David R. Weise
Forest Fire Laboratory,
USDA Forest Service Riverside, CA
| The recent increase in fire behavior research funding provided by the National Fire Plan has permitted resumption of research in the chemical and physical components of fire spread in live fuels. Much of this work ceased with the work of Philpot and Sussott in the 1970s and 1980s. This collaborative work with scientists at the University of California campuses at Berkeley and Riverside, Brigham Young University, and the Los Alamos National Lab is focused on determining if live fuels differ from dead woody fuels. Laboratory and field data are being compared with predictions from current fire spread models. Factors governing ignition of live fuels (wind, slope, moisture content) are being studied experimentally and through model manipulations. Scientists at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, MT are providing technical expertise. This talk will provide an overview of the research program with some preliminary findings. Other fire behavior related work that is underway will also be mentioned. |