Fire danger index efficiency as a function of fuel moisture and fire behavior

Assessment of the performance of forest fire hazard indices is important for prevention and management strategies, such as planning prescribed burnings, public notifications and firefighting resource allocation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of fire hazard indices consi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Torres, Fillipe Tamiozzo Pereira, Romeiro, Joyce Machado Nunes, Santos, Ana Carolina de Albuquerque, Oliveira Neto, Ricardo Rodrigues de, Lima, Gumercindo Souza, Zanuncio, José Cola
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV)
Repositorio:LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:locus.ufv.br:123456789/19789
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.121
http://www.locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/19789
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Controlled burns
Fine fuel moisture
Weather indices
Descripción
Sumario:Assessment of the performance of forest fire hazard indices is important for prevention and management strategies, such as planning prescribed burnings, public notifications and firefighting resource allocation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of fire hazard indices considering fire behavior variables and susceptibility expressed by the moisture of combustible material. Controlled burns were carried out at different times and information related to meteorological conditions, characteristics of combustible material and fire behavior variables were recorded. All variables analyzed (fire behavior and fuel moisture content) can be explained by the prediction indices. The Brazilian EVAP/P showed the best performance, both at predicting moisture content of the fuel material and fire behavior variables, and the Canadian system showed the best performance to predicting the rate of spread. The coherence of the correlations between the indices and the variables analyzed makes the methodology, which can be applied anywhere, important for decision-making in regions with no records or with only unreliable forest fire data.