estimates of the complete vertical distribution of canopy fuels. The goal of the present study is to model the vertical profile of available canopy fuels in Scots pine stands by using data from the Spanish national forest inventory and low-density LiDAR data (0.5 first returns  m<sup>–2</sup>) provided by Spanish PNOA project (Plan Nacional de Ortofotografía Aérea). In a first step, the vertical distribution of the canopy fuel load was modelled using the Weibull probability density function. In a second step, a system of models was fitted to relate the canopy variables to Lidar-derived metrics. Models were fitted simultaneously to compensate the effects of the inherent cross-model correlation between errors. Heteroscedasticity was also analyzed, but correction in the fitting process was not necessary. The estimated canopy fuel load profiles from LiDAR-derived metrics explained 41% of the variation in canopy fuel load in the analysed plots. The proposed models can be used to assess the effectiveness of different forest management alternatives for reducing crown fire hazard.</p>

Landscape-scale changes in canopy fuels and potential fire behaviour following ponderosa pine restoration treatments

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Roccaforte ◽  
Peter Z. Fulé ◽  
W. Wallace Covington
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Permanent Plots ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Treated Area ◽  
Canopy Fuels ◽  
Behaviour Changes ◽  
Historical Forest

We evaluated canopy fuels and potential fire behaviour changes following landscape-scale restoration treatments in a ponderosa pine forest at Mt Trumbull, Arizona, USA. The goal of the project was to restore historical forest structure by thinning and burning, thereby reducing canopy fuels and minimising active crown fire potential. We measured 117 permanent plots before (1996–97) and after (2003) treatments. The plots were evenly distributed across the landscape and represented an area of ~1200 ha, about half of which was an untreated control. We compared canopy fuel estimates using three different methods to assess whether fire behaviour modelling outputs were sensitive to the choice of canopy fuel equation. Treatments decreased canopy fuel load by 43–50% from 0.77–1.83 kg m–2 to 0.44–0.91 kg m–2 (the range of values reflects the different canopy fuel equations) and decreased canopy bulk density by 42–61% from 0.038–0.172 kg m–3 to 0.022–0.067 kg m–3 in the treated area, while slight increases occurred in the control. We applied two fire models to estimate potential fire behaviour: FlamMap and NEXUS. These models differ in several important features but predicted outcomes were consistent: under extreme drought and wind conditions, the proportion of the landscape susceptible to active crown fire decreased in the treated area while little change occurred in the control.

Characterizing Canopy Fuels to Predict Fire Behavior in Pitch Pine Stands

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Duveneck ◽  
William A. Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Pinus Rigida ◽  
Canopy Fuels ◽  
Pitch Pine ◽  
Thinning Operations ◽  
Pine Stands

Abstract Destructive sampling of 31 pitch pine (Pinus rigida P. Mill) trees ranging in dbh from 2.7 to 42.5 cm and in height from 4.1 to 23.8 m provided a complete inventory of needles and small-diameter branch weights used to characterize canopy fuels to predict fire behavior in pitch pine stands. Regression equations using dbh as an independent variable predict canopy bulk density with an r2 > 0.93. The results provide managers with a method of evaluating the effectiveness of thinning operations in reducing crown fire potential in well-stocked stands. To demonstrate the application of the method, we calculated the wind speed (Crowning Index [CI]) needed to sustain an active crown fire in thinned and unthinned pitch pine stands in Montague, Massachusetts. Thinning to 2.8 m2/ha basal area increased the CI from 34 to 98 km/hour.

Corrigendum to: Assessing canopy fuel stratum characteristics in crown fire prone fuel types of western North America

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. iii ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel G. Cruz ◽  
Martin E. Alexander ◽  
Ronald H. Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
In Fire

Application of crown fire behavior models in fire management decision-making have been limited by the difficulty of quantitatively describing fuel complexes, specifically characteristics of the canopy fuel stratum. To estimate canopy fuel stratum characteristics of four broad fuel types found in the western United States and adjacent areas of Canada, namely Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and lodgepole pine forest stands, data from the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database were analysed and linked with tree-level foliage dry weight equations. Models to predict canopy base height (CBH), canopy fuel load (CFL) and canopy bulk density (CBD) were developed through linear regression analysis and using common stand descriptors (e.g. stand density, basal area, stand height) as explanatory variables. The models developed were fuel type specific and coefficients of determination ranged from 0.90 to 0.95 for CFL, between 0.84 and 0.92 for CBD and from 0.64 to 0.88 for CBH. Although not formally evaluated, the models seem to give a reasonable characterization of the canopy fuel stratum for use in fire management applications.

scholarly journals Evaluating Potential Fire Behavior in Lodgepole Pine-Dominated Forests after a Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in North-Central Colorado

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer G. Klutsch ◽  
Mike A. Battaglia ◽  
Daniel R. West ◽  
Sheryl L. Costello ◽  
José F. Negrón
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Surface Fire ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Fuel Characteristics

