Forest Sciences Commons^™

Using Field Data To Assess Model Predictions Of Surface And Ground Fuel Consumption By Wildfire In Coniferous Forests Of California, J M. Lydersen, B M. Collins, C M. Ewell, A L. Reiner, J A. Fites, C B. Dow, P Gonzalez, David Saah, J J. Battles

Environmental Science

Inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wildfire provide essential information to the state of California, USA, and other governments that have enacted emission reductions. Wildfires can release a substantial amount of GHGs and other compounds to the atmosphere, so recent increases in fire activity may be increasing GHG emissions. Quantifying wildfire emissions however can be difficult due to inherent variability in fuel loads and consumption and a lack of field data of fuel consumption by wildfire. We compare a unique set of fuel data collected immediately before and after six wildfires in coniferous forests of California to fuel consumption …