Citation

Torres FTP, Romeiro JMN, Santos ACA, de Oliveira Neto RR, Lima GS, Zanuncio JC. Sci. Total Environ. 2018; 631-632: 1304-1310.

Affiliation

Entomologia/BIOAGRO, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: zanuncio@ufv.br.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.121

PMID

29727954

Abstract

Assessment of the performance of forest fire hazard indices is important for prevention and management strategies, such as planning prescribed burnings, public notifications and firefighting resource allocation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of fire hazard indices considering fire behavior variables and susceptibility expressed by the moisture of combustible material. Controlled burns were carried out at different times and information related to meteorological conditions, characteristics of combustible material and fire behavior variables were recorded. All variables analyzed (fire behavior and fuel moisture content) can be explained by the prediction indices. The Brazilian EVAP/P showed the best performance, both at predicting moisture content of the fuel material and fire behavior variables, and the Canadian system showed the best performance to predicting the rate of spread. The coherence of the correlations between the indices and the variables analyzed makes the methodology, which can be applied anywhere, important for decision-making in regions with no records or with only unreliable forest fire data.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Controlled burns; Fine fuel moisture; Weather indices