IFTDSS Support Desk

When will the latest  Landfire product be available for California? In the interim what suggestions could be offered on how to adjust the current layers to model fire through the tree mortality areas? Increase the appropriate FMs?

It is also important to note what forest type it is. In lodgepole pine for example the large amount of 10hr fuels in the canopy that remain after the grey stage and the fact that they are exposed to not only the 20' wind but also direct solar radiation can result in lower 1hr and 10hr fuel moistures in the canopy vs those on the ground (where we sample), and as a result spread in these fuels can be very rapid if conditions are right. Grey stage lodgepole pine in particular can exhibit the same reactivity as grass due the lower FDFM and the lack of shading. So as Dan points out above you may need to adjust additional fuel attributes, particularly CC to match spread. I have found in the past that for matching rates of spread in tight packed standing grey stage a moderate or heavy shrub model will work, however you will also likely need to adjust the burn period and LFM to get it calibrated. This website is a good resource for previous calibrations that have worked: https://firelibrary.org/

Hi Burt,

The above publications are good references for adjusting canopy characteristics for various stages of mortality such as adjusting foliar moisture, canopy base height and canopy bulk density to simulate expected crown fire. If you have total mortality these publications give adjustments for bare trees (no needles) however, if the trees have begun to fall then you have a surface fuel issue to deal with as well or the understory fuels may have changed due to more sunlight reaching the ground.

These publications are my go to for modeling fire in mortality stands. 

Hi Burt

Thanks for posting, this is exactly what we would like folks to use this Forum for. We are working on loading the 2014 LANDFIRE data in IFTDSS as we speak, so it should be available shortly.

As far as some info/advice on modifying Landscape layers to reflect tree mortality, I have forwarded your question to some of the more experienced fire behavior modeling folks to see if they can provide some input. In the meantime, although it won't answer your question directly, I thought I would share this publication as a future reference: https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationPractices/FireLandscapes/LANDFIRE/Documents/ModifyingLF_DataGuide_V1.pdf

Also there has been some discussion on the Lessons Learned Center in the Fire Behavior Community  - these are three references produced by Matt Jolly in 2015 that may be of some help. Perhaps you could post a message to that group as well, quite a few fire behavior folks monitor that community. 

Keep checking back here for additional info. 

-Kim

IFTDSS Team