PARENT SESSION
Organized Oral Session 15: A toolbox for fire ecology: Mechanisms linking fire behavior and ecological effect
Organizer(s): ST Michaletz and RO Weber
Tuesday, August 9, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 511 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Wildland fire dynamics: Techniques for measuring thermal energy release for fire behavior and fire effects.

Kremens, Robert^*,1, ¹ Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA

ABSTRACT- The thermal energy released in a wildland fire is the single most important parameter in determining fire effects and behavior. A rudimentary understanding of the physics governing the energy release and subsequent transport is required to construct relevant laboratory and field experiments. Thermal energy is transferred by conduction, convection and radiation, but we will limit our discussion to radiative transfer, which is usually the dominant energy transport mechanism over long distances. We will summarize the thermal transfer equations and demonstrate how these equations can be applied to measurements of energy flux on vegetation and soil. Understanding how energy is transported to both the sensor and the system being measured permits us to make measurements with accurate and unambiguous results. A short discussion of electronic and passive sensor types and their range of applicability for wildland fire measurements will be presented, along with examples of in-situ non-contact infrared measurements taken during wildland and prescribed fire incidents.

Key words: wildland fire, thermal measurements, radiation transport