Journal article
Estimation of surface dead fine fuel moisture using automated fuel moisture sticks across a range of forests worldwide
Jane G Cawson, Petter Nyman, Christian Schunk, Gary J Sheridan, Thomas J Duff, Kelsy Gibos, William D Bovill, Marco Conedera, Gianni B Pezzatti, Annette Menzel
International Journal of Wildland Fire | CSIRO Publishing | Published : 2020
DOI: 10.1071/WF19061
Abstract
Field measurements of surface dead fine fuel moisture content (FFMC) are integral to wildfire management, but conventional measurement techniques are limited. Automated fuel sticks offer a potential solution, providing a standardised, continuous and real-time measure of fuel moisture. As such, they are used as an analogue for surface dead fine fuel but their performance in this context has not been widely evaluated. We assessed the ability of automated fuel sticks to predict surface dead FFMC across a range of forest types. We combined concurrent moisture measurements of the fuel stick and surface dead fine fuel from 27 sites (570 samples), representing nine broad forest fuel categories. We ..
View full abstractRelated Projects (1)
Grants
Awarded by Bavarian State Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry
Awarded by European Union through the Alpine Space ALP FFIRS project
Awarded by Forest Service of the Canton of Ticino
Funding Acknowledgements
The collaboration was supported by the Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The research draws on data from multiple projects. In Australia the work was funded by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) through the integrated Forest Ecosystem Research program. Fieldwork in Australia was carried out with support from Craig Baillie and Philip Noske. In central Europe funding was received from the Bavarian State Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry through projects KLIP 8 and ST 288, from the European Union through the Alpine Space ALP FFIRS project (no.15-2-3-IT) and the KLIMAGRAD II project, funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection. In Switzerland data were collected in the frame of the FireLessII system calibration project, partially financed by the Forest Service of the Canton of Ticino (grant no. 741-2009.3072).