Intermountain West Wildland Fires: Mapping Tree Mortality and Burn Patches using NASA Earth Observations to Determine Fire Risk and Inform Fire Management Practices
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Teo Rautu↗
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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Fire control method and analytical model for large liquid hydrocarbon pool fires
The dominate parameter governing the behavior of a liquid hydrocarbon (JP-5) pool fire is wind speed. The most effective method of controlling wind speed in the vicinity of a large circular (10 m dia.) pool fire is a set of concentric screens located outside the perimeter. Because detailed behavior of the pool fire structure within one pool fire diameter is unknown, an analytical model supported by careful experiments is under development. As a first step toward this development, a regional pool fire model was constructed for the no-wind condition consisting of three zones -- liquid fuel, combustion, and plume -- where the predicted variables are mass burning rate and characteristic temperatures of the combustion and plume zones. This zone pool fire model can be modified to incorporate plume bending by wind, radiation absorption by soot particles, and a different ambient air flow entrainment rate. Results from the zone model are given for a pool diameter of 1.3 m and are found to reproduce values in the literature.
Fenton, D. L.↗
Application of MODIS-Derived Active Fire Radiative Energy to Fire Disaster and Smoke Pollution Monitoring
The radiative energy emitted by large fires and the corresponding smoke aerosol loading are simultaneously measured from the MODIS sensor from both the Terra and Aqua satellites. Quantitative relationships between the rates of emission of fire radiative energy and smoke are being developed for different fire-prone regions of the globe. Preliminary results are presented. When fully developed, the system will enable the use of MODIS direct broadcast fire data for near real-time monitoring of fire strength and smoke emission as well as forecasting of fire progression and smoke dispersion, several hours to a few days in advance.
Ichoku, Charles↗
Development of a Standard Test Scenario to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Portable Fire Extinguishers on Lithium-ion Battery Fires
Many sources of fuel are present aboard current spacecraft, with one especially hazardous source of stored energy: lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are a very hazardous form of fuel due to their self-sustaining combustion once ignited, for example, by an external heat source. Batteries can become extremely energetic fire sources due to their high density electrochemical energy content that may, under duress, be violently converted to thermal energy and fire in the form of a thermal runaway. Currently, lithium ion batteries are the preferred types of batteries aboard international spacecraft and therefore are routinely installed, collectively forming a potentially devastating fire threat to a spacecraft and its crew. Currently NASA is developing a fine water mist portable fire extinguisher for future use on international spacecraft. As its development ensues, a need for the standard evaluation of various types of fire extinguishers against this potential threat is required to provide an unbiased means of comparing between fire extinguisher technologies and ranking them based on performance.
Juarez, Alfredo↗
True Emission Factors for Forest Fires and the Role of Non-Fire NOx
True Emission Factors for Forest Fires and the Role of Non-Fire NOx Robert B. Chatfield and Meinrat Andreae The standard way to estimate biomass burning emissions factors from airborne, surface, or laboratory data is to relate the emitted pollutant concentration to the carbon burned, C(sub tot), and liberated to the air, mostly CO2. We approximate total emitted carbon C(sub tot) ~ (CO2 + CO). Emission ratios that are based on CO, describing burning effects, delta-parameter delta-CO, are often used to quantify fire emissions. These are not as useful as emission factors, for they often complicate analyses, since delta-CO delta-CO2 may vary by unto tenfold, and can have bias artifacts of similar magnitude. We present a methodology that estimates both emission factors and a reasonable description of background C(sub tot). High O3 values require a history of the balanced interaction of two pollutant types, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and a radical source, VOCs. However, high VOC NOx ratios seen in many plumes, especially from smoldering-dominated fires, make substantial O3 formation less likely. One particularly intense fire we analyzed, the notorious Rim Fire of 2013, near Yosemite, California. It produced notable quantities of free NOx and (both gas- and particle-phase) Cl species. Consequently, we also outline a quantitative way to assess the effects of anthropogenic or lightning NOx. We provide the example of California burning emissions using measurements of HCHO, NO, and the photolysis rate j(sub HCHO).
