Dead Fuel Loads in North Carolina’s Piedmont and Coastal Plain and a Small Scale Assessment of NFDRS Fuel Models

2013 ◽  
pp. 193-208
Author(s):  
Michael J. Gavazzi ◽  
Steven G. McNulty ◽  
Johnny L. Boggs ◽  
Sara E. Strickland ◽  
David C. Chojnacky
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
Scale Assessment ◽  
Fuel Models

scholarly journals Effect of Tidal Stage on Sediment Concentrations and Turbulence by Vessel Wake in a Coastal Plain Saltmarsh

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Richard Styles ◽  
Michael A. Hartman
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Characteristic Time Scale ◽  
Suspended Material ◽  
Turbulent Fluctuations ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Tidal Stage ◽  
Water Elevation

Vessel generated waves can impact shoreline stability and habitat structure in many waterways. Sheltered regions, such as coastal plain saltmarshes, support fragile ecosystems and can be particularly vulnerable to the effects of unregulated vessel operations. Instruments for measuring currents and sediment concentration were deployed in a coastal plain saltmarsh to examine the small-scale physical characteristics of the vessel wake generated by recreational craft typical of this environment. The response to vessel wake varied sharply depending upon the stage of the tide. At low tide, waves breaking on the exposed bank produced high concentrations of suspended material that were transported offshore through turbulent diffusion. When the water elevation exceeded the toe of the marsh scarp, the concentration and turbulent kinetic energy exhibited less of a statistically significant variation in response to vessel passage. For the most energetic flows, the vessel orbital velocities were dwarfed by turbulent fluctuations generated by the sheared tidal boundary layer. While further research is required, preliminary findings indicate that the dissipation of vessel wake energy may stimulate or enhance shear generated turbulence if the characteristic wave period is similar to the characteristic time scale of the energy containing eddies.

scholarly journals The Relative Influence of Diseases and Other Small-Scale Disturbances on Fuel Loading in the Black Hills

Plant Disease ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Lundquist
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Restoration Ecology ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Black Hills ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Root Rots ◽  
Fuel Loads

Disturbances that kill trees in forests often co-occur in time and/or space. This process results in changes in the fuel loading for wildfire. Determining specific causes of changing fuel loads can be complex. Path analysis was used to estimate the relative importance and the strength of interaction of each of nine small-scale disturbances affecting forest stands in the Black Hills. Different disturbances were partitioned according to their indirect and direct effects on fuel loads. Fire and wind had the greatest indirect effects; stem rots had the smallest. Root rots had the largest direct effects. Root rots, strong wind, stem rots, suppression, human disturbances, and tree cutting all caused fuel loads to increase. Treeless meadows, stem cankers, fire, ice/snow damage, failed regeneration, and shallow soil were associated with decreasing fuel loads. Grazing, lightning, bark beetles, and competition had null impacts. Disease control has two aims: reducing fire hazard and enhancing restoration. Understanding the biology and ecology of the agents that create dead wood is as fundamental to restoration ecology as it is to forest pathology. Management and control both begin by first determining the cause.

scholarly journals Impacts of small-scale faults on continental to coastal plain deposition: Evidence from the Realgrunnen Subgroup in the Goliat field, southwest Barents Sea, Norway

2018 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 276-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Joseph Mulrooney ◽  
Bjarte Rismyhr ◽  
Honore Dzekamelive Yenwongfai ◽  
Johan Leutscher ◽  
Snorre Olaussen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Small Scale

Mapping fuels in Yosemite National Park

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth H. Peterson ◽  
Janet Franklin ◽  
Dar A. Roberts ◽  
Jan W. van Wagtendonk
Keyword(s):  
Random Forests ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Yosemite National Park ◽  
Natural Fire ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
Fuel Models

Decades of fire suppression have led to unnaturally large accumulations of fuel in some forest communities in the western United States, including those found in lower and midelevation forests in Yosemite National Park in California. We employed the Random Forests decision tree algorithm to predict fuel models as well as 1-h live and 1-, 10-, and 100-h dead fuel loads using a suite of climatic, topographic, remotely sensed, and burn history predictor variables. Climate variables and elevation consistently were most useful for predicting all types of fuels, but remotely sensed variables increased the kappa accuracy metric by 5%–12% age points in each case, demonstrating the utility of using disparate data sources in a topographically diverse region dominated by closed-canopy vegetation. Fire history information (time-since-fire) generally only increased kappa by 1% age point, and only for the largest fuel classes. The Random Forests models were applied to the spatial predictor layers to produce maps of fuel models and fuel loads, and these showed that fuel loads are highest in the low-elevation forests that have been most affected by fire suppression impacting the natural fire regime.

scholarly journals Assessment of Fire Fuel Load Dynamics in Shrubland Ecosystems in the Western United States Using MODIS Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1911
Author(s):  
Zhengpeng Li ◽  
Hua Shi ◽  
James E. Vogelmann ◽  
Todd J. Hawbaker ◽  
Birgit Peterson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Spectral Variability ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Fuel Models

