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  1. Characterizing fuels in the 21st century.

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    Author(s): David Sandberg; Roger D. Ottmar; Geoffrey H. Cushon
    Date: 2001
    Source: International Journal of Wildland Fire. 10: 381-387
    Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
    PDF: View PDF  (669 KB)

    Description

    The ongoing development of sophisticated fire behavior and effects models has demonstrated the need for a comprehensive system of fuel classification that more accurately captures the structural complexity and geographic diversity of fuelbeds. The Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team (FERA) of the USD Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, is developing a national system of fuel characteristic classification (FCC). The system is designed to accommodate researchers and managers operating at a variety of scales, and who have access to a variety of kinds of input data. Users can generate fuel characteristics by accessing existing fuelbed descriptions (fuelbed prototypes) using generic information such as cover type or vegetation form. Fuelbed prototypes will provide the best available predictions of the kind, quality and abundance of fuels. Users can accept these default settings or modify some or all of them using more detailed information about vegetation structure and fuel biomass. When the user has completed editing the fuelbed data, the FCC system calculates or infers quantitative fuel characteristics (physical, chemical, and structural properties) and probable fire parameters specific to that fuelbed. Each user-described fuelbed is also assigned to one of approximately 192 stylized fuel characteristic classes.

    Publication Notes

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    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Sandberg, David, V.; Ottmar, Roger D.; Cushon, Geoffrey H. 2001. Characterizing fuels in the 21st century. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 10: 381-387

    Keywords

    fire, fuel classification, fuel models, fuel characteristics, FCC, fire management, fire modeling, fire behavior, fire effects, United States, Alaska

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