Chatfield, Robert B.↗
Hazardous Product Detection and Environmental Clean-up Removal in Spacecraft Vehicles from Fire Induced Li-Ion Fires
A fire on-board the International Space Station (ISS) resulting from a commercial Surface Pro tablet Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) battery can be detrimental to the spacercraft and the astronauts. The Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire) program is focused on identifying and quantifying the risks that potentially arise inside a space vehicle by conducting large fire experiments inside the Cygnus cargo vehicle upon re-entry to Earth. The potential candidate that will be flown on the ISS is a 4- cell Li-ion battery pack Surface Pro tablet (42 Wh). The tablets were tested at the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) using a localized heating method to emulate the failing mechanism that leads the unit into thermal runaway. Measurements inside the test chamber were performed on aerosol mass concentrations and for specific toxic products (i.e. from CO, HCN, HCl and CO2). These toxic products depend on the size of the fire and energy content of the tablet. Comparisons will be made with the Dell XPS (97 Wh). The concentrations are then used to extrapolate to laptop fires on a vehicle at the approximate volumetric size of the Orion spacecraft. The presentation provides an analysis on the detection capability and the response time to trigger fire alarms aboard a vehicle by using the mass concentration levels. These results will consider the rate at which the life support system is able to filter the atmosphere in order to provide a hazardous free environment.
Padilla, Rosa E.↗
Fire Safety Implications of Preliminary Results from Saffire IV and V Experiments on Large Scale Spacecraft Fires
The spread and growth of flames over large solid fuel samples and their effect on the pressurized spacecraft were studied inside the Cygnus spacecraft while in orbit after departing the International Space Station. These experiments were developed by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The ignited materials consisted of poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA), cotton fabric and a cotton/fiberglass fabric blend. The samples were all 40 cm wide and with various lengths ranging from 18 cm for the PMMA samples to 50 cm for the fabrics. The overall results from these tests and their impact on the spacecraft are presented with emphasis on the fire safety implications of the results. The experiments included, a post-fire cleanup system, vehicle internal volume measurements, and transport of acid gases (HCl and HF). Measurements included video images, flame spread rate, flame temperatures and radiant heat output; energy release through oxygen calorimetry; distributed measurements of CO2 concentration and temperature at six locations in the spacecraft; CO2, CO, O2, HF and HCl concentrations; vehicle pressurized volume; and aerosol concentrations. Details of the flame growth and spread are discussed in other papers as are details of the post-fire cleanup system performance. The fire events had a measurable impact on the vehicle pressure, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration. However, despite having heat release rates up to 10 kW, the average vehicle conditions did not rise to unacceptable levels. The combined results of the experiments provide significant new understanding of the impact of sample and flow duct height on flame spread and growth in addition to an improved perspective of the impact of a fire event on a spacecraft.
micorgravity↗
Fire Safety Implications of Preliminary Results from Saffire IV and V Experiments on Large Scale Spacecraft Fires
The spread and growth of flames over large solid fuel samples and their effect on the pressurized spacecraft were studied inside the Cygnus spacecraft while in orbit after departing the International Space Station. These experiments were developed by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The ignited materials consisted of poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA), cotton fabric and a cotton/fiberglass fabric blend. The samples were all 40 cm wide and with various lengths ranging from 18 cm for the PMMA samples to 50 cm for the fabrics. The overall results from these tests and their impact on the spacecraft are presented with emphasis on the fire safety implications of the results. The experiments included, a post-fire cleanup system, vehicle internal volume measurements, and transport of acid gases (HCl and HF). Measurements included video images, flame spread rate, flame temperatures and radiant heat output; energy release through oxygen calorimetry; distributed measurements of CO2 concentration and temperature at six locations in the spacecraft; CO2, CO, O2, HF and HCl concentrations; vehicle pressurized volume; and aerosol concentrations. Details of the flame growth and spread are discussed in other papers as are details of the post-fire cleanup system performance. The fire events had a measurable impact on the vehicle pressure, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration. However, despite having heat release rates up to 10 kW, the average vehicle conditions did not rise to unacceptable levels. The combined results of the experiments provide significant new understanding of the impact of sample and flow duct height on flame spread and growth in addition to an improved perspective of the impact of a fire event on a spacecraft.
microgravity fire safety↗
Ames T-3 fire test facility - Aircraft crash fire simulation
There is a need to characterize the thermal response of materials exposed to aircraft fuel fires. Large scale open fire tests are costly and pollute the local environment. This paper describes the construction and operation of a subscale fire test that simulates the heat flux levels and thermochemistry of typical open pool fires. It has been termed the Ames T-3 Test and has been used extensively by NASA since 1969 to observe the behavior of materials exposed to JP-4 fuel fires.
