Fuelbed Characteristic Classification System

The Fuelbed Characteristic Classification System (or FCCS; Sandberg et al. 2001) is comprised of a large database of physical fuel bed parameters, an expert system to select fuel beds, and a system for estimating fire potential. Currently under development, FCCS is designed to provide the best possible fuel estimates and potential fire parameters based on as much or as little site-specific information as is available. For example, FCCS will provide detailed fuel bed estimates based on either specific fuel data or general site data that are available for Ecoregion Divisions, vegetation forms, cover types, or other data obtained from remote sensing, forest inventories, models, etc... The detailed fuelbed estimates can then be used to support fire hazard assessments and make fuel treatment decisions.

The prototype FCCS database includes 200+ fuelbeds common to North America, and a process has been established to add several tens of thousands more fuelbeds in the next several years. The database describes the size, abundance, physical character, and arrangement of a wildland fuelbed. Fuel beds are compartmentalized by vertical position:

• forest canopy,

• shrub vegetation,

• low vegetation,

• woody fuels,

• litter, and

• moss/duff strata.

An expert system allows a user to select a fuelbed from general site data and to adjust fuelbeds in the database based on specific site data or other available information. This component of the system also calculates and summarizes fuelbed properties by vertical strata, and uses a set of look-up tables to assign properties based on vegetation species or physical characteristics. Fuel bed fire potentials (on scales of 0-10) are estimated for surface fire behavior, crowning potential, and fuel consumption. These potentials are calculated from the loading, heat content, bulk density, and characteristic thickness of fuel elements without consideration of moisture content or environmental conditions. They represent the potential fire behavior and effects of an oven-dry fuelbed with no wind or slope influence.

In addition to reporting fire potentials on numeric scales from low to high, fuel bed classifications are currently being designed to be compatible with several existing fire and landscape assessment models. It is anticipated that future work will allow these fuel bed models to interface with other fire models such as Behave and FARSITE.