24 p. / Jones, C., C. Dennett, and D. Garcia. 2016. Living with Wildfire: Homeowners’ Firewise Guide for Arizona (Revised). Multi-agency collaborative pamphlet. University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Publication #AZ1416-2016. Tucson, AZ. 24 pp.

Det finns ett flertal brandsimuleringsprogram på marknaden som används i olika utsträckning varav ett är Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). En av nackdelarna med FDS är att det kan ta mycket tid att göra en brandsimulering. Det finns brandsimuleringsprogram som med stor sannolikhet utför brandsimuleringar snabbare än FDS. För några av dessa brandsimuleringsprogram finns det inte någon dokumentation om hur resultaten som brandsimuleringsprogrammen producerar ställer sig mot det som skulle hända i verkligheten vid en brand, något som kallas att vara valideratdet vill säga programmen är inte validerade. Ett av dessa brandsimuleringsprogram är Multi-Zone Fire Model (MZ-Fire Model). Brandsimuleringsprogrammet MZ-Fire Model bygger på ett multizonkoncept framtaget av Suzuki et al. Multizonkonceptet har validerats i tidigare studier varav ett är en brand i tunnel men även bränder i mindre lokaler har prövats. Det finns utrymme för ökad kunskap om hur multizonkonceptet hanterar bränder i stora rumslokaler då det inte finns någon känd dokumentation kring detta. Det finns i dagsläget inte en enda studie som behandlar brandsimuleringsprogrammet MZ-Fire Model. I rapporten redogörs för simulerande av en brand i 4 olika rum av brandsimuleringsprogrammen MZ-Fire Model och FDS, dess simulerade värden är sedan jämförda mot varandra. / There are a number of fire simulation programs on the market that are used to varying degrees, one of which is Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). One of the disadvantages of FDS is that it can take a lot of time to do a fire simulation. There are fire simulation programs that are very likely to perform fire simulations faster than FDS. For some of these fire simulation programs, there is no documentation on how the results produced by the programs compare with what would happen in the event of a real fire, something called to bethat is they are not validated. One of these fire simulation programs is Multi-Zone Fire Model (MZ-Fire Model). The fire simulation program MZ-Fire Model is based on a multi-zone concept developed by Suzuki et al. The multi-zone concept has been validated in previous studies, one of which is a fire in a tunnel but fires in smaller premises have also been tested. There is room for increased knowledge about how the multi-zone concept handles fires in large rooms, as there is no known documentation on this. Currently, there is not a single study dealing with the MZ-Fire Model program. The report describes the simulation of a fire in 4 different rooms by the programs MZ-Fire Model and FDS, its simulated values ​​are then compared against each other.

Tätortsnära naturreservat med vandringsleder och stigar bidrar till mycket mänsklig aktivitet. Denna aktivitet kan mynna ut i skogsbränder och naturvårdsbränningar som påverkar mark, träd och annan vegetation och bidrar tillhögre naturvärden och gynnar de få arter som är beroende av brand. Syftet med studien var att inventera brandfält i naturreservat som uppkommit spontant eller av antropogena aktiviteter. Studien innefattade att utvärdera hur träden reagerat på brand och om branden lett till en förändrad biologisk mångfald.Tolv talldominerade brandfält i fyra naturreservat inventerades. Ett brandfält är efter en kontrollerad naturvårdsbränning medan orsaken till de andra är okända. Resultaten visar på lågt antal skadade och stående döda träd samt en låg andel föryngring i flera brandfält. Dessa bränder påverkar biodiversiteten genom att de har gett en förändrad struktur och livsmiljö i jämförelse med obrända miljöer.

Autonomous firefighting platforms are being developed to support firefighters.  One aspect of this is location of a fire inside a structure.  A multi-spectral sensor platform and fire location algorithm was developed in this research to locate a fire indoors autonomously. The multi-spectral sensor platform used a long wavelength infrared (LWIR) camera and ultraviolet (UV) sensor.  The LWIR camera was chosen for its ability to see through smoke, while the UV sensor was selected for its ability to discriminate between fires and non-fire hot objects.  The fire location algorithm by radiation emission (FLARE) developed in this research used the multi-spectral sensor data to provide the robot heading angle toward the fire. The system was tested in a large-scale structural fire facility.  A series of 20 different scenarios were used to evaluate the robustness of the system including different fuel types, structural features, non-fire hot objects, and potential robot positions within the enclosure.  This demonstrated that FLARE could direct a robot towards the fire regardless of these variables. Directional fire discrimination was added to the platform by limiting the field of view of the UV sensor to that of the LWIR cameras.  Three methods were evaluated to limit the field of view of a UV sensor. These included angled plate housing, bulb cover, and slit opening housing methods. The slit opening housing method was recommended for ease of implementation and size required to limit the field of view of the sensor to the desired value. / Master of Science

