Estimation of fire cycle has been conducted by using the negative exponential function as an approximation of time-since-fire distribution of a landscape assumed to be homogeneous with respect to fire spread processes...Estimation of fire cycle has been conducted by using the negative exponential function as an approximation of time-since-fire distribution of a landscape assumed to be homogeneous with respect to fire spread processes. The authors imposed predefined fire cycles on a virtual landscape of 100 cell×100 cell, and obtained a mosaic composing of patches with different stand ages （i.e. time since fire）. Graphical and statistical methods （Van Wagner 1978; Reed et al. 1998） were employed to derive fire cycle from the virtual landscape. By comparing the predefined and the derived fire cycles, the two methods and tested the effects of sample size and hazard of burning （i.e., stand＇s susceptibility to fire in relation to its stand age） were evaluated on fire cycle deviation. The simulation results indicated a minimum sample size of l0 times of the annual burnt area would be required for.partitioning time-since-fire distribution into homogeneous epochs indicating temporal change in fire cycle. Statistically, there was significant difference among the imposed and the derived fire cycle, regardless of sample sizes with or without consideration of hazard of burning. Both methods underestimated the more recent fire cycle without significant difference between them. The results imply that deviation of fire cycle based on time-since-fire distribution warrants cautious interpretation, especially when a landscape is spatially partitioned into small units and temporal changes in fire cycle are involved.展开更多
An understanding of soil thermal conductivity after a wildfire or controlled burn is important to land management and post-fire recovery efforts. Although soil thermal conductivity has been well studied for non-fire h...An understanding of soil thermal conductivity after a wildfire or controlled burn is important to land management and post-fire recovery efforts. Although soil thermal conductivity has been well studied for non-fire heated soils, comprehensive data that evaluate the long-term effect of extreme heating from a fire on the soil thermal conductivity are limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of fire on the effective thermal conductivity of soils by directly comparing fire-heated and no-fire control soils through a series of laboratory studies. The thermal conductivity was measured for ten soil samples from two sites within the Manitou Experimental Forest, Colorado, USA, for a range of water contents from saturation to the residual degree of saturation. The thermal conductivity measured was compared with independent estimates made using three empirical models from literature, including the Campbell et al. （1994）, CSt~ and Konrad （2005）, and Massman et al. （2008） models. Results demonstrate that for the test soils studied, the thermal conductivity of the fire-heated soils was slightly lower than that of the control soils for all observed water contents. Modeling results show that the Campbell et al. （1994） model gave the best agreement over the full range of water contents when proper fitting parameters were employed. Further studies are needed to evaluate the significance of including the influence of fire burn on the thermal properties of soils in modeling studies.展开更多
文摘Estimation of fire cycle has been conducted by using the negative exponential function as an approximation of time-since-fire distribution of a landscape assumed to be homogeneous with respect to fire spread processes. The authors imposed predefined fire cycles on a virtual landscape of 100 cell×100 cell, and obtained a mosaic composing of patches with different stand ages （i.e. time since fire）. Graphical and statistical methods （Van Wagner 1978; Reed et al. 1998） were employed to derive fire cycle from the virtual landscape. By comparing the predefined and the derived fire cycles, the two methods and tested the effects of sample size and hazard of burning （i.e., stand＇s susceptibility to fire in relation to its stand age） were evaluated on fire cycle deviation. The simulation results indicated a minimum sample size of l0 times of the annual burnt area would be required for.partitioning time-since-fire distribution into homogeneous epochs indicating temporal change in fire cycle. Statistically, there was significant difference among the imposed and the derived fire cycle, regardless of sample sizes with or without consideration of hazard of burning. Both methods underestimated the more recent fire cycle without significant difference between them. The results imply that deviation of fire cycle based on time-since-fire distribution warrants cautious interpretation, especially when a landscape is spatially partitioned into small units and temporal changes in fire cycle are involved.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA (division of graduate education, No.DGE-0638719)
文摘An understanding of soil thermal conductivity after a wildfire or controlled burn is important to land management and post-fire recovery efforts. Although soil thermal conductivity has been well studied for non-fire heated soils, comprehensive data that evaluate the long-term effect of extreme heating from a fire on the soil thermal conductivity are limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of fire on the effective thermal conductivity of soils by directly comparing fire-heated and no-fire control soils through a series of laboratory studies. The thermal conductivity was measured for ten soil samples from two sites within the Manitou Experimental Forest, Colorado, USA, for a range of water contents from saturation to the residual degree of saturation. The thermal conductivity measured was compared with independent estimates made using three empirical models from literature, including the Campbell et al. （1994）, CSt~ and Konrad （2005）, and Massman et al. （2008） models. Results demonstrate that for the test soils studied, the thermal conductivity of the fire-heated soils was slightly lower than that of the control soils for all observed water contents. Modeling results show that the Campbell et al. （1994） model gave the best agreement over the full range of water contents when proper fitting parameters were employed. Further studies are needed to evaluate the significance of including the influence of fire burn on the thermal properties of soils in modeling studies.