Fish, R. H.↗
Analysis of JP-4 fire test data and development of a simple fire model
A series of field experiments involving JP-4 fires of 7.6m dia and 15.2m dia was conducted under the sponsorship of NASA. The temperature inside the fire, the specie composition and vertical axial velocity were measured at several height locations and radial positions. The peak temperature recorded is 1400-1500 K; the velocities at 6m height are 11-12 m/s. The oxygen-to-nitrogen mass ratio along the vertical axis was found to be nearly a constant at 0.05. Significant necking of the fire was observed. A simple theoretical model was developed that predicts the experimental data on the velocity and vertical temperature distribution well. The model is based on the partial combustion of entrained air and assumed top-hat distributions for various property and flow parameters inside the fire. Quantitative agreement is obtained by using a value of 0.15 for the entrainment coefficient and 0.45 for the mixing efficiency factor. The model also predicts the fire necking.
Raj, P. K.↗
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS): Near Real-Time Global Fire Monitoring Using Data from MODIS and VIIRS
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) provides near-real time active fire / hotspot products from MODIS and VIIRS to users in over 160 countries. The goal of FIRMS is to meet the needs of natural resource and protected area managers that face considerable challenges in obtaining timely satellite-derived information on fires burning within and around their management area. FIRMS has been reliably providing active fire / hotspot data in easy to use formats since its inception in 2006. Fire information is provided through a web map interface, email alerts, a web mapping service, and a range of downloadable files (SHP, CSV, KML and JSON). FIRMS data are used directly by end users and by brokers who take the data and add value to it before re-distributing it.FIRMS was initially developed by the University of Maryland in 2006; it was funded by the United Nations FAO and NASA's Applied sciences program under a NASA ROSES call. In 2012 FIRMS became integrated in to NASA's Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE); a virtual system that leverages NASAs existing science processing capabilities to deliver NRT data from ten instruments within 3 hours of satellite overpass. This presentation will describe the FIRMS system, provide an overview of the system, briefly describe some of the known applications and describe plans to further integrate the data in to NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) public mapping services and Worldview website.
active fire/hotspots↗
Analysis of NASA JP-4 fire tests data and development of a simple fire model
The temperature, velocity and species concentration data obtained during the NASA fire tests (3m, 7.5m and 15m diameter JP-4 fires) were analyzed. Utilizing the data analysis, a sample theoretical model was formulated to predict the temperature and velocity profiles in JP-4 fires. The theoretical model, which does not take into account the detailed chemistry of combustion, is capable of predicting the extent of necking of the fire near its base.
Raj, P.↗
The Elimination of Fire Hazard Due to Back Fires
A critical study was made of the operation of a type of back-fire arrester used to reduce the fire hazard of aircraft engines. A flame arrester consisting of a pack or plug of alternate flat and corrugated plates of thin metal was installed in the intake pipe of a gasoline engines; an auxiliary spark plug inserted in the intake manifold permitted the production of artificial back fires at will. It was found possible to design a plug which prevented all back fires from reaching the carburetor.
Theodorsen, Theodore↗
MODIS airborne simulator visible and near-infrared calibration, 1991 FIRE-Cirrus field experiment. Calibration version: FIRE King 1.1
Calibration of the visible and near-infrared channels of the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is derived from observations of a calibrated light source. For the 1991 FIRE-Cirrus field experiment, the calibrated light source was the NASA Goddard 48-inch integrating hemisphere. Laboratory tests during the FIRE Cirrus field experiment were conducted to calibrate the hemisphere and from the hemisphere to the MAS. The purpose of this report is to summarize the FIRE-Cirrus hemisphere calibration, and then describe how the MAS was calibrated from observations of the hemisphere data. All MAS calibration measurements are presented, and determination of the MAS calibration coefficients (raw counts to radiance conversion) is discussed. Thermal sensitivity of the MAS visible and near-infrared calibration is also discussed. Typically, the MAS in-flight is 30 to 60 degrees C colder than the room temperature laboratory calibration. Results from in-flight temperature measurements and tests of the MAS in a cold chamber are given, and from these, equations are derived to adjust the MAS in-flight data to what the value would be at laboratory conditions. For FIRE-Cirrus data, only channels 3 through 6 were found to be temperature sensitive. The final section of this report describes comparisons to an independent MAS (room temperature) calibration by Ames personnel using their 30-inch integrating sphere.
