Upscaling the estimation of surface-fire rate of spread in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) forest

doi:10.3832/ifor0992-007

The prediction of the forward rate of forest fire spread is crucial to fire modeling and fire management. An empirical equation is available to estimate the rate of spread of surface fires in maritime pine stands from local fuel, terrain and weather conditions. However, the equation was primarily developed from experimental small fires under mild weather conditions. The ability to predict the spread rate of wildfires is examined. Underestimation was generalized, with a mean observed-to-predicted spread rate ratio of 2.64, which is proposed to adjust the rate of spread equation for fire-modelling research applications.

Keywords

Fire Behaviour, Fire Modelling, Surface Fire, Pinus Pinaster

Authors’ address

(1)

Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agro-Ambientais e Tecnológicas (CITAB), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real (Portugal)

Corresponding author

Paulo M Fernandes
pfern@utad.pt

Citation

Fernandes PM (2014). Upscaling the estimation of surface-fire rate of spread in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) forest. iForest 7: 123-125. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0992-007

Academic Editor

Paola Mairota

Paper history

Received: Mar 18, 2013
Accepted: Oct 28, 2013

First online: Jan 13, 2014
Publication Date: Apr 02, 2014
Publication Time: 2.57 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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