United States Department of Agriculture FIRE, FUEL, AND SMOKE SCIENCE PROGRAM 2015 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory Rocky Mountain Research Station Faith Ann Heinsch, Charles W. McHugh, and Colin C. Hardy, Editors Forest Rocky Mountain Publication March Service Research Station R1-16-11 2016 FIRE, FUEL, AND SMOKE SCIENCE PROGRAM Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory Rocky Mountain Research Station U.S. Forest Service 5775 U.S. Highway 10 West Missoula, MT 59808-9361 www.firelab.org Citation: Heinsch, Faith Ann; McHugh, Charles W.; Hardy, Colin C., editors. 2016. Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program 2015 Research Accomplishments. On file at: Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 73 p. http://www.firelab.org/document/ffs-annual- reports We offer special thanks to Tim Stauffer and the USFS Region 1 Publications Office for helping publishing this report. Cover photos, clockwise from top: Bear Lake Fire, Pioneer Mountains, Montana, September 1, 2015. Photo by LaWen Hollingsworth / FFS; Reynolds Fire, Glacier National Park, Montana, July 29, 2015. Photo by Charles McHugh / FFS; Whitebark pine growing after daylight treatment and prescribed burn. Photo courtesy of Bob Keane / FFS. Peak and trough structure of flame front of experimental fires. Photo courtesy of Mark Finney / FFS. Photo on opposite page: Whitefish Lake 1 Fire, Alaska, July 3, 2015, 3:49 p.m. Photo by Charles McHugh / FFS. FIRE, FUEL, AND SMOKE SCIENCE PROGRAM 2015 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS MISSOULA FIRE SCIENCES LABORATORY ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION U.S. FOREST SERVICE Faith Ann Heinsch, Charles W. McHugh, and Colin C. Hardy, Editors Table of Contents The Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program ................................................................... 1 2015 Year in Review ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 The Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program Focus Areas ....................................................................................... 6 Fire Modeling Institute (FMI) ................................................................................................ 8 Partnerships ............................................................................................................................ 10 From the Archives: 30 Years of the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) ..... 11 Physical Fire Processes ........................................................................................................ 14 Understanding Burning Rate and Residence Time of Porous Fuel Beds Using Wood Cribs (NFDSC) .................................................................................................................................................... 15 Ignition by Convective Heating (NFDSC) ..................................................................................................................... 16 Buoyant Flame Dynamics and Wildfire Spread (NFDSC) ..................................................................................... 17 Field Characterization of Energy Transport in Wildland Flames ...................................................................... 18 Fuel Dynamics ......................................................................................................................... 19 Climate-Induced Variations in Global Wildfire Danger from 1979 to 2013 ................................................. 20 Surface Fuel Characteristics, Temporal Dynamics, and Fire Behavior of Masticated Mixed-Conifer Fuel Beds of the Rocky Mountains ......................................................................................................................... 21 Wildfire Hazard Potential Map (FMI) ........................................................................................................................... 23 Smoke Emissions and Dispersion .................................................................................... 24 Black Carbon from Fires in Northern Eurasia ........................................................................................................... 25 Development of Combustion Process-Based Emission Models ......................................................................... 26 Models for Quantifying Smoke Emissions and Impacts ........................................................................................ 28 Fire Ecology .............................................................................................................................. 29 Condition of Live Fire-Scarred Ponderosa Pine Twenty-One Years after Removing Partial Cross-Sections ................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Simulating Climate Change Effects on Landscapes across the World using the FireBGCv2 Model .... 31 DAYLIGHT—Evaluating Effects of a New Restoration Technique on Whitebark Pine Stands in the Northern Rocky Mountains ...................................................................................................................................... 32 Restoring Whitebark Pine Ecosystems, RWPE ......................................................................................................... 33 Examining Effects of Climate Change on Whitebark Pine, WBPCC ................................................................... 34 Some projects have been identified in parenthesis by the specific group in which they fall. NFDSC is the National Fire Decision Support Center (http://www.wfmrda.nwcg.gov/nfdsc.php). FMI is the Fire Modeling Institute (www.firelab.org/fmi). Fire and Fuel Management Strategies ............................................................................ 35 Evaluating Proposed Fuel Treatment Effectiveness in the Tenmile Watershed, Helena National Forest (FMI) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 36 Arcburn: Linking Field-Based and Experimental Methods to Quantify, Predict, and Manage Fire Effects on Cultural Resources .................................................................................................................................. 38 Boots on the Ground (FMI) ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Science Synthesis and Delivery ......................................................................................... 44 New and Updated Syntheses in FEIS (FMI) ................................................................................................................. 45 Finding Information on Fire Regimes in FEIS (FMI) ............................................................................................... 46 New Bunkhouse at the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest Helps Researchers ................................. 47 Application of the Wildfire Risk Assessment Framework (FMI) ....................................................................... 48 Applications and Products .................................................................................................. 50 BehavePlus fire modeling system (FMI) ...................................................................................................................... 51 FFI Ecological Monitoring Application (FMI) ............................................................................................................. 52 FireFamilyPlus (FMI) ........................................................................................................................................................... 53 First Order Fire Effects Fuel Model (FOFEM) (FMI) ................................................................................................ 54 Release of FlamMap version 5.0 (FMI) ......................................................................................................................... 55 FuelCalc (FMI) ......................................................................................................................................................................... 56 LANDFIRE Fire Modeling Product Workshop Series (FMI) ................................................................................. 57 U.S. National Fire Danger Rating System Development and Support (FMI).................................................. 58 Weather Information Management System (WIMS) Support (FMI) ................................................................ 61 The Research Continues ...................................................................................................... 62 FIRESEV East: Expanding the Severe Fire Potential Map to the Eastern U.S. (FMI) .................................. 63 Permanent Archiving of Tree-Ring Specimens Collected for Fire History .................................................... 64 FireWorks Expands (FMI) .................................................................................................................................................. 65 IJWF Special Issue: The RxCADRE Interdisciplinary Fire Study ........................................................................ 66 Education and Outreach .....................................................................................................