Moisture Content Influences Ignitability of Slash Pine Litter

Winfred H. Blackmarr

Treesearch

Moisture Content Influences Ignitability of Slash Pine Litter

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Winfred H. Blackmarr

Year:

1972

Type:

Research Note

Station:

Southern Research Station

Source:

Res. Note SE-173. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 7 p.

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Abstract

The influence of moisture content on the ignitability of slash pine litter was measured by dropping lighted matches onto fuel beds conditioned to different levels of moisture content.The percentage of matches igniting the fuel bed was used to indicate ignition probability at each moisture content. The "critical range" of fuel moisture contents within which the ignition percent changed from near 100 to near 0 was relatively narrow and was different for each of three different sizes of matches: 16 to 25 percent for a wooden miniature match, 18 to 30 percent for a wooden kitchen match, and 24 to 40 percent for three kitchen matches bound together.

Citation

Blackmarr, Winfred H. 1972. Moisture Content Influences Ignitability of Slash Pine Litter. Res. Note SE-173. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 7 p.