Fuel moisture - a guide for evaluating severity of fire seasons

Richard J. Barney

Treesearch

Fuel moisture - a guide for evaluating severity of fire seasons

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Richard J. Barney

Year:

1964

Type:

Research Note

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Res. Note INT-RN-13. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 8 p.

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Download (PDF 2.04 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/49004.pdf

Abstract

Field personnel in all forest fire protection agencies need some simple but reasonably accurate method for evaluating severity of the fire season as it progresses and of comparing severity of the current season with that of preceding fire seasons. This paper proposes use of records of average fuel moisture percentages cumulated continuously for 5-day periods throughout successive fire seasons. Records for all seasons must start on the same calendar day. Beginning and closing dates should be selected so as to enable complete recording of buildup to and recovery from the peak of each season's severity. The paper describes two systems for graphing cumulated fuel moisture percents so as to facilitate comparison. It also tells how to interpret the resulting curves - the relation of segments within a curve, and the relation of the current season's curve to earlier records - and points out unavoidable limitations of the proposed systems.

Keywords

fuel moisture, fire severity

Citation

Barney, Richard J. 1964. Fuel moisture - a guide for evaluating severity of fire seasons. Res. Note INT-RN-13. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 8 p.