Register      Login
International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Propagation probability and spread rates of self-sustained smouldering fires under controlled moisture content and bulk density conditions

Nuria Prat-Guitart A E , Guillermo Rein B , Rory M. Hadden C , Claire M. Belcher D and Jon M. Yearsley A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biology and Environmental Science, Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin D4, Republic of Ireland.

B Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.

C School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, The King’s Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JL, UK.

D wildFIRE Lab, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK.

E Corresponding author. Email: prat.nur@gmail.com

International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(4) 456-465 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15103
Submitted: 26 May 2015  Accepted: 27 December 2015   Published: 3 March 2016

Journal Compilation © IAWF 2016

Abstract

The consumption of large areas of peat during wildfires is due to self-sustained smouldering fronts that can remain active for weeks. We studied the effect of peat moisture content and bulk density on the horizontal propagation of smouldering fire in laboratory-scale experiments. We used milled peat with moisture contents between 25 and 250% (mass of water per mass of dry peat) and bulk densities between 50 and 150 kg m–3. An infrared camera monitored ignition, spread and extinction of each smouldering combustion front. Peats with a bulk density below 75 kg m–3 and a moisture content below 150% self-sustained smouldering propagation for more than 12 cm. Peat with a bulk density of 150 kg m–3 could self-sustain smouldering propagation up to a critical moisture content of 115%. A linear model estimated that increasing both moisture content and bulk density significantly reduced the median fire spread rate (which ranged between 1 and 5 cm h–1). Moisture content had a stronger effect size on the spread rate than bulk density. However, the effect of bulk density on spread rate depends upon the moisture content, with the largest effect of bulk density at low moisture contents.

Additional keywords: fire behaviour, horizontal front, lateral, peat fire, peatland, propagation dynamics.


References

Belcher CM, Yearsley JM, Hadden RM, McElwain JC, Rein G (2010) Baseline intrinsic flammability of Earth’s ecosystems estimated from paleoatmospheric oxygen over the past 350 million years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, 22448–22453.
Baseline intrinsic flammability of Earth’s ecosystems estimated from paleoatmospheric oxygen over the past 350 million years.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3MXkslSksg%3D%3D&md5=9e16f6b4906b930f6e6b6cc82bcf9713CAS |

Benscoter BW, Vitt DH (2008) Spatial patterns and temporal trajectories of the bog ground layer along a post-fire chronosequence. Ecosystems 11, 1054–1064.
Spatial patterns and temporal trajectories of the bog ground layer along a post-fire chronosequence.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Benscoter BW, Wieder RK (2003) Variability in organic matter lost by combustion in a boreal bog during the 2001 Chisholm fire. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33, 2509–2513.
Variability in organic matter lost by combustion in a boreal bog during the 2001 Chisholm fire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Benscoter BW, Thompson DK, Waddington JM, Flannigan MD, Wotton BM, de Groot WJ, Turetsky MR (2011) Interactive effects of vegetation, soil moisture and bulk density on depth of burning of thick organic soils. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, 418–429.
Interactive effects of vegetation, soil moisture and bulk density on depth of burning of thick organic soils.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3MXlsFGlsLo%3D&md5=bb9dc7530f05c7164513f9764ff90128CAS |

Burnham KP, Anderson DR (Eds) (2002) ‘Model selection and multimodel inference, 2nd edn’ (Springer: New York).

Chivers MR, Turetsky MR, Waddington JM, Harden JW, McGuire AD (2009) Effects of experimental water table and temperature manipulations on ecosystem CO2 fluxes in an Alaskan rich fen. Ecosystems 12, 1329–1342.
Effects of experimental water table and temperature manipulations on ecosystem CO2 fluxes in an Alaskan rich fen.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXhsFyku73L&md5=7ee1401f89cdf4e945810ce2481eb94bCAS |

