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Detecting the severity and extent of wildland fires and pre- and post-burn fuel loads for the southeastern U.S.
SUMMARY: The objective of this research is to utilize remote sensing imagery to determine, evaluate, project, and map wildland pre- and post-burn fuels for the southeastern U.S. The wildland fuels data and mapping products will be validated with ground measurements and derived data products. Existing forest inventory data, climate, soil, and land use datasets from the southeastern U.S. will be used as input parameters to forest process models to predict, validate, and project forest growth and wildland fuels from 2001 to 2050.
These projections will assess the impacts of ozone, nitrogen deposition, atmospheric carbon dioxide, and climate change on forests at the local to regional scale for the southeastern U.S. This research will address the needs of fuel managers to: 1) integrate spatial vegetative cover data and other variables into assessments of fire hazard, ecosystem resilience to disturbance, and risks to environmental quality using current research findings and models of ecosystem processes; and 2) predict future disturbance patterns under alternative land management and land use alternatives and under a range of climate change and other disturbance scenarios.
The first phase of this research will focus on the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of North Carolina. This research will result in conference presentations, publications, and tools that land managers can use to identify areas at high risk of wildfire and predict the outcome of different management scenarios.
STATUS: Ongoing
PROGRESS:
Dave Chojnacky, Jennifer Moore Myers, Michael Amacher, Michael Gavazzi, and Steve McNulty. In Preparation. Model-based sample-survey estimates of forest floor mass and carbon in the eastern United States.
Michael Gavazzi, Steve McNulty, Dave Chojnacky, Johnny Boggs, and Sara Strickland. 2005. Down deadwood biomass in different forest management compartments within the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of North Carolina. East FIRE Conference. Fairfax, VA. May 11-13, 2005.
Michael Gavazzi and Steve McNulty. 2005. Comparing measured and fuel model estimates of down deadwood biomass in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of North Carolina. East FIRE Conference. Fairfax, VA. May 11-13, 2005.
Dave Chojnacky, Bob Mickler, Linda Heath, and Chris Woodall. 2004. Estimates of down woody materials in eastern US forests. Environmental Management 33: S44-S55.
CONTACT: Michael Gavazzi, EFETAC Southern Global Change Program Biological Scientist, mgavazzi@ncsu.edu or 919-515-2916
