Shrubland fire behaviour modelling with microplot data

Abstract

Fire behaviour modelling has been based primarily on experiments involving the measurement of a certain number of fires, where each variable is represented by an average value per fire. The main objective of this study was to examine if data collected from a microplot sampling design could be used to derive meaningful fire behaviour models. Three burns were conducted in low shrubland of Erica umbellata Loefl., and Chamaespartium tridentatum (L.) P. Gibbs in northeastern Portugal. Wind speed and aerial dead fuel moisture content varied from 5 to 27 km/h and from 14 to 21%, respectively. Rate of spread and flame length ranged from 0.3 to 14.1 m/min and from 0.2 to 3.1 m, respectively. Rate of fire spread could be described effectively in terms of an empirical model with wind speed and fuel height as independent variables. The coefficients that describe the effects of wind speed and fuel height on fire propagation were consistent with published values for similar fuel types. Flame length was strongly related to Byram's fireline intensity. Microplot sampling is not free from methodological problems, which are discussed, but can be effectively used in field studies of fire behaviour.