Fire
Scientists at the Silas Little Experimental Forest conduct field experiments in conjunction with laboratory tests to improve understanding of fire behavior.
The Northern Research Station Fire Program works with partners and communities to produce science focused on the physical and ecological process of fire, including wildfire, prescribed fire, and wildfire safety. This research provides the applications and technology needed to manage resilient forests and grasslands. The Fire Program’s approach is collaborative, and aims to facilitate increased application of prescribed fire and managed wildfire on landscapes and to reduce wildfire hazard and maintain and restore fire-dependent ecosystems.
The Northern Research Station footprint includes a combination of high population density and fragmented, mixed-ownership forests. With housing expanding and forest fragmentation increasing, fire is a critical topic for all communities in the region.
Our research covers wildland fire safety and planning, understanding and planning within the wildland-urban interface, fire as a tool to protect communities and forest resources, and innovation for fire managers.
For more information on current research related to more specific aspects of fire, see the following pages:
Wildland Fire Safety Innovations for Fire Managers
Wildland Fire Applications Wildland-Urban Interface
Featured Research
- The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) is the area where structures and other human development intermingle with wildland vegetation or where housing is in the vicinity of large areas of wildland vegetation. This StoryMap provides data on the expansion of WUI area and the growth in housing in WUI areas.
- Embers / Firebrands that are generated from wildfires are the leading cause of ignitions of structures at the Wildland-Urban Interface and an an important part of fire spread that is not well represented in predictive tools and models. This research is helping fire managers better understand fire behavior. See also: Ember Generation.
- Natural resource managers seeking to restore oak forest communities need the best available science to support forest management strategies aimed at sustaining oak ecosystems.In a recent study, repeated prescribed fires with or without mechanical treatments were found to be effective in increasing oak-hickory regeneration and ground layer diversity.
Featured Data and Tools
- Terrestrial Laser Scanning can provide fuel structure and biomass estimates to describe forest conditions and management outcomes and gather fuel inputs for fire behavior models.
- The Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDWI) real-time product suite - The Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDW) was designed to help users determine which days are more likely to have adverse atmospheric conditions that make it more difficult to manage a wildland fire. It combines weather data from the surface and low levels of the atmosphere into a first-look product.
- QUIC-Fire allows managers to quickly explore how different ignition, weather, and fuel scenarios may interact during prescribed burns to produce different fire behavior and ecological outcomes, as well as test the ability of treatment results to halt or alter potential future wildfire.
- Predictive Smoke Models - Wildfire smoke poses significant threats to human health. Scientists are providing land and fire managers with sophisticated predictive tools and strategies to mitigate smoke risks.