Assessing fire behavior in shrubland/grassland ecosystems of the western United States has proven especially problematic, in part due to the complex nature of the vegetation and its relationships with prior fire history events. Our goals in this study were (1) to determine if we can effectively leverage the high temporal resolution capabilities of current remote sensing systems such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to improve upon shrub and grassland mapping and (2) to determine if these improvements alter and improve fire behavior model results in these grass- and shrub-dominated systems. The study focused on the shrublands and grasslands of the Owyhee Basin, which is located primarily in southern Idaho. Shrubland and grassland fuel load dynamics were characterized using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Net Primary Production (NPP) datasets (both derived from MODIS). NDVI shrub and grassland values were converted to biomass, and custom fire behavior fuel models were then developed to evaluate the impacts of surface fuel changes on fire behaviors. Results from the study include the following: (1) high intra- and interannual spectral variability characterized these shrubland/grassland ecosystems, and this spectral variability was highly correlated with climate variables, most notably precipitation; (2) fire activity had a higher likelihood of occurring in areas where the NDVI (and biomass) differential between spring and summer values was especially high; (3) the annual fuel loads estimated from MODIS NPP showed that live herbaceous fuel loads were closely correlated with annual precipitation; (4) estimated fuel load accumulation was higher on shrublands than grasslands with the same vegetation productivity; (5) the total fuel load on shrublands was impacted by shrubland age, and live woody fuel load was over 66% of the total fuel load; and (6) comparisons of simulated fire behavior and spread between dynamic and static fuel loads, the latter estimates being obtained from the operational and nationwide LANDFIRE program, showed clear differences in fire indices and fire burn areas between the dynamic fuel loads and the static fuel loads. Current standard fuel models appear to have bias in underestimating the fire spread and total burnable area.

Groundwater flow modelling to assist dryland salinity management of a coastal plain of southern Australia

Soil Research ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Pavelic ◽  
Kumar A. Narayan ◽  
Peter J. Dillon
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Flow Modelling ◽  
Groundwater Flow Modelling ◽  
The Impact

Groundwater flow modelling has been undertaken for an area of 10 500 ha within the regional unconfined aquifer system of a coastal plain of southern Australia, in the vicinity of the town of Cooke Plains, to predict the impact of various land management options (including recharge reduction and discharge enhancement) on the extent of land salinisation caused by shallow saline watertables. The model was calibrated against field data collected over 6 years. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the influence of mesh size, boundary conditions, and aquifer parameters, and particularly rates of recharge and evaporative discharge, on groundwater levels. These were varied until the model was shown to be capable of simulating seasonal trends and regional and local flow patterns. The model was then used to predict the impact of the management options on groundwater levels. The results showed that continuing current annual crop–pasture rotations will result in watertable rises of approximately 0·2 m in 20 years (significant in this setting), with a further 50 ha of land salinised. A reduction in the rates of groundwater recharge through the establishment of high water-use perennial pastures (e.g. lucerne) showed the most promise for controlling groundwater levels. For example, a reduction in recharge by 90% would result in watertable declines of 0·6–1·0 m within 5–10 years, with the return to productivity of 180 ha of saline land. Small-scale (say <100 ha) efforts to reduce recharge were found to have no significant impact on groundwater levels. Enhanced groundwater discharge such as pumping from a windmill was found to be non-viable due to the relatively high aquifer transmissivity and specific yield. The modelling approach has enabled a relatively small area within a regional aquifer system to be modelled for a finite time (20 years) and has shown that extension of the boundaries of the model would not have altered the predicted outcomes. Furthermore, the analysis of sensitivity to cell size in an undulating landscape where net recharge areas can become net discharge areas with only small increases in groundwater level is novel, and has helped to build confidence in the model. Modelling has demonstrated that dryland salinisation can be controlled by reducing groundwater recharge over substantial tracts of land, and is not dependent on recharge reduction over an extensive area upgradient, at least over the next 20 years.

Measurements relating fire radiative energy density and surface fuel consumption – RxCADRE 2011 and 2012

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Hudak ◽  
Matthew B. Dickinson ◽  
Benjamin C. Bright ◽  
Robert L. Kremens ◽  
E. Louise Loudermilk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Density ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Radiative Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Power Flux ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
Fire Modelling ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Radiometric Signal

Small-scale experiments have demonstrated that fire radiative energy is linearly related to fuel combusted but such a relationship has not been shown at the landscape level of prescribed fires. This paper presents field and remotely sensed measures of pre-fire fuel loads, consumption, fire radiative energy density (FRED) and fire radiative power flux density (FRFD), from which FRED is integrated, across forested and non-forested RxCADRE 2011 and 2012 burn blocks. Airborne longwave infrared (LWIR) image time series were calibrated to FRFD and integrated to provide FRED. Surface fuel loads measured in clip sample plots were predicted across burn blocks from airborne lidar-derived metrics. Maps of surface fuels and FRED were corrected for occlusion of the radiometric signal by the overstorey canopy in the forested blocks, and FRED maps were further corrected for temporal and spatial undersampling of FRFD. Fuel consumption predicted from FRED derived from both airborne LWIR imagery and various ground validation sensors approached a linear relationship with observed fuel consumption, which matched our expectation. These field, airborne lidar and LWIR image datasets, both before and after calibrations and corrections have been applied, will be made publicly available from a permanent archive for further analysis and to facilitate fire modelling.

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