Application of the Fuel Characteristic Classification System
Regional | National | Global | Independent Research
FCCS fuelbeds, their characteristics, and fuelbed potentials are
being incorporated into research and management projects in the
United States and around the world. Complete, ongoing, and anticipated projects
are outlined here to offer examples of how FCCS can be used by
a variety of groups at many scales and for a myriad of purposes.
Regional Applications
 Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Fuelbeds, fuelbed characteristics, and fire potentials were
then mapped to assess the fire hazard across the forest, and
assess the need for treatment to reduce fire hazard.
Lake Tahoe Basin
A set of past, current, and future
fuelbeds for the Lake Tahoe were mapped to allow comparison of potential consequences of various fuel treatment alternatives to improve the planning of restoration projects and serve
as a common platform of communication among managers, decision makers,
and the public.
Northeastern Oregon
FCCS fuelbeds were created and mapped for the Predictive Service Area (E4 zone) of northeastern Oregon that includes the Umatilla, Malhuer, and Wallowa-Whitman national forests, as well as adjacent BLM forest lands. They represent represent past, current and potential future conditions of major forest and rangeland types, management activities, and natural disturbances.
Central
Oregon
The nationwide fire program analysis project (FPA) system encompassed fire planning units, across the country
including the Central Oregon Fire Planning Unit (FPU). FCCS was used to generate over 200
fuelbeds in support of this work.
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City
of Seattle
Fire hazard in the Cedar River Municipal Watershed (Seattle, WA) was assessed using the FCCS. This was done to help reconcile ecological restoration efforts and fire management across the landscape with respect to fuel loadings. Results were written up in an internal report, and a scientific paper is under development. Research was funded in part by the City of Seattle.
Contact Morris Johnson for more information
Comparison of Pre- and Post-Fire/Logging Fuels in Eastern Oregon
We remeasured stand structure and the fuelbed after wildfire and subsequent logging to capture information on fuel mass changes, snag fall rate, log decay rate, and regeneration success since the fire of 1996 (15 years hence), since the logging of 1998 (13 years hence), and for the Wray Creek block, since the second wildfire of 2008.
Integrated Landscape Assessment Project
Prioritization of watershed-level land management actions based on fuels, habitats, economic values, and projected climate change was done across Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Fuels were characterized using the FCCS, and inserted into one of the modules of this complex project.
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National Applications
Smoke
from Eastern Hardwoods
The development of FCCS fuelbeds was key to gathering fuel loading data which can inform smoke management decisions in the Northeast.
LANDFIRE
FCCS facilitates the mapping of fuel characteristics and fire hazard assessments, and landscape level spatial fire effects simulations. The FCCS layer can serve as input to wildland fire effects models.
Wildland Fire Emissions Inventory System
The Wildland Fire Emissions Inventory System (WFEIS) integrated FCCS into its system at a 1-km spatial resolution. The system is used for emissions estimates for forestland and shrubland.
BlueSky |
Savannah
River Site
This research assessed fuels and fire hazard, and the potential for fuels consumption by developing and analyzing a matrix of FCCS fuelbeds and fire behavior predictions that represent the range of current and anticipated surface fire behavior and crown fire potentials in each of seven land cover and stand age types. assess fuels and fire hazard, and the potential for fuels consumption.
Huron-Manistee Interagency Fire Use Module
From 2009 through 2011, this team used FCCS for fuels inventory, fire potential mapping, as supplemental information on ground truthing LANDFIRE data, and even an elk habitat improvement project. The module used FCCS in reports and projects in 23 different states (in every region except Alaska). |
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Global Applications
Independent Research Applications
Choi, K-C.; Woo, J-H.; Kim, H.K. [et al.]. 2013. Modeling of emissions from open biomass burning in Asia using the BlueSky framework. Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment. 7(1): 25037. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5572/ajae.2013.7.1.025 
Goodrick, S.L.; Stanturf, J.A. 2012. Evaluating potential changes in fire risk from Eucalyptus plantings in the southern United States. International Journal of Forestry Research. doi:10.1155/2012/680246
James, L.L. 2012. National to local: a pre and post assessment of the Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) landscape variables for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Seattle: University of Washington. M.S. Thesis.
Link to text
Zhang, C.; Tian, H.; Wang, Y.; Zeng, T.; Liu, Y. 2010. Predicting response of fuel load to future changes in climate and atmospheric composition in the Southern United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 260: 556-564.
Patterson, L.A. 2009. Development of wildland fire smoke marker emissions maps for the conterminous United States. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Science. 131 p. M.S. Thesis.
Zhang, X.; Kondragunta, S.; Schmidt, C.; Kogan, F.2008. Near real time monitoring of biomass burning particulate emissions (PM2.5) across contiguous United States using multiple satellite instruments. Atmospheric Environment. 42:6959-6972.
Campbell, J.; Donato, D.; Azuma, D.; Law, B. 2007. Pyrogenic carbon emission from a large wildfire in Oregon, United States. Journal of Geophysical Research. 112: G04014.
Tan, Z.; Tiezen, L.L.; Zhu, Z. [et al.]. 2007. An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin. Carbon Balance and Management. 2(12).
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