Effect of woody debris on the rate of spread of surface fires in forest fuels in a combustion wind tunnel

Sullivan, AL; Surawski, NC; Crawford, D; Hurley, RJ; Volkova, L; Weston, CJ; Meyer, CP

Effect of woody debris on the rate of spread of surface fires in forest fuels in a combustion wind tunnel

Sullivan, AL Surawski, NC

Crawford, D Hurley, RJ Volkova, L Weston, CJ Meyer, CP

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Forest Ecology and Management, 2018, 424 pp. 236 - 245
Issue Date:: 2018-09-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sullivan, AL	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Surawski, NC https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2584-1044	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Crawford, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hurley, RJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Volkova, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Weston, CJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Meyer, CP	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-09-15	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Forest Ecology and Management, 2018, 424 pp. 236 - 245	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0378-1127	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/125671
dc.description.abstract	© 2018 The treatment of the contribution of woody debris (WD, such as branches or small logs >6–50 mm diameter) to the rate of forward spread of a fire in current operational forest fire spread models is inconsistent. Some models do not take into account this fuel at all (i.e. only consider the combustion of fine fuels (⩽6 mm diameter)), while others incorporate effects based on little or no data. An experimental programme utilising a large combustion wind tunnel investigated the effect of WD on the spread of fires burning through forest litter (surface fuel) beds of 1.0 kg m-2. Fires spreading with (heading) and against (backing) the wind were investigated. Three treatments of WD load (0.2, 0.6 and 1.2 kg m-2) and a control (0 kg m-2) were studied using a single constant wind speed (1.0 m s-1) and a narrow range of fine and woody fuel moisture contents (10.0–12.7% and 9.2–11.6% oven-dry weight, respectively) determined by ambient conditions. Presence of WD was found to approximately halve the overall rate of spread of heading fires relative to when no WD was present, regardless of the level of treatment. No effect of WD on rate of spread was found for backing fires. Potential explanations of these findings and implications for the use of operational forest fire spread models are explored, as are future research needs.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Forest Ecology and Management	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.foreco.2018.04.039	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Forestry	en_US
dc.title	Effect of woody debris on the rate of spread of surface fires in forest fuels in a combustion wind tunnel	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	424	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0705 Forestry Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	424	en_US

Abstract:

© 2018 The treatment of the contribution of woody debris (WD, such as branches or small logs >6–50 mm diameter) to the rate of forward spread of a fire in current operational forest fire spread models is inconsistent. Some models do not take into account this fuel at all (i.e. only consider the combustion of fine fuels (⩽6 mm diameter)), while others incorporate effects based on little or no data. An experimental programme utilising a large combustion wind tunnel investigated the effect of WD on the spread of fires burning through forest litter (surface fuel) beds of 1.0 kg m-2. Fires spreading with (heading) and against (backing) the wind were investigated. Three treatments of WD load (0.2, 0.6 and 1.2 kg m-2) and a control (0 kg m-2) were studied using a single constant wind speed (1.0 m s-1) and a narrow range of fine and woody fuel moisture contents (10.0–12.7% and 9.2–11.6% oven-dry weight, respectively) determined by ambient conditions. Presence of WD was found to approximately halve the overall rate of spread of heading fires relative to when no WD was present, regardless of the level of treatment. No effect of WD on rate of spread was found for backing fires. Potential explanations of these findings and implications for the use of operational forest fire spread models are explored, as are future research needs.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/125671