The southeastern coastal plain of the United States is a center of endemism for plants in temperate North America and second only to California among the states. In the southeast, Florida has the largest number of these endemic plants. The largest number of these Florida endemics can be found in the fire maintained scrub and sandhill communities located on sandy ridges in Central Florida. One such endemic is Clitoria fragrans, a rare perennial herb. C. fragrans reproduces via a mixed mating system. It produces both open, chasmogamous flowers and closed, selfed, cleistogamous flowers. Little else is known about its biology. I monitored populations of C. fragrans from 2003-2005 on the Avon Park Air Force Range. I tracked plant density, finite rate of population increase, plant survivorship and reproduction relative to the time since fire and season of fire. I found that recently burned plots had a higher density of plants than those unburned for over 13 years. Unburned populations decreased in all years of the study. In all three years, the majority of flowers produced by Clitoria fragrans were cleistogamous. The production of chasmogamous flowers appears to be influenced by plant size and potentially fire. Unburned plots had less variation than recently burned plots for all independent variables.

Fire incidents are a central issue in Saudi civil defence. Despite detailed regulation concerning firefighting equipment dealing with dwelling fires, fires occur frequently. Globally, research on dwelling fire safety is relatively new. Most studies focus on human factors, incidence and causal issues. Few studies examine management or policy-making perspectives towards managing these individual agents. Thus, a detailed study on understanding the management of these factors for dwelling fires is long overdue. The study uses an inductive approach to investigate key management issues in reducing dwelling fires in Saudi Arabia. This qualitative study consisted of twelve indepth semi-structured interviews and four focus groups with senior managers of the Civil Defence Division dealing with fire safety. A sustainability-based framework is developed to map the critical issues in generating a long-term planning solution to policy and management of fire hazard and risk in Saudi Arabia. Critical drivers of this sustainability approach are good management, regulation, governance practices: especially accountability and transparency; reduction of tribalism, bureaucracy, and burns unit efficiency. However, given the modern environment of communications, information technology and communications, and in particular public education, are viewed as important mediators between drivers and sustainability. The critical role of knowledge generation is also positioned as a mediator. The framework proposed is a paradigm shift from merely managing fire incidents on a case by case basis to a proactive risk reduction strategy. This represents an original solution to managing fire hazards at a national level and an important contribution to the fire management literature.

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) is a waveform Lidar system carried on board the Ice, Cloud, and Elevation Satellite (ICESat). This study tested the use of GLAS data, from the L3e and L3g campaigns, to estimate total canopy height. GLAS footprint locations were sampled for ground truth. The GLAS-derived and field-derived canopy heights portrayed good correlation (R2= 0.8354). This study examined two representative fire fuel models within forests in East-Central Mississippi. GLAS waveforms were compared with field data for fire fuel models 9 and 10 of the fire fuel models described by Anderson (1982). GLAS data intensities were extracted and averaged to create predictive variables. Two variables were applied in Logistic regression to predict the probability of belonging to either fuel model (overall accuracy = 0.6875).

Forestry management relies on combating the challenges posed by fire. Knowledge of fire risk helps in the planning for and reacting to forest fires. One method used is the mapping of the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI). Though it was not specifically designed to be a fire risk assessment tool it is used to highlight areas with a high potential of fire due to climactic factors. A statistical analysis is performed to determine the relevance of the use of this drought index to measure fire potential. Analysis is performed by testing the relationship of KBDI to the number of fires and area burned in the Mississippi Forestry Commission?s south east fire district. These analyses showed a weak relationship between total fires and KBDI. In many cases there was no relationship. This calls into question the use of KBDI to determine fire potential.