Cribari-Neto F, Zeileis A (2010) Beta regression in R. Journal of Statistical Software 34, 1–24.
Beta regression in R.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Davies GM, Gray A, Rein G, Legg CJ (2013) Peat consumption and carbon loss due to smouldering wildfire in a temperate peatland. Forest Ecology and Management 308, 169–177.
Peat consumption and carbon loss due to smouldering wildfire in a temperate peatland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Dormann C, Elith J, Bacher S, Buchmann C, Carl G, Carre G, Garcia-Marquez JR, Gruber B, Lafourcade B, Leitao PJ, Munkemuller T, McClean C, Osborne PE, Reineking B, Schroder B, Skidmore AK, Zurell D, Lautenbach S (2013) Collinearity: a review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance. Ecography 36, 27–46.
Collinearity: a review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Frandsen WH (1987) The influence of moisture and mineral soil on the combustion limits of smouldering forest duff. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 17, 1540–1544.
The influence of moisture and mineral soil on the combustion limits of smouldering forest duff.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Frandsen WH (1991) Burning rate of smouldering peat Northwest Science 65, 166–172.

Frandsen WH (1997) Ignition probability of organic soils. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 27, 1471–1477.
Ignition probability of organic soils.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Frandsen WH (1998) Heat flow measurements from smoldering porous fuel. International Journal of Wildland Fire 8, 137–145.
Heat flow measurements from smoldering porous fuel.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Garlough EC, Keyes CR (2011) Influences of moisture content, mineral content and bulk density on smouldering combustion of ponderosa pine duff mounds. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20, 589–596.
Influences of moisture content, mineral content and bulk density on smouldering combustion of ponderosa pine duff mounds.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hadden RM (2011) Smouldering and self-sustaining reactions in solids : an experimental approach. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Hadden RM, Rein G, Belcher CM (2013) Study of the competing chemical reactions in the initiation and spread of smouldering combustion in peat. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 34, 2547–2553.
Study of the competing chemical reactions in the initiation and spread of smouldering combustion in peat.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXhvV2ntbY%3D&md5=da028100e0c21709cc3c744450831705CAS |

Huang X, Rein G (2014) Smouldering combustion of peat: inverse modelling of the drying and the thermal and decomposition kinetics. Combustion and Flame 161, 1633–1644.
Smouldering combustion of peat: inverse modelling of the drying and the thermal and decomposition kinetics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXht1Cjs7Y%3D&md5=e7864a5a79d8c1e0b1c78da98ab6794eCAS |

Huang X, Rein G (2015) Computational study of critical moisture content and depth of burn in peat fires. International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 798–808.
Computational study of critical moisture content and depth of burn in peat fires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Huang X, Rein G, Chen H (2015) Computational smoldering combustion: predicting the roles of moisture and inert contents in peat wildfires. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 35, 2673–2681.
Computational smoldering combustion: predicting the roles of moisture and inert contents in peat wildfires.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXhtFSrurzJ&md5=85887a318f8e07bb526b6999a25fa14aCAS |

Hungerford R, Frandsen WH, Ryan KC (1995) Ignition and burning characteristics of organic soils. In ‘Fire in wetlands: a management perspective. Proceedings of the tall timbers fire ecology conference, no. 19’, 3–6 November 1993, Tallahassee, FL. (Eds SI Cerulean, RT Engstrom) pp. 78–91. (Tallahassee, FL)

Ingram H (1978) Soil layers in mires: function and terminology. Journal of Soil Science 29, 224–227.
Soil layers in mires: function and terminology.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Kettridge N, Turetsky MR, Sherwood JH, Thompson DK, Miller CA, Benscoter BW, Flannigan MD, Wotton BM, Waddington JM (2015) Moderate drop in water table increases peatland vulnerability to post-fire regime shift. Scientific Reports 5, 8063
Moderate drop in water table increases peatland vulnerability to post-fire regime shift.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2MXosVKmu7w%3D&md5=2541728f0227f11c994cba084023d8b4CAS | 25623290PubMed |

Kreye JK, Varner JM, Dugaw CJ, Cao J, Szecsei J, Engber EA (2013) Pine cones facilitate ignition of forest floor duff. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 43, 512–516.
Pine cones facilitate ignition of forest floor duff.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Lawson BD, Frandsen WH, Hawkes BC, Dalrymple GN (1997) Probability of sustained smouldering ignition for some boreal forest duff types. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Forest Management Note 63. (Edmonton, AB)

