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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): E. Louise Loudermilk; Gary L. Achtemeier; Joseph J. O'Brien; J. Kevin Hiers; Benjamin S. Hornsby
Publication Date: 2014

In ecosystems with frequent surface fires, fire and fuel heterogeneity at relevant scales have been largely ignored. This could be because complete burns give an impression of homogeneity, or due to the difficulty in capturing fine-scale variation in fuel characteristics and fire behaviour. Fire movement between patches of fuel can have implications for modelling fire spread and understanding ecological effects. We collected high resolution (0.8 x 0.8-cm pixels) visual and thermal imaging data during fire passage over 4 x 4-m plots of mixed fuel beds consisting of pine litter and grass during two prescribed burns within the longleaf pine forests of Eglin Air Force Base, FL in February 2011. Fuel types were identified by passing multi-spectral digital images through a colour recognition algorithm in 'Rabbit Rules,' an experimental coupled fire-atmosphere fire spread model. Image fuel types were validated against field fuel types. Relationships between fuel characteristics and fire behaviour measurements at multiple resolutions (0.8 x 0.8 cm to 33 x 33 cm) were analysed using a regression tree approach. There were strong relationships between fire behaviour and fuels, especially at the 33 x 33-cm scale (R2 = 0.40-0.69), where image-to-image overlap error was reduced and fuels were well characterised. Distinct signatures were found for individual and coupled fuel types for determining fire behaviour, illustrating the importance of understanding fire-fuel heterogeneity at fine-scales. Simulating fire spread at this fine-scale may be critical for understanding fire effects, such as understorey plant community assembly.

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Citation: Loudermilk, E. Louise; Achtemeier, Gary L.; O'Brien, Joseph J.; Hiers, J. Kevin; Hornsby, Benjamin S. 2014. High-resolution observations of combustion in heterogeneous surface fuels. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23(7):1016-1026.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • combustion
  • coniferous forests
  • fire frequency
  • fire heterogeneity
  • fire management
  • Florida
  • forest management
  • fuel type
  • fuel types
  • image analysis
  • image recognition
  • infrared imagery
  • IR imagery
  • litter
  • longleaf pine
  • military lands
  • Pinus palustris
  • rate of spread
  • regression tree
  • surface fuels
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 30737Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Journals - IAbstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 53361

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.