Abstract
AbstractFuel moisture content (FMC) is important for the ignitability, behaviour and severity of wildfires. Understanding the drivers of FMC and its spatial and temporal variability can help us develop fuel moisture models and inform assessments of wildfire behaviour and danger. Here we present the first United Kingdom (UK) national-scale temperate FMC dataset of 8,057 samples of eighteen different fuel constituents collected across 58 sampling sites between 2021–2023. We sampled fuels across emerging fire-prone ecosystems in the UK across three studies: (1) UK-wide longer-term sampling characterising the spatio-temporal drivers of FMC; (2) landscape-scale measurement through the North Yorkshire Moors to investigate landscape-driven variability in FMC; (3) plot-scale intensive sampling in the West Midlands to quantify diurnal patterns and among-sampler variability in fuel measurements. This database addresses a global fuel moisture measurement gap within traditionally non-fire prone regions. The database will advance our understanding of temperate fuel moisture dynamics and forms a fundamental contribution towards the development of a fire danger rating system for traditionally non-fire prone regions such as the UK.
Funder
RCUK | Natural Environment Research Council
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference35 articles.
1. Fernandez-Anez, N. et al. Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives. Air, Soil and Water Research 14, 11786221211028185 (2021).
2. Jones, M. W. et al. Global and Regional Trends and Drivers of Fire Under Climate Change. Reviews of Geophysics 60, e2020RG000726 (2022).
3. Forestry Commission. Wildfire Statistics for England: Report to 2020-21. (2023).
4. Belcher, C. M. et al. UK Wildfires and their Climate Challenges. Expert Led Report Prepared for the third Climate Change Risk Assessment (2021).
5. Davies, G. M. & Legg, C. J. Developing a live fuel moisture model for moorland fire danger rating. in 225–236. https://doi.org/10.2495/FIVA080231 (Toledo, Spain, 2008).