Lukenbach MC, Hokanson KJ, Moore PA, Devito KJ, Kettridge N, Thompson DK, Wotton BM, Petrone RM, Waddington JM (2015) Hydrological controls on deep burning in a northern forested peatland. Hydrological Processes 29, 4114–4124.
Hydrological controls on deep burning in a northern forested peatland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

McMahon C, Wade D, Tsoukalas S (1980) Combustion characteristics and emissions from burning organic soils. In ‘Proceedings of the 73rd annual meeting of the Air Pollution Control Association’, 22–27 June 1980, Montreal, QC. Air Pollution Control Association, Paper No. 15.5. (Pittsburgh, PA)

Miyanishi K, Johnson EA (2002) Process and patterns of duff consumption in the mixedwood boreal forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 32, 1285–1295.
Process and patterns of duff consumption in the mixedwood boreal forest.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ohlemiller TJ (1985) Modeling of smoudering combustion propagation. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 11, 277–310.
Modeling of smoudering combustion propagation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaL28XhsFWrtbY%3D&md5=8e5d3e8d446f025e09432ab85ba8f6c3CAS |

Ohlemiller TJ (2002) Smoldering combustion. In ‘SFPE handbook of fire protection engineering, 3rd edn’. (Eds PJ DiNeeno, D Drysdale, CL Beyler, WD Walton) pp. 200–210. (National Fire Protection Association: Quincy, MA).

Page S, Siegert F, Rieley JO, Boehm HV, Jayak A, Limink S (2002) The amount of carbon released from peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997. Nature 420, 61–65.
The amount of carbon released from peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XosVCmu78%3D&md5=3f089b4c40fe826c65676bd34c6bf1c3CAS | 12422213PubMed |

Paradis E, Claude J, Strimmer K (2004) APE: analyses of phylogenetics and evolution in R language. Bioinformatics 20, 289–290.
APE: analyses of phylogenetics and evolution in R language.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXms1eitg%3D%3D&md5=4e2a86462dfa26af2984d16e09cd8178CAS | 14734327PubMed |

Petrone RM, Price JS, Carey SK, Waddington JM (2004) Statistical characterization of the spatial variability of soil moisture in a cutover peatland. Hydrological Processes 18, 41–52.
Statistical characterization of the spatial variability of soil moisture in a cutover peatland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pinheiro J, Bates D (2000) Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS. (Springer: New York, NY)10.1007/B98882

Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, R Core Team (2015) nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1–122. Available at http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme [Verified 25 January 2016]

Prat N, Belcher CM, Hadden RM, Rein G, Yearsley JM (2015) A laboratory study of the effect of moisture content on the spread of smouldering in peat fires. Flamma 6, 35–38.

Prat-Guitart N, Valor T, Krivtsov V (2011) Post-fire effects in an organic peat soil in Scotland. In ‘Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia, Vol. 71–72’. (Ed. X Ubeda) pp. 93–114. (IEC: Barcelona).

Prat-Guitart N, Rein G, Belcher CM, Hadden RM, Yearlsey JM (2015) Infrared analysis as a tool for studying the dynamics of horizontal smouldering propagation in laboratory peat fires. In ‘Coal and peat fires, a global perspective, peat – geology, combustion and case studies’. (Eds GB Stracher, A Prakash, G Rein) pp. 121–139. (Elsevier: Amsterdam)

R Core Team (2013) ‘R: A language and environment for statistical computing.’ (R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria)

Reardon AJ, Hungerford R, Ryan KC (2007) Factors affecting sustained smouldering in organic soils from pocosin and pond pine woodland wetlands. International Journal of Wildland Fire 16, 107–118.
Factors affecting sustained smouldering in organic soils from pocosin and pond pine woodland wetlands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Rein G (2013) Smouldering fires and natural fuels. In ‘ Fire phenomena in the Earth system. An interdisciplinary approach to fire science’. (Ed CM Belcher) pp. 15–34. (Wiley–Blackwell: London)

