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Project ID: 07-2-1-57

Year: 2007

Date Started: 06/04/2007

Date Completed: 04/17/2009

Title: Estimating the Biomass of Hand-Piled Fuels for Smoke Management Planning

Project Proposal Abstract: Land managers need a tool to accurately and efficiently estimate the biomass of hand-piled fuels as pile burning becomes a more widespread and common method for treating high fire hazard areas with heavy surface fuels. Past pile characterization research dealt only with large, crane-constructed and tractor-built piles which have different physical properties and contain larger fuel particles (tree boles and large limbs). We propose to measure and weigh hand-constructed piles to determine the relationships between pile composition, pile size and pile biomass. We will sample different vegetation types (i.e., conifer, hardwood, and shrub) and pile sizes to develop equations for estimating hand-pile biomass. The results of this proposed research and development project will allow land managers to more accurately assess biomass in hand piles, leading to better smoke production estimates, improved burn scheduling, and more accurate compliance with the maximum allowable emissions limits as determined by various state smoke management plans. Deliverable products will include an improved pile-computation routine for piles in the widely-used fuel and fire management software CONSUME 3.0 and technical documentation that informs accurate fuels data collection and calculation of biomass.

Principal Investigator: Clinton S. Wright

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Robert E. Vihnanek	Forest Service	PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances
Federal Cooperator	Clinton S. Wright	Forest Service	PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances
Federal Fiscal Representative	Tamatha S. Verhunc	Forest Service	PNW-Pacific Northwest Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Oak Woodlands

There are no project locations identified for this project.

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	8608	NonRefereed Publication	Estimating Volume, Biomass, and Potential Emissions of Hand-Piled Fuels

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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