Arnold, G. Thomas↗
Comparative Analysis of Daytime Fire Detection Algorithms, Using AVHRR Data for the 1995 Fire Season in Canda: Perspective for MODIS
Two fixed-threshold Canada Centre for Remote Sensing and European Space Agency (CCRS and ESA) and three contextual GIGLIO, International Geosphere and Biosphere Project, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (GIGLIO, IGBP, and MODIS) algorithms were used for fire detection with Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data acquired over Canada during the 1995 fire season. The CCRS algorithm was developed for the boreal ecosystem, while the other four are for global application. The MODIS algorithm, although developed specifically for use with the MODIS sensor data, was applied to AVHRR in this study for comparative purposes. Fire detection accuracy assessment for the algorithms was based on comparisons with available 1995 burned area ground survey maps covering five Canadian provinces. Overall accuracy estimations in terms of omission (CCRS=46%, ESA=81%, GIGLIO=75%, IGBP=51%, MODIS=81%) and commission (CCRS=0.35%, ESA=0.08%, GIGLIO=0.56%, IGBP=0.75%, MODIS=0.08%) errors over forested areas revealed large differences in performance between the algorithms, with no relevance to type (fixed-threshold or contextual). CCRS performed best in detecting real forest fires, with the least omission error, while ESA and MODIS produced the highest omission error, probably because of their relatively high threshold values designed for global application. The commission error values appear small because the area of pixels falsely identified by each algorithm was expressed as a ratio of the vast unburned forest area. More detailed study shows that most commission errors in all the algorithms were incurred in nonforest agricultural areas, especially on days with very high surface temperatures. The advantage of the high thresholds in ESA and MODIS was that they incurred the least commission errors.
Ichoku, Charles↗
Fire Analysis of the Thomas Fire in California Using NASA Data in a GIS
These maps are an analysis of the Thomas Fire that occurred in California during December 2017. Using a variety of NASA Earth science data from five National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sources (including four Earth Observing System Data and Information System Distributed Active Archive Centers and NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System), as well as ancillary data from Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and the Department of Homeland Security, this analysis sought to identify forest fire risk zones, create a fire occurrence density map, examine the vegetation and subsequent burn scar, capture the affected parcels, and capture the affected vegetation.
Bagwell, Ross↗
Vermont Wildland Fires: Investigating the Role of Antecedent Conditions and Recent Environmental Trends in Exacerbating Fire Risk and Potential in Vermont
Under a changing climate, increases in dry conditions and extreme heat events are projected to exacerbate wildfire risk in the northeastern U.S. In recent years, Vermont has observed higher annual temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, increased annual precipitation, extreme flood events, and decreased snowfall. The mechanisms through which environmental factors contribute to increased fire risk in humid environments, such as Vermont, are poorly understood. The team partnered with the National Weather Service, the Vermont Division of Forests, and the University of Vermont to investigate phenological trends and antecedent conditions influencing wildland fire risk. For the phenological analysis, from 2001 to 2023, vegetation data, phenological dates, and snow water equivalent (SWE) values were accessed from Landsat 5Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 9OLI-2, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS), respectively. For the antecedent condition analysis, from 2008 to 2023, soil moisture, Environmental Stress Index, wind speed, minimum relative humidity, and daily precipitation data were obtained from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), SERVIR, gridMET Wind, gridMET Humidity, and NClimGrid, respectively. The study found that green-up dates over the study period remain relatively stable, while snowmelt dates appear increasingly variable. Minimum relative humidity was the most significant environmental variable correlated with wildfire risk in Vermont. Results from this study will inform the National Weather Service's preparation of fire forecasts before prescribed burns and support community outreach by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
Wildland Fire↗
Seasonal Forecasting of Fire Weather Based on a New Global Fire Weather Database
Seasonal forecasting of fire weather is examined based on a recently produced global database of the Fire Weather Index (FWI) system beginning in 1980. Seasonal average values of the FWI are examined in relation to measures of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). The results are used to examine seasonal forecasts of fire weather conditions throughout the world.
fire weather↗