Skip to Main Content

Navigation

Details

08-1-3-03
2008
10/01/2008
10/28/2011
Predicting Prescribed and Wildland Fire Smoke, Emissions, and Fire Characteristics in Deep Organic Soils
The management of prescribed and wildland fire on federal, state, and private lands with deep organic soils pose critical challenges for ecosystem management, smoke dispersion, and the protection of private property and human life. Several regions in the US contain significant areas of deep organic soils, the boreal forests of Alaska and the northeastern US, the peat bogs in the glaciated northeast and Great Lakes, and the pocosins in the southeastern and Gulf coasts. We propose to characterize fuel and fire effects in two representative states with deep organic soils, Virginia and North Carolina. Study areas will include the Great Dismal Swamp, Alligator River, and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges, the Croatan National Forest, and The Nature Conservancy's Green Swamp Preserve. The proposed project objectives are to: (1) Determine the relationships between meteorology, soil characteristics, litter/duff moisture, micro-topography, and fire behavior in the ignition, flaming, smoldering, and extinction combustion stages; (2) Quantify pre- and post-burn below- and above-ground biomass to determine fuel characteristics and consumption for fine and coarse woody material, shrub, herbs, litter, and duff; (3) Characterize photochemically/radiatively important trace gases during combustion stages of prescribed and wildland fires; and (4) Provide land manager with decision support tools for managing prescribed and wildland fire and assessing ground fire risk on deep organic soils.
Robert A. Mickler
Carolina Ecosystem Services

Other Project Collaborators

Other Project Collaborators

Type

Name

Agency/Organization

Branch or Dept

Co-Principal Investigator

Christopher Geron

EPA-Environmental Protection Agency

National Risk Management Research Laboratory

Co-Principal Investigator

Miriam L. Rorig

Forest Service

PNW-Pacific Northwest Research Station

Federal Cooperator

Susan L. Wilder

FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service

Region 4-Southeast Regional Office

Project Locations

Project Locations

Fire Science Exchange Network

Level

State

Agency

Unit

STATE

NC

FS

Croatan National Forest

STATE

VA

FWS

Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

STATE

NC

FED

Other Federal Lands

STATE

NC

FWS

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Final Report

Project Deliverables

Supporting Documents