Skip to main content
Author(s):
Maureen C. Kennedy, Susan J. Prichard, Donald McKenzie, Nancy H. F. French
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Smoke & Air Quality
Smoke Emissions

NRFSN number: 21934
FRAMES RCS number: 61964
Record updated:

Smoke emissions from wildland fires contribute to concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter and greenhouse gases, influencing public health and climate. Prediction of emissions is critical for smoke management to mitigate the effects on visibility and air quality. Models that predict emissions require estimates of the amount of combustible biomass. When measurements are unavailable, fuel maps may be used to define the inputs for models. Mapped products are based on averages that poorly represent the inherent variability of wildland fuels, but that variability is an important source of uncertainty in predicting emissions. We evaluated the sensitivity of emissions estimates to wildland fuel biomass variability using two models commonly used to predict emissions: Consume and the First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM). Flaming emissions were consistently most sensitive to litter loading (Sobol index 0.426-0.742). Smouldering emissions were most often sensitive to duff loading (Sobol 0.655-0.704) under the extreme environmental scenario. Under the moderate environmental scenario, FOFEM-predicted smouldering emissions were similarly sensitive to sound and rotten coarse woody debris (CWD) and duff fuel components (Sobol 0.193-0.376). High variability in loading propagated to wide prediction intervals for emissions. Direct measurements of litter, duff and coarse wood should be prioritised to reduce overall uncertainty.

Citation

Kennedy, Maureen C.; Prichard, Susan J.; McKenzie, Donald; French, Nancy H. F. 2020. Quantifying how sources of uncertainty in combustible biomass propagate to prediction of wildland fire emissions. International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(9):793-806. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19160

Access this Document

Treesearch

publication access with no paywall

Check to see if this document is available for free in the USDA Forest Service Treesearch collection of publications. The collection includes peer reviewed publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports produced by Forest Service employees, as well as science synthesis publications and other products from Forest Service Research Stations.