Characterizing and mapping fuels for Malaysia and western Indonesia

Caren C. Dymond; Orbita Roswintiarti; Michael Brady

doi:10.1071/WF03077

RESEARCH ARTICLE

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Characterizing and mapping fuels for Malaysia and western Indonesia

Caren C. Dymond ^A ^D , Orbita Roswintiarti ^B and Michael Brady ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Canadian Forest Service, 506 Burnside Rd, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5, Canada.

^B Indonesian Space Agency (LAPAN), Jl. Lapan No. 70 Pekayon Pasar Rebo, Jakarta 13710, Indonesia.

^C Canadian Forest Service, 5320 122nd Street, Edmonton, AB T6H 3S5, Canada.

^D Corresponding author. Telephone: +1 250 363 0623; fax: +1 250 363 0775; email: cdymond@nrcan.gc.ca

International Journal of Wildland Fire 13(3) 323-334 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF03077
Submitted: 3 December 2003 Accepted: 14 April 2004 Published: 16 November 2004

Abstract

Fire management systems are being developed in many tropical countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia. As part of that development, this study set out to develop a fuel classification system and map for Malaysia and western Indonesia. We developed a template of fuel characteristics from temperate fuel classification systems and gathered data from literature and the field. The result was eight fuel types and two soil modifiers, which were characterized in terms that affect fire occurrence, fire behaviour and therefore fire management. Furthermore, we developed a method to map those fuel types based on existing global vegetation data. The result was a fuel type map at 1 km resolution suitable for coordination of international fire management efforts. This new map was also suitable for emission and smoke modelling efforts.

Additional keywords: fire danger rating; fire management; fuel classification; fuel mapping; tropics.

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Characterizing and mapping fuels for Malaysia and western Indonesia

Abstract

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