A laboratory-based quantification of the effect of live fuel moisture content on fire spread rate
Carlos G. Rossa A , Ricardo Veloso B and Paulo M. Fernandes A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
B Department of Forest and Landscape (CIFAP), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
C Corresponding author. Email: pfern@utad.pt
International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(5) 569-573 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15114
Submitted: 13 June 2015 Accepted: 16 December 2015 Published: 24 February 2016
Abstract
Observational evidence of an effect of live vegetation moisture content on fire spread rate remains extremely scarce despite the significance of fire activity in fuel complexes dominated by live components. This study assessed the moisture content effect of quasi-live fuels on fire spread rates measured in laboratory experiments. Fuel beds were built by vertically placing vegetation clippings to reproduce the natural upright fuel structure. The fuel drying process during storage resulted in a wide moisture content range (13–180%). An exponential damping function was fitted to rate of spread observations in four fuel types, indicating that rate of spread is halved by an increase in live moisture content from 50 to 180%. This effect, especially at higher moisture contents, was weaker than that predicted by theoretical formulations and from studies in mixtures of dead and live fuel.
Additional keyword: fire behaviour.
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