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12-1-03-11
2012
06/15/2012
06/30/2016
Evaluation and Optimization of Fuel Treatment Effectiveness with an Integrated Experimental/Modeling Approach
Our proposed research provides an opportunity to integrate proven, state-of-the-art, remote sensing methodologies with cutting edge numeric modeling of fire spread to test the principals and physics behind fuel reduction treatments. Many difficulties arise in adequately characterizing fuel reduction treatments solely through field experimentation. To overcome these limitations, we present a transferable approach that integrates Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) measurements of three-dimensional canopy structure and field consumption measurements with fire intensity and spread simulated with the Wildland-Urban Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS). The approach presented here: 1) characterizes three-dimensional fuel loading across a heterogeneous landscape and uses both a space-for-time and remeasurement approaches to characterize the physical changes that fuels treatments have on fuel structure and loading, 2) parameterizes WFDS using laboratory derived fuel property characteristics and evaluate the model at four operational prescribed burns in areas of contrasting fuel structure, and 3) integrates the treatment-dependant canopy structural characteristics derived from the LiDAR with WFDS simulations to evaluate realistic treatment scenarios over a wide range of fire weather conditions, allowing for the determination of optimal treatment regimes at the landscape-scale. This research will result in much-needed and tangible information for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, and will directly inform their decision-making as they move forward with their extensive fuels management program. Additionally, the interplay between remote sensing, extensive field sampling and modeling presented here provide a potentially groundbreaking approach for evaluating fuel treatment effectiveness in a variety of other forest and shrub-dominated systems.
Nicholas S. Skowronski
Forest Service
NRS-Northern Research Station

Other Project Collaborators

Other Project Collaborators

Type

Name

Agency/Organization

Branch or Dept

Agreements Contact

David Garrison

Forest Service

NRS-Northern Research Station

Budget Contact

Debbie L. Giovanopoulos

Forest Service

NRS-Northern Research Station

Co-Principal Investigator

Albert J. Simeoni

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Co-Principal Investigator

Kenneth L. Clark

Forest Service

NRS-Silas Little Experimental Forest

Co-Principal Investigator

William E. Mell

Forest Service

PNW-Pacific Northwest Research Station

Collaborator/Contributor

Robert L. Kremens

Rochester Institute of Technology

Imaging Science

Funding Cooperator

Nicholas S. Skowronski

Forest Service

NRS-Northern Research Station

Project Locations

Project Locations

Fire Science Exchange Network

Appalachian

North Atlantic

Level

State

Agency

Unit

STATE

NJ

MULTIPLE

Final Report

Project Deliverables

Title
 
Investigation of firebrand generation in a pine stand fire.View
Journal of Sustainable ForestryView
An Experimental Study Evaluating the Burning Dynamics of Pitch Pine Needle Beds Using the FPAView
Flammability Study of Pine Needle BedsView
Investigation of Structural Wood Ignition by Firebrand AccumulationView
Estimating Canopy Bulk Density with LiDAR DataView
Fuel Treatment Effectiveness in Reducing Fire Intensity and Spread Rate - An Experimental OverviewView
Evaluation of Satellite Imagery Based and Visual Estimation Methods for Quantifying Wildland Fire SeView
Turbulence and Energy Fluxes During Prescribed Fires in the New Jersey PinelandsView
A Coupled Approach to Evaluate the Dynamic Linkage Between Fuel Treatment Effects on Fuel Matrices and Effectiveness at Reducing Wildfire Intensity and Spread RateView
Airborne laser scanner-assisted estimation of prescribed fire fuel consumptionView
Field Experiments and Modeling for the Assessment of Fuel Treatment Effectiveness in Reducing WildfiView
An Experimental Approach to the Evaluation of Prescribed Fire BehaviorView

Supporting Documents