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Se estudiaron los efectos de los disturbios asociados al fuego sobre la entomofauna del suelo en el sur del Caldenal. Los efectos de los disturbios sobre los individuos pueden ser directos o indirectos y sus impactos se reflejan en las comu-nidades. Los efectos directos de un disturbio pueden ser des-favorables a drásticos sobre los organismos, o positivos, como la activación del crecimiento y de respuestas reproductivas. Los efectos indirectos de los disturbios resultan de la conse-cuencia en los organismos por la alteración del ambiente en el que habitan. El fuego es un disturbio natural en el Caldenal. Además, la entomofauna aporta funciones claves en este ecosistema, entre otras cosas: predación, herbivoría, disper-sión de semillas, y descomposición de materia orgánica. Se estudió el efecto de distintas frecuencias de quemas controla-das y el efecto post-fuego sobre la biodiversidad de artrópo-dos y, en especial de hormigas; también el efecto de fuego sobre la vegetación y, a su vez, la respuesta de los artrópo-dos y las hormigas. Por último, se evaluó el efecto de los cor-tafuegos como perturbador drástico del suelo sobre las hor-migas más conspicuas del sistema. Los artrópodos y las hor-migas presentaron una marcada estacionalidad y siempre se encontraron diferencias estadísticas significativas entre las parcelas quemadas y no quemadas. Se encontró que los artrópodos son altamente resilientes al fuego y a la modifi-cación producida sobre la vegetación. Los meses de mayor riqueza de especies de hormigas reflejaron que una frecuencia de fuego intermedia favorece la diversidad, lo que sugiere el apoyo a la hipótesis del disturbio intermedio. En cuanto a los efectos sobre la vegetación los resultados son consecuentes con la hipótesis de retroalimentación positiva entre el fuego y las gramíneas (ciclo pasto/fuego). A su vez, los efectos de esta interacción sobre los artrópodos y particularmente sobre las hormigas, mostraron un aumento de la riqueza de órdenes y específica en función de la heterogeneidad de hábitats, an-tes y después de una quema controlada. Estos resultados son consistentes con la hipótesis de pirodiversidad, es decir la diversidad de las quemas frecuencia, intensidad, estación de aplicación aumenta la heterogeneidad de hábitats favorecien-do el establecimiento, supervivencia y reproducción de espe-cies con distintos requerimientos promoviendo la diversidad. Por otro lado, se evaluó un disturbio drástico asociado al manejo del fuego, los cortafuegos, registrándose el estable-cimiento de especies dominantes, que potencialmente podrían afectar la dinámica de la comunidad de la entomofauna y la vegetación cercana. En resumen, se encontró que los artrópo-dos del suelo y, particularmente, las hormigas son resilientes al fuego que co-evolucionó con el sistema, aunque hay una severa pérdida de la diversidad cuando las perturbaciones son drásticas sin memoria evolutiva. / The effects of disturbances associated with fire on soil arthro-pods were studied in the south of the Caldenal. The effects of disturbances on individuals may be direct or indirect and their impacts are reflected in their communities. The direct effects of a disturbance may be unfavourable or drastic for the organisms, or positive, such as the activation of growth and reproduction. The indirect effects of distubances are caused by modification of the habitat. Fire is a natural distur-bance in the Caldenal and the functions contributed by the insect fauna are key to this ecosystem: predation, herbivory, seed dispersal and decomposition of organic matter. The effect of different frequencies of controlled burns was stu-died, as well as the post-fire effect on the biodiversity of ar-thropods, particularly ants. The effect of fire on the vegeta-tion and how this affected the arthropods and ants was also studied. Lastly the effect of fire breaks was evaluated as a drastic disturbance to the soil on the most comspicuous ants in the system. The arthropods and ants showed a marked sea-sonality and significant differences were always found between the burnt and unburnt plots. It was found that arthropods are highly resilient to fire and to the consequent modification of the vegetation. In the months of greatest species richness of the ants it was shown that an interme-diate fire frequency favoured diversity, which agrees with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. In regards to the effects of fire on the vegetation, the results are consistent with the hypothesis of positive feedback between fire and grass (grass/fire cycle). Moreover, the effects of this interaction on arthropods, and on ants in particular, showed an increase in richness in function of the heterogeneity of the habitat, befo-re and after a controlled burn. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of pyrodiversity, i.e., the diversity of fire frequency, intensity, season of application, as increases in the environmental heterogeneity favour the establishment, survival and reproduction of species with different require-ments, which promotes diversity. Firebreaks, a drastic distur-bance associated with the management of fire, were evalua-ted by recording the establishment of dominant species that might potentially affect the dynamics of the insect community and surrounding vegetation. In conclusion, it was found that soil arthropods and ants are resilient to fire since they under-went co-evolution within the system, although there is a severe loss of diversity when disturbances are more drastic, without evolutionary memory.