Abstract A mountain pine beetle outbreak in Colorado lodgepole pine forests has altered stand and fuel characteristics that affect potential fire behavior. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator, potential fire behavior was modeled for uninfested and mountain pine beetle-affected plots 7 years after outbreak initiation and 10 and 80% projected tree fall using measured and projected fuel and stand characteristics. Under 90th percentile weather conditions, uninfested plots exhibited proportionally more crown fire than infested plots. Plots predicted to have crown fire were composed mainly of nonhost conifer species and had a lower and more continuous canopy than infested plots. Where surface fire was predicted to occur, live lodgepole pine was the only conifer present, and plots had significantly lower tree mortality from fire than plots predicted to have crown fire. Mountain pine beetle-induced changes in stand and fuel characteristics resulted in increased intensity of surface fire behavior. Furthermore, with 80% infested tree fall, potential smoke production was predicted to be higher. Tree species composition of stands pre and postbark beetle outbreak is important when identifying mountain pine beetle-caused changes to potential fire behavior.

Using visual obstruction to estimate heathland fuel load and structure

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 380 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Davies ◽  
A. Hamilton ◽  
A. Smith ◽  
C. J. Legg
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Distribution ◽  
Canopy Structure ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Visual Obstruction ◽  
Non Destructive ◽  
The Vertical Distribution

We present a simple non-destructive technique for assessing fuel load and critical aspects of vegetation structure that play important roles in determining fire behaviour. The method is tested in a Scottish Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull heathland but could be applied to any vegetation up to ~1 m high. Visual obstruction of a banded measurement stick (the FuelRule) placed vertically through a stand of vegetation is governed by a combination of the height of the vegetation and its density. The vertical distribution of visual obstruction is calibrated to give estimates of total fuel loading, the loading of separate size categories and the vertical distribution and horizontal heterogeneity of fuels. The present paper provides a quick and simple method for estimating total aboveground biomass and structure that may be useful not just in studies of fire behaviour but where non-destructive assessment of biomass, vegetation density or canopy structure is needed. Calibration equations can be rapidly created for use in other vegetation or fuel types.

scholarly journals Assessing canopy fuel stratum characteristics in crown fire prone fuel types of western North America

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel G. Cruz ◽  
Martin E. Alexander ◽  
Ronald H. Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
In Fire

Application of crown fire behavior models in fire management decision-making have been limited by the difficulty of quantitatively describing fuel complexes, specifically characteristics of the canopy fuel stratum. To estimate canopy fuel stratum characteristics of four broad fuel types found in the western United States and adjacent areas of Canada, namely Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and lodgepole pine forest stands, data from the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database were analysed and linked with tree-level foliage dry weight equations. Models to predict canopy base height (CBH), canopy fuel load (CFL) and canopy bulk density (CBD) were developed through linear regression analysis and using common stand descriptors (e.g. stand density, basal area, stand height) as explanatory variables. The models developed were fuel type specific and coefficients of determination ranged from 0.90 to 0.95 for CFL, between 0.84 and 0.92 for CBD and from 0.64 to 0.88 for CBH. Although not formally evaluated, the models seem to give a reasonable characterization of the canopy fuel stratum for use in fire management applications.

scholarly journals ALGORITHM FOR THE AUTOMATIC ESTIMATION OF AGRICULTURAL TREE GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS USING AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING DATA

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B8 ◽  
pp. 629-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hadaś ◽  
A. Borkowski ◽  
J. Estornell
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Average Density ◽  
Geometric Parameters ◽  
Airborne Laser Scanning ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Airborne Laser ◽  
Crown Base Height

The estimation of dendrometric parameters has become an important issue for the agricultural planning and management. Since the classical field measurements are time consuming and inefficient, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data can be used for this purpose. Point clouds acquired for orchard areas allow to determine orchard structures and geometric parameters of individual trees. In this research we propose an automatic method that allows to determine geometric parameters of individual olive trees using ALS data. The method is based on the α-shape algorithm applied for normalized point clouds. The algorithm returns polygons representing crown shapes. For points located inside each polygon, we select the maximum height and the minimum height and then we estimate the tree height and the crown base height. We use the first two components of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as the estimators for crown diameters. The α-shape algorithm requires to define the radius parameter <i>R</i>. In this study we investigated how sensitive are the results to the radius size, by comparing the results obtained with various settings of the R with reference values of estimated parameters from field measurements. Our study area was the olive orchard located in the Castellon Province, Spain. We used a set of ALS data with an average density of 4 points&thinsp;m<sip>&minus;2</sup>. We noticed, that there was a narrow range of the <i>R</i> parameter, from 0.48&thinsp;m to 0.80&thinsp;m, for which all trees were detected and for which we obtained a high correlation coefficient (>&thinsp;0.9) between estimated and measured values. We compared our estimates with field measurements. The RMSE of differences was 0.8&thinsp;m for the tree height, 0.5&thinsp;m for the crown base height, 0.6&thinsp;m and 0.4&thinsp;m for the longest and shorter crown diameter, respectively. The accuracy obtained with the method is thus sufficient for agricultural applications.

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