Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Monitoring Live Fuel Moisture Using Soil Moisture And Remote Sensing Proxies, Yi Qi, Philip E. Dennison, Jessica Spencer, David Riano

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Live fuel moisture (LFM) is an important fuel property controlling fuel ignition and fire propagation. LFM varies seasonally, and is controlled by precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and plant physiology. LFM is typically sampled manually in the field, which leads to sparse measurements in space and time. Use of LFM proxies could reduce the need for field sampling while potentially improving spatial and temporal sampling density. This study compares soil moisture and remote sensing data to field-sampled LFM for Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt) and big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt) in northern Utah. Bivariate linear regression models were constructed …