Evaluating models to estimate flame characteristics for free-burning fires using laboratory and field data

Anderson, Wendy R.; Pastor, Elsa; Butler, Bret W.; Catchpole, Edward A.; Dupuy, Jean‐Luc; Fernandes, Paulo; Guijarro, Mercedes; Mendes-Lopes, Jose-Miguel; Ventura, J. C.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.08.113

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…However, we also found a similar multiplicative relationship (FH ¼ 6.75 I 0.53 , r ¼ 0.85, P ¼ 0.0005). We are aware of the limitations of the outdoor wind tunnel to reproduce wildfire behaviour in the field (Anderson et al 2006, Marino et al 2012b). Nevertheless, as reported for other fire behaviour parameters (e.g.…”

Section: Effect Of Fuel Treatment Type On Fire Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effect of fuel treatments on fire behaviour in a mixed heathland: a comparative assessment in an outdoor wind tunnel

Marino

Hernando

Madrigal

et al. 2014

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Fuel management is one of the main challenges for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean region, where wildfires have important environmental and socioeconomic effects. Different treatments are usually applied in fire-prone shrubland to try to modify its flammability. However, a knowledge gap on the effectiveness of fuel management techniques still exists. We studied the effects of two mechanical treatments (shrub crushing and shrub clearing with removal) and of prescribed burning, on fire behaviour, and compared them with untreated vegetation. Experimental burns in 0.8 Â 6 m samples of regenerated shrubs 2 years after treatments were performed in an outdoor wind tunnel. All fuel treatments effectively modified fire behaviour, but no significant difference between treatment types was observed. Shrub fuel structure was the main factor affecting fire behaviour. Reduction of fuel load and height, especially necromass fraction, decreased flame height and fire intensity but did not affect fire rate of spread. Moisture contents of live and dead fuel fractions were not significant as independent parameters, but the average moisture level of the shrub fuel complex showed a relevant effect in determining fire behaviour. Temperature regime within and above the shrubs was also related to shrub fuel structure. This study contributes to understanding fuel management in shrubland by providing information about different fuel treatments effects on fire behaviour.

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Section: Effect Of Fuel Treatment Type On Fire Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effect of fuel treatments on fire behaviour in a mixed heathland: a comparative assessment in an outdoor wind tunnel

Marino

Hernando

Madrigal

et al. 2014

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…Multiple photographs were also taken as the fire approached each post, and these were used to produce separate estimates of flame length and flame angle by trigonometry. Flame length in photographs was measured from the mid-point of the flame base to the tip of the continuous flame area (Anderson et al 2006), discounting any disjunct areas of flame above the main body. Flame angle was estimated as the displacement of the flames from the upright monitoring post.…”

Section: Estimating Flame Properties During Experimental Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Flame properties, including height, length, and angle, are also important in determining processes such as maximum fire spotting distance (Albini et al 2012), crown fire potential (Alexander and Cruz 2011), and minimum fire break widths (Wilson 1988). Importantly, previous research (e.g., Byram 1959;Thomas 1963, Nelson andAdkins 1986;Anderson et al 2006) has shown that fireline intensity and mean flame length are closely related. This means that flame lengths can provide an important visual signal of the controllability and potential ecological effects of fires.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and participatory evaluation of fireline intensity and flame property models for managed burns on Calluna-dominated heathlands

et al. 2019

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Background: Prescribed burning plays an important role in the management of many ecosystems and can also be used to mitigate landscape-scale fire risk. Safe and effective application of prescribed fire requires that managers have a robust understanding of potential fire behavior in order to decide on the appropriate tools and tactics for any burning operation. Shrubland ecosystems, including heaths and moors, are known to exhibit intense fire behavior under marginal burning conditions under which fire would not be expected to spread in other vegetation types. This makes developing fire behavior predictions for such systems important. Traditional managed burning is widely used as a tool in Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull-dominated heath and moorland landscapes in northwest Europe, but in some regions, especially the United Kingdom, there is significant debate over fire use. Despite the controversy, there is general agreement on the need to (1) understand relationships between fuel structure and potential fire behavior, and (2) improve burning practice to optimize potential trade-offs between different ecosystem services. Our aim was to provide knowledge to improve management practice by developing models of potential fireline intensity and flame length. We conducted 27 burns in three developmental stages of Calluna with different stand structures and estimated fireline intensity, flame length, flame height, and flame angle. Flame properties were assessed using photographs and visual observation. We evaluated our models using a participatory research approach for which conservation and land managers submitted basic observations on fire behavior and fire weather for their burns. Results: Fireline intensity and flame height increased significantly across age-related Calluna phases. Regression modeling revealed that fireline intensity could be adequately estimated by a combination of fuel height and wind speed, with taller fuels and higher wind speeds related to more intense fires. Predictions were, however, improved by accounting for live fuel moisture content. Flame length and height were modeled as a function of fireline intensity using standard approaches, but adequately performing models for flame angle could not be established. Evaluation data provided by land managers was noisy, but their qualitative assessments of fire behavior and estimates of flame length were significantly correlated with predictions from our models.(Continued on next page)

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“…Knowledge of fuel consumption is necessary to compute fire intensity, together with the heat of combustion of the fuel and the rate of spread. Flame characteristics are important to many applications of fire behavior and effects: flame length is related to fire intensity, flame height is important in determining crowning potential, and flame angle and height are necessary to determine the amount of radiative heat transfer (Anderson et al, 2006).…”

Section: Reduction Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Laboratory-Scale Fires Propagating Under the Effect of a Long-Term Retardant

Àgueda

Pastor

Pérez

et al. 2010

Combustion Science and Technology

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Laboratory experiments were conducted in straw fuel beds in order to characterize the\ud effect of a widely used long-term retardant on fire behavior under different conditions: no slope–no wind, upslope–no wind, and no slope–upwind. The results are reported in terms of reduction factors for a set of variables characterizing fire behavior. In the experimental conditions the values of upslope–no-wind and no-slope–upwind fires showed no statistically significant differences from those of no-slope–no-wind fires. For all types of fire, values\ud obtained for the reduction factors on rate of spread, fuel consumption ratio, fire intensity, and flame length were 63%, 36%, 77%, and 54%, respectively.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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Evaluating models to estimate flame characteristics for free-burning fires using laboratory and field data

Cited by 17 publications

References 16 publications

Short-term effect of fuel treatments on fire behaviour in a mixed heathland: a comparative assessment in an outdoor wind tunnel

Short-term effect of fuel treatments on fire behaviour in a mixed heathland: a comparative assessment in an outdoor wind tunnel

Development and participatory evaluation of fireline intensity and flame property models for managed burns on Calluna-dominated heathlands

Characterization of Laboratory-Scale Fires Propagating Under the Effect of a Long-Term Retardant

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