Stand-specific litter moisture content calibrations for the Canadian Fine Fuel Moisture Code

Wotton, B. M.; Beverly, Jennifer L.

doi:10.1071/wf06087

Cited by 53 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Thus, more active use of forest for recreation purposes might increase the number of fire ignition cases. The observed increase in mean fire size in higher fire danger classes indicates a more favourable combination of flammable fuels and weather conditions for fire spread during more severe fire-weather periods (Wotton and Beverly 2007). Similar trends of increasing mean fire size with increasing fire-weather risk has been observed in Finland (Lehtonen et al 2016); nevertheless, the damage is greater after fires that occurred during high fire-risk periods (Hasson et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Climate influences vegetation patterns and determines the length of the fire season (Carvalho et al 2011); however, in the short term, weather drives fire ignition, behaviour, and spread (Wotton and Beverly 2007). Fires affect climate through the change of vegetation structure, surface albedo, and release of aerosols, thus creating a feedback loop (Bowman et al 2009;Bowman et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The forest fire regime in Latvia during 1922–2014

Donis¹,

Kitenberga²,

Šņepsts³

et al. 2017

Silva Fenn.

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Highlights• Climate effects and human influence on forest fire activity in Latvia was assessed using time-series analysis.• Drought conditions during summer season had the strongest effect on fire activity of tested climatic variables.• Negative trends and spatial distribution pattern of fire activity suggests of prevailing human influence on forest fire regime over the 20th century. AbstractFire as disturbance of forests has an important ecological and economical role in boreal and hemiboreal forests. The occurrence of forest fires is both climatically and anthropogenically determined and shifts in fire regimes are expected due to climate change. Although fire histories have been well documented in boreal regions, there is still insufficient information about fire occurrence in the Baltic States. In this study, spatio-temporal patterns and climatic drivers of forest fires were assessed by means of spatial and time-series analysis. The efficiency of Canadian Fire Weather (FWI) indices as indicators for fire activity was tested. The study was based on data from the literature, archives, and the Latvian State Forest service database. During the period 1922-2014, the occurrence and area affected by forest fires has decreased although the total area of forest land has nearly doubled, suggesting improvement of the fire suppression system as well as changes in socioeconomic situation. The geographical distribution of forest fires revealed two pronounced clusters near the largest cities of Riga and Daugavpils, suggesting dominance of human causes of ignitions. The occurrence of fires was mainly influenced by drought. FWI appeared to be efficient in predicting the fire occurrence: 23-34% of fires occurred on days with a high or extremely high fire danger class, which overall had a relative occurrence of only 4.3-4.6%. During the 20th century, the peak of fire activity shifted from May to April, probably due to global warming and socioeconomic reasons. The results of this study are relevant for forest hazard mitigation and development of fire activity prediction system in Latvia.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forest fire regime in Latvia during 1922–2014

Donis¹,

Kitenberga²,

Šņepsts³

et al. 2017

Silva Fenn.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The FBP System (Forestry Canada Fire Danger Group 1992) relies on outputs from the FWI System and other information (such as topography and time of year) and provides quantitative assessments of fire behaviour in a number of major fuel types across Canada. The Accessory Fuel Moisture System (AFMS) contains additional fuel moisture models to provide more temporal resolution to some fast response time fuels (e.g., Van Wagner 1977;Lawson et al 1996) and a means of converting moisture code values to stand-specific moisture (e.g., Lawson et al 1996b;Wotton and Beverly 2007). The Fire Occurrence Prediction (FOP) System does not represent a single developed system used in Canada; expected fire occurrence is typically estimated by local fire managers each day based on an evaluation of fuel moisture, lightning or potential human activity, and the fire manager's professional experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting and using outputs from the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System in research applications

2008

Self Cite

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Understanding and being able to predict forest fire occurrence, fire growth and fire intensity are important aspects of forest fire management. In Canada fire management agencies use the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) to help predict these elements of forest fire activity. In this paper a review of the CFFDRS is presented with the main focus on understanding and interpreting Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System outputs. The need to interpret the outputs of the FWI System with consideration to regional differences is emphasized and examples are shown of how the relationship between actual fuel moisture and the FWI System's moisture codes vary from region to region. Examples are then shown of the relationship between fuel moisture and fire occurrence for both human-and lightningcaused fire for regions with different forest composition. The relationship between rate of spread, fuel consumption and the relative fire behaviour indices of the FWI System for different forest types is also discussed. The outputs of the CFFDRS are used every day across Canada by fire managers in every district, regional and provincial fire management office. The purpose of this review is to provide modellers with an understanding of this system and how its outputs can be interpreted. It is hoped that this review will expose statistical modellers and other researchers to some of the models used currently in forest fire management and encourage further research and development of models useful for understanding and managing forest fire activity.

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“…The three forest types differ in litter structure and, possibly, in the moisture of the underlying duff. These factors affect the moisture content of fine dead fuels [46] but are not considered by the MOISTURE model. Under comparable conditions of weather and shading, surface fuels in deciduous hardwoods (BA in our case) are expected to be wetter than in conifers, but the difference decreases with dryness to the point of being insignificant [46].…”

Section: Differences In Weather and Fuel Moisture Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These factors affect the moisture content of fine dead fuels [46] but are not considered by the MOISTURE model. Under comparable conditions of weather and shading, surface fuels in deciduous hardwoods (BA in our case) are expected to be wetter than in conifers, but the difference decreases with dryness to the point of being insignificant [46]. PP represented the highest mean fire danger, as it combined the highest wind speed with the lowest dead fuel moisture content as a result of a comparatively more open environment.…”

Section: Differences In Weather and Fuel Moisture Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microclimate and Modeled Fire Behavior Differ Between Adjacent Forest Types in Northern Portugal

Pinto

Fernandes

2014

Forests

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Fire severity varies with forest composition and structure, reflecting micrometeorology and the fuel complex, but their respective influences are difficult to untangle from observation alone. We quantify the differences in fire weather between different forest types and the resulting differences in modeled fire behavior. Collection of in-stand weather data proceeded during two summer periods in three adjacent stands in northern Portugal, respectively Pinus pinaster (PP), Betula alba (BA), and Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (CL). Air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed varied respectively as CL < PP < BA, PP < CL < BA, and CL < BA < PP. Differences between PP and the other types were greatest during the warmest and driest hours of the day in a sequence of 10 days with high fire danger. Estimates of daytime moisture content of fine dead fuels and fire behavior characteristics for this period, respectively, from Behave and BehavePlus, indicate a CL < BA < PP gradient in fire potential. High stand density in CL and BA ensured lower wind speed and higher fuel moisture content than in PP, limiting the likelihood of an extreme fire environment. However, regression tree analysis revealed that the fire behavior distinction between the three forest types was primarily a function of the surface fuel complex, and more so during extreme fire weather conditions. OPEN ACCESSForests 2014, 5 2491

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Stand-specific litter moisture content calibrations for the Canadian Fine Fuel Moisture Code

Cited by 53 publications

References 5 publications

The forest fire regime in Latvia during 1922–2014

The forest fire regime in Latvia during 1922–2014

Interpreting and using outputs from the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System in research applications

Microclimate and Modeled Fire Behavior Differ Between Adjacent Forest Types in Northern Portugal

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