The effect of fuel moisture content on the spread rate of forest fires in the absence of wind or slope
Carlos G. Rossa
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal. Email: carlos.g.rossa@gmail.com
International Journal of Wildland Fire 26(1) 24-31 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF16049
Submitted: 23 March 2016 Accepted: 6 November 2016 Published: 7 January 2017
Abstract
Most studies on the effect of fuel moisture content (FMC) on forest fire behaviour focus on dead fuel moisture; mechanisms of fire spread in live vegetation are considered to remain unexplained by current theory and modelling. In this work, an empirical model for quantifying the effect of FMC on the ratio between spread rate and fuel bed height of fires in the absence of wind or slope was proposed. The model was fitted using data from laboratory experiments, carried out in fuel beds representative of natural litter and shrubland fuel complexes in a wide range of FMC (6–179%), and tested against data from field experiments and wildfires. The pattern of spread rate variation with FMC, namely its reduced rate for values above ~80%, was explained by the ratio between fuel low heat content and energy required for ignition.
Additional keywords: dead fuels, empirical modelling, fire behaviour, live fuels, natural fuel beds.
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