Smoke Dispersion Simulations for Prescribed Burns at Site 300, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Smoke Dispersion Simulations for Prescribed Burns at Site 300, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 17
Release: 2002
Genre:
ISBN:

Each year, as part of its ongoing commitment to safe operating practices Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) conducts prescribed burns at its Site 300 complex. LLNL consistently adheres to stringent, self-imposed safety standards in all of its activities, and the annual prescribed burning at Site 300 is done to prevent an accumulation of vegetative fuels (primarily grasses) that could cause an unacceptable risk of wildfire ignition. The LLNL prescribed burn procedure (Burklin, 2001) calls for the sequential, controlled burning individual small land plots by the LLNL Fire Department. Essentially the same burning procedure is repeated on a yearly basis. The burns usually are conducted in May and June; however, on rare occasions the burning has been done as late in the year as July. To the best of our knowledge there has never been an environmental problem caused by the smoke from these prescribed burns. Indeed, the avoidance of undesirable environmental impacts is inherent in the very concept of prescription burning. In order to better understand, in a quantitative sense, the atmospheric dispersion of smoke from prescribed burns at Site 300, and to examine how smoke behavior might differ for different burn months and burn-plot terrain, the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) at LLNL has simulated the smoke dispersion from eight prescribed burns. Four of these bums were conducted on two days in June 1999, and the other four bums were conducted on two days in July 2000. This report describes the atmospheric models, fuel data, and atmospheric data used in the case studies. It also describes the GIS-based analysis of the simulations, and summarizes the simulation results.

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems
Author: Thomas A. Waldrop
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2018-03-29
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 9780160943959

Prescribed burning is an important tool throughout Southern forests, grasslands, and croplands. The need to control fire became evident to allow forests to regenerate. This manual is intended to help resource managers to plan and execute prescribed burns in Southern forests and grasslands. A new appreciation and interest has developed in recent years for using prescribed fire in grasslands, especially hardwood forests, and on steep mountain slopes. Proper planning and execution of prescribed fires are necessary to reduce detrimental effects, such as the impacts on air and downstream water quality. Check out these related products: Trees at Work: Economic Accounting for Forest Ecosystem Services in the U.S. South can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/trees-work-economic-accounting-forest-ecosystem-services-us-south Soil Survey Manual 2017 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/soil-survey-manual-march-2017 Quantifying the Role of the National Forest System Lands in Providing Surface Drinking Water Supply for the Southern United States is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/quantifying-role-national-forest-system-lands-providing-surface-drinking-water-supply Fire Management Today print subscription is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/fire-management-today Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/wildland-fire-ecosystems-fire-and-nonnative-invasive-plants

Development of Modeling Tools for Predicting Smoke Dispersion from Low Intensity Fires

Development of Modeling Tools for Predicting Smoke Dispersion from Low Intensity Fires
Author: Warren E. Heilman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2013
Genre: Dispersion
ISBN:

Of particular concern to fire and air-quality management communities throughout the U.S. are the behavior and air-quality impacts of low-intensity prescribed fires for fuels management. For example, smoke from prescribed fires, which often occur in wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas and in areas where forest vegetation has a significant impact on the local meteorology, can linger for relatively long periods of time and have an adverse effect on human health. Smoke from wildland fires can also reduce visibility over roads and highways in the vicinity of and downwind of these fires, reducing the safety of our transportation system. The planning for and tactical management of low-intensity prescribed fires can be enhanced with models and decision support tools developed with a fundamental understanding of how the atmosphere interacts with these types of fires and the smoke they generate. This particular study focused on (1) an evaluation of several existing coupled meteorological and atmospheric dispersion modeling systems for their potential use as tools to predict the local meteorological and air-quality impacts of low-intensity wildland fires in forested environments,(2) the further development of those modeling systems deemed most appropriate for low intensity wildland fire applications to enhance their local meteorological and air-quality predictive capabilities within forested environments, and (3) the development and analysis of new observational data sets that can be used to evaluate current and future modeling systems and to improve our understanding of fundamental fire-fuel-atmosphere interactions.