S390 Unit3 PPT Revision

S-390 Unit 3

  

US Fire Behavior Prediction

System Fuel Models 03-01-S390-PPT

Objectives  Identify inputs needed for a fuel model

• Identify the characteristics of the standard USFBPS fuel models.
• Identify appropriate fuel models using resource materials and tools.

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What is a fuel model?

• Set of fuelbed characteristic inputs used by a fire modeling system.

  

Fuel models “are simply tools

to help the user realistically estimate fire behavior”. (Anderson 1982)

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Inputs Needed for a Fuel Model

• Fuel load by size class
• Moisture content
• Surface area to volume ratio
• Fuel Bed Depth •Bulk density or compactness

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Inputs Needed for a Fuel Model

• Heat Content •Moisture of Extinction •Vertical Arrangement •Horizontal continuity
• Chemical content

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Various Fuel Modeling Systems

• – NFDRS fuel models
• – Fuel Loading Models (FLM)
• – Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS)

• – Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating

  System (CFFDRS)
• – United States Fire Behavior Prediction System

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  USFBPS

United States Fire Behavior Prediction

System

• 255 fuel model possibilities
• Generally identified by numeric characters the 40 use alpha numeric identifiers.
• Used for surface fire spread models
• Simulates fire spread at the flaming front.
• Assumes a continuous homogeneous fuelbed.
• Assumes steady state weather. _{03-08-S390-PPT}

• Were developed by Rothermel and Albini in the 1970s.

• • Were developed for the severe period of

  the fire season.
• Works well for predicting spread rate

  and intensity of active fires at peak of

  fire season

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• Not well suited for prescribed fire and modeling fuel treatments.

• • Not well suited to simulating transition to

  crown fire.
• The 13 models are static

  03-10-S390-PPT Classified into four types

• Grass (3 fuel models)
• Shrub (4 fuel models)
• Timber Litter (3 fuel models)
• Logging Slash (3 fuel models)

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  40 Fire Behavior Fuel Models (The Scott and Burgan Fuel Models)

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Why the 40 Fuel Models were developed

• Cover wider range of seasons
• Fill gaps in each fuel type

   None of the original 13 were repeated

• Better simulate fuel treatments
• Add dynamic fuel moisture

• Better drive crown fire initiation models

• Reduce need for custom fuel models _{03-13-S390-PPT}

Systems

• BehavePlus
• FARSITE
• FlamMap
• FSPro and

  WFDSS Fire

  Behavior Models • FFE-FVS
• NEXUS
• BEHAVE by Remsoft • FMAplus
• FuelCalc

  

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Dynamic fuel models

• Allocation of herbaceous load to live and dead

  Dynamic fuel models

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  Dynamic fuel models

  75 ^0.5 03-17-S390_PPT

  Dynamic fuel models

  0.67

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Dynamic fuel models

• Allocation of herbaceous load to live and
• Dead herbaceous load takes on dead 1-hr MC

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Dynamic fuel models

• Allocation of herbaceous load to live and dead
• Dead herbaceous load takes on dead 1-h
• Dead herbaceous load is given the live herbaceous SAV ratio

  

Dynamic fuel models

• Allocation of herbaceous load to live and dead
• Dead herbaceous load takes on dead 1-hr MC
• Dead herbaceous load is given the live herbaceous SAV r
• Increases ability (and difficulty)

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Live herbaceous fuel moisture can have

a significant effect on fire behavior due

to the fuel load transfer

• (NB) Non-burnable
• (GR) Grass • (GS) Grass-shrub
• (SH) Shrub • (TU) Timber-understory
• (TL) Timber litter
• (SB) Slash-blowdown

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Naming

• Three-part naming convention

  

GR1

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Naming

• Three-part naming convention
• – Fuel model code

  NB Non- burnable GR (Grass) GS (Grass- Shrub) SH (Shrub) TU (Timber Understory) TL (Timber Litter) SB (Slash Blowdown) NB1 ⁽⁹¹⁾ GR1 ⁽¹⁰¹⁾ GS1 ⁽¹²¹⁾ SH1 ⁽¹⁴¹⁾ TU1 ⁽¹⁶¹⁾ TL1 ⁽¹⁸¹⁾ SB1 ⁽²⁰¹⁾ NB2 ⁽⁹²⁾ GR2 GS2 SH2 TU2 TL2 SB2 NB3 ⁽⁹³⁾ GR3 GS3 SH3 TU3 TL3 SB3 NB8 ⁽⁹⁸⁾ GR4 GS4 ⁽¹²⁴⁾ SH4 TU4 TL4 SB4 ⁽²⁰⁴⁾ NB9 ⁽⁹⁹⁾ GR5 SH5 TU5 ⁽¹⁶⁵⁾ TL5 GR6 SH6 TL6

  GR7 SH7 TL7 GR8 SH8 TL8 GR9 ⁽¹⁰⁹⁾ SH9 ⁽¹⁴⁹⁾ TL9 ⁽¹⁸⁹⁾ FM1 FM2 FM3 FM4 FM5 FM6 FM7 FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM13

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Naming

• Three-part naming convention
• – Fuel model code
• – Fuel model number

  03-27-S390-PPT Naming

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  Naming

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  Naming

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  Naming

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  Naming

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Naming Three Part Naming Convention

  1)Fire Model Code 2)Fuel Model Number 3)Fuel Model Name

  

Selecting a Fuel Model

Estimate the main fire caring fuel type.

• Note general depth, compactness and

• size of fuel and amount of live vegetation. Determine which time-lag fuel moisture
• classes are present.

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Two-step process

• Initial selection
• – Selection guide
• – Crosswalk – Rule/algorithm
• – Experience

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Two-step process

• Initial selection
• – Selection guide
• – Crosswalk – Rule/algorithm
• – Experience
• Fire behavior simulation
• – Confirm final selection

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Tools

  Comparison spreadsheet

  

http://www.frames.gov/subject area/fuels/

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  03-40-S390-PPT

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Tools

  Help file

• – Searchable, hyperlinked
• – GTR-153 content included
• – Comprehensive fire behavior charts
• – Available at FRAMES

Nomographs (new format)

  

The new Nomographs include both

the 13 and 40 fuel models _{03-45-S390-PPT}

Objectives  Identify inputs needed for a fuel model

• Identify the characteristics of the standard USFBPS fuel models.
• Identify appropriate fuel models using resource materials and tools.

  03-46-390-PPT