Wildland Fuel Characterization Across Space and Time

Wildland fuels are foundational to smoke prediction and generally contribute to high uncertainty in smoke production and dispersion modeling. Until recently, wildland fuels and fuel consumption have been mapped using traditional methods to estimate the cover, height, and biomass (kg m –2 ). Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in describing and quantifying fuels more accurately with 3D characterization and quantification across large spatial scales. This chapter introduces wildland fuels and approaches to mapping them at scales relevant to smoke management, smoke impacts to communities, and future research needs. Topics covered include (1) an introduction to wildland fuels, (2) traditional approaches to mapping wildland fuels. (3) next-generation approaches to wildland fuel mapping, and (4) research and development needs. Because source characterization of wildland fuels is critical to predicting smoke impacts, reviewing how to measure and map wildland fuel biomass and consumption provides important context for fire and fuels managers, smoke scientists, and policy makers. Although recent developments in 3D fuel mapping are promising, there are still many challenges associated in scaling-measured values to the scale of wildland fire events and assessing wildland fuels such as coarse wood and organic soils (duff, peat lands) that can contribute to long-duration smoke events.