Pacific Southwest

Title: Sensitivity of fire behavior simulations to fuel model variations

Author: Salazar, Lucy A.

Date: 1985

Source: Res. Paper PSW-RP-178. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 17 p

Station ID: RP-PSW-178

Description: Stylized fuel models, or numerical descriptions of fuel arrays, are used as inputs to fire behavior simulation models. These fuel models are often chosen on the basis of generalized fuel descriptions, which are related to field observations. Site-specific observations of fuels or fire behavior in the field are not readily available or necessary for most fire management planning situations. Fuels are thought of in general terms and a single fuel model is often assigned to represent large areas of land. Variations in weather, which can substantially affect fire behavior, are not reflected in the available aids for selecting fuel models. The sensitivity of simulated fire behavior variables to the 13 fire behavior fuel models and two-fuel-model alternatives was analyzed. The two-fuel-model concept demonstrated the effect of combining fuel models on simulated fire behavior results.

Keywords: fire behavior, Fuel models, probabilistic fire modeling, wildfire

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Citation

Salazar, Lucy A.  1985.  Sensitivity of fire behavior simulations to fuel model variations.   Res. Paper PSW-RP-178. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 17 p.