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Fuels Characterization Techniques

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Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Synonyms

Fuel measurement and fuel estimation

Definition

Fuel characterization is defined as the qualitative and quantitative measurement and characterization of combustible material in the wildland environment excluding materials of anthropogenic origin.

Introduction

The measurement and characterization of wildland fuel matrices in ways that are relevant to both fire managers and scientists remains challenging. Wildland fuel characterization differs markedly from the characterization of fuels in the built environment, as these fuels are comprised of the components of dynamic ecosystems where change is a constant. This problem is confounded by the spatial and temporal extents and resolutions at which fuels are to be measured. Additionally, the number of variables that must be considered can make fuel characterization efforts seem intractable. However, the importance of the fuels in the wildland environment is amplified because they are the one variable that fire managers are able to...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Nicholas S. Skowronski

  2. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, New Lisbon, NJ, USA

    Michael R. Gallagher

Authors
  1. Nicholas S. Skowronski
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  2. Michael R. Gallagher
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas S. Skowronski .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. United States Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Samuel L. Manzello

Section Editor information

  1. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Michael Gollner

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© 2018 This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Skowronski, N.S., Gallagher, M.R. (2018). Fuels Characterization Techniques. In: Manzello, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_84-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_84-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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