Rein G, Cleaver N, Ashton C, Pironi P, Torero JL (2008) The severity of smouldering peat fires and damage to the forest soil. Catena 74, 304–309.
The severity of smouldering peat fires and damage to the forest soil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sherwood JH, Kettridge N, Thompson DK, Morris PJ, Silins U, Waddington JM (2013) Effect of drainage and wildfire on peat hydrophysical properties. Hydrological Processes 27, 1866–1874.
Effect of drainage and wildfire on peat hydrophysical properties.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Shetler G, Turetsky MR, Kane ES, Kasischke ES (2008) Sphagnum mosses limit total carbon consumption during fire in Alaskan black spruce forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38, 2328–2336.
Sphagnum mosses limit total carbon consumption during fire in Alaskan black spruce forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1cXptFynt7o%3D&md5=e09af89026f8ff3020de202191a5c0ecCAS |

Smithson M, Verkuilen J (2006) A better lemon squeezer? Maximum-likelihood regression with beta-distributed dependent variables. Psychological Methods 11, 54–71.
A better lemon squeezer? Maximum-likelihood regression with beta-distributed dependent variables.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 16594767PubMed |

Terrier A, Groot WJ, Girardin MP (2014) Dynamics of moisture content in spruce–feather moss and spruce–sphagnum organic layers during an extreme fire season and implications for future depths of burn in Clay Belt black spruce forests. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, 490–502.
Dynamics of moisture content in spruce–feather moss and spruce–sphagnum organic layers during an extreme fire season and implications for future depths of burn in Clay Belt black spruce forests.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thompson DK, Waddington JM (2013a) Peat properties and water retention in boreal forested peatlands subject to wildfire. Water Resources Research 49, 3651–3658.
Peat properties and water retention in boreal forested peatlands subject to wildfire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thompson DK, Waddington JM (2013b) Wildfire effects on vadose zone hydrology in forested boreal peatland microforms. Journal of Hydrology 486, 48–56.
Wildfire effects on vadose zone hydrology in forested boreal peatland microforms.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Thompson DK, Waddington JM (2014) A Markov chain method for simulating bulk density profiles in boreal peatlands. Geoderma 232–234, 123–129.
A Markov chain method for simulating bulk density profiles in boreal peatlands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Turetsky MR, Wieder K, Halsey L, Vitt D (2002) Current disturbance and the diminishing peatland carbon sink. Geophysical Research Letters 29,
Current disturbance and the diminishing peatland carbon sink.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XotFehsLk%3D&md5=f76e422cb4b81285a71ac5a98dea4395CAS |

Turetsky MR, Benscoter B, Page S, Rein G, van der Werf GR, Watts A (2015) Global vulnerability of peatlands to fire and carbon loss. Nature Geoscience 8, 11–14.
Global vulnerability of peatlands to fire and carbon loss.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXitFKltbbE&md5=cb641b4b2f0b0da63eaaad5827f951a0CAS |

Usup A, Ashimoto YH, Akahashi HT, Ayasaka HH (2004) Combustion and thermal characteristics of peat fire in tropical peatland in central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Tropics 14, 1–19.
Combustion and thermal characteristics of peat fire in tropical peatland in central Kalimantan, Indonesia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Van Wagner CE (1972) Duff consumption by fire in eastern pine stands. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 2, 34–39.
Duff consumption by fire in eastern pine stands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Waddington JM, Morris PJ, Kettridge N, Granath G, Thompson DK, Moore PA (2015) Hydrological feedbacks in northern peatlands. Ecohydrology 8, 113–127.
Hydrological feedbacks in northern peatlands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wein RW (1983) Fire behaviour and ecological effects in organic terrain. In ‘The role of fire in northern circumpolar ecosystems’. (Eds RW Wein and DA MacLean) pp. 81–95. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd: New York).

Wellock ML, Reidy B, Laperle CM, Bolger T, Kiely G (2011) Soil organic carbon stocks of afforested peatlands in Ireland. Forestry 84, 441–451.
Soil organic carbon stocks of afforested peatlands in Ireland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Zaccone C, Rein G, D’Orazio V, Hadden RM, Belcher CM, Miano TM (2014) Smouldering fire signatures in peat and their implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 137, 134–146.
Smouldering fire signatures in peat and their implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXps12nsrs%3D&md5=b10203a5020dd66657feb3bb54e6c23fCAS |