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Article
Wind and plume thermodynamic structures during low-intensity subcanopy fires
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (2014)
  • Daisuke Seto, San Jose State University
  • Tara M. Strand, New Zealand Crown Forest Research Institute
  • Craig B. Clements, San Jose State University
  • Harold Thistle, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, USDA Forest Service
  • Robert Mickler, Alion Science and Technology
Abstract
This paper presents observational results of wind and plume thermodynamic structures measured during low-intensity subcanopy fires. In-situ meteorological data were collected during the two experiments in the Calloway Forest in North Carolina during the early spring 2010 and winter 2011. Plume updraft velocities between 2 and 4 m s−1 were mostly observed during the subcanopy fires with fire intensity of 1200–2500 kW m−1. A maximum updraft velocity of 5.8 m s−1 and maximum temperature of 100 °C were recorded at the canopy top due to a head fire. Negative vertical velocities observed within the canopy were associated with cooler air temperatures relative to warm smoke plume temperatures during fire passage at the towers. Increased convection due to the head fire resulted in increased downward transport from above the canopy to the surface. Observed cumulative sensible heat fluxes were 52 kW m−2 and 169 kW m−2 near the surface, and larger values were found at mid canopy heights at both towers. The peak total heat flux of 50 kW m−2 and peak radiative heat flux of 18 kW m−2 observed in 2010 were associated with a head fire moving toward the sensors, whereas lower values of 19 kW m−2 and 9 kW m−2 were measured at the tower in 2011 as a result of a backing fire moving away from the sensors.
Keywords
  • Canopy flow,
  • Fire–atmosphere interactions,
  • Heat flux,
  • Low-intensity fire,
  • Plume rise,
  • Prescribed fire
Publication Date
2014
DOI
10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.07.006
Publisher Statement
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Citation Information
Daisuke Seto, Tara M. Strand, Craig B. Clements, Harold Thistle, et al.. "Wind and plume thermodynamic structures during low-intensity subcanopy fires" Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Vol. 198-199 (2014) p. 53 - 61 ISSN: 0168-1923
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/craig_clements/35/