Fuel and Fire Tools (FFT) Introduction

FFT is a software application that integrates the Fuel Characteristics Classification System (FCCS), Consume, FEPS, Pile Calculator, and Digital Photo Series into a single user interface. All of the tools were developed by the Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team (FERA) as open-source and freely sharable software and are supported as separate modules. Fuelbeds are the common currency in FFT. FCCS requires a list of one to many fuelbeds to run calculations. Because Consume and FEPS can predict consumption by burn unit, they require fuelbeds to be assigned to a unit with a percentage area entered for each fuelbed.

  • The Fuel Characteristic Classification System stores and classifies fuels data as fuelbeds and calculates fuel loadings, carbon and other summary fuel characteristics. It also predicts surface fire behavior and a 0-9 index of surface, crown fire and available fuel potentials. The FCCS is also available as a command line version and as a module in the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS).
  • Consume predicts total fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and heat release for fuelbeds and burn units based on input fuel loadings, fuel moisture, and other environmental factors. It is also available as a command line version and as a module within BlueSky, IFTDSS and WFEIS.
  • The Fire Emission Production Simulator FEPS predicts hourly fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and heat release characteristics of prescribed burns and wildland fires. The FEPS calculator module can be run in command line and has been integrated into BlueSky, IFTDSS, VSmoke.
  • The web-based Digital Photo Series (DPS) can be launched within the FFT Fuelbed Editor for reference purposes. It is also available as a separate web-based tool on the FERA website.
  • The Pile Calculator is integrated within the Fuelbed Editor to allow creation and editing of pile information within fuelbeds. It is also available as a web-based tool or stand-alone tool on the FERA website.

The FFT runs on Windows Operating Systems (version 7 or greater). The component calculators for FCCS, Consume and FEPS are available as platform independent command line utilities.

Install FFT

FFT can be run on computers with MS Windows operating systems (version 7 and greater). It also requires Java version 1.7 or higher and .NET framework version 4.5 or higher. If you need to update Java to a more recent version, we recommend that you uninstall any older versions of Java prior to installing the update.

  1. Download the self-extracting executable file to your computer.

  2. Double click the file to launch the installation. The installation program will prompt you for a location to install the FFT. Use the default location - C:\FuelFireTools - unless you have a compelling reason to do otherwise. The installer will install the program, create a shortcut, and start the program.

Run FFT

You can use FFT to calculate summary fuel characteristics (loading, carbon, stratum loading), surface fire behavior, fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and heat release.

Overview / Quick Start

  1. Select the fuelbeds that most closely reflect the area in which you are interested.

  2. Customize the fuelbeds in the Fuelbed Editor to better tailor them to your situation (optional).

  3. Save the selected fuelbeds as a Burn Unit (optional - both Consume and FEPS require a saved Burn Unit).

  4. Specify environmental inputs. Each program FCCS, Consume, and FEPS, require input parameters.

  5. Run FCCS, Consume, or FEPS. Note that FEPS depends on outputs from Consume. Consume depends on outputs from FCCS. Therefore, running FEPS runs all 3 programs. Running Consume first runs FCCS. You have access to the results from all programs that have run.

Select Fuelbeds

There are several methods for selecting fuelbeds. The following sections describe them.

Fuelbed Selector

Fuelbeds are the common currency in FFT. FCCS requires a list of one to many fuelbeds to run calculations. Because Consume and FEPS predict consumption by burn unit, they require fuelbeds to be assigned to a unit with a percentage area entered for each fuelbed.

Fuelbed Selector

Select fuelbeds by:

  • Moving them from the 'List of all Fuelbeds' on the left to the 'Selected Fuelbeds' listbox on the right. You can select single fuelbeds with a double-click, or multiple fuelbeds by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking desired fuelbeds with your mouse, then clicking the >> button to add them to the Selected Fuelbeds box.

  • If you know your fuelbeds by their filenames, you can select them from your file explorer interface using the Browse to File button. Over 300 fuelbeds have been preloaded in the FFT and have file names ranging from FB_0000_FCCS.xml to FB_0458_LF.xml. Fuelbeds that you create using the FFT are stored in the <InstallationDirectory>\FCCS\fuelbeds\user folder. To access these, double click on the user folder to view and open user fuelbed files. Fuelbed files are portable and can be shared with other FFT users. If you have additional user fuelbeds from colleagues or from the regional fuelbed datasets on the FERA website, simply copy them into the \fuelbeds\user folder and start a new session of FFT to work with them.

  • Selecting a previously-saved unit from the Load a saved unit box (top-right). When you select a saved unit, the Selected Fuelbeds listbox will display fuelbeds contained in that unit.

After you have selected fuelbeds, you can click the Specify Environmental Inputs button to run FCCS calculations. However, if you wish to run Consume or FEPS, you must first specify a burn unit. To do this on the Fuelbed Selection screen, click the Save/edit unit properties link (top right). You can also save a burn unit from the next screen (Environmental Inputs).

Search variables

Use the search variables in the upper left to trim the fuelbed selection to a more manageable size. Choose from the following variables:

  • Ecoregions: FCCS fuelbeds are organized geographically into the 14 Bailey ecoregion divisions (Bailey 1989). Fuelbeds may span multiple ecoregions and have more than one ecoregion assigned to them.

    See Ecoregion MapBailey's Ecoregion Divisions

  • Vegetation Forms: FCCS fuelbeds are classified as being one of the following seven vegetation forms. Only one vegetation form can be selected to represent each fuelbed.

    See Vegetation FormsVegetation Forms

  • Cover Types: Cover types represent the existing vegetation of an area based on the Society of American Foresters forest cover types (Eyre 1980) and the Society for Range Management rangeland cover types (Shiflet 1994). More than one cover type may apply to each fuelbed.

    See all cover types

    Cover type

    SAF 001: Jack Pine

    SAF 005: Balsam Fir

    SAF 012: Black Spruce

    SAF 013: Black Spruce-Tamarack

    SAF 014: Northern Pin Oak

    SAF 015: Red Pine

    SAF 016: Aspen (Eastern)

    SAF 017: Pin Cherry

    SAF 018: Paper Birch

    SAF 019: Gray Birch-Red Maple

    SAF 020: White Pine-Northern Red Oak-Red Maple

    SAF 021: Eastern White Pine

    SAF 023: Eastern Hemlock

    SAF 024: Hemlock-Yellow Birch

    SAF 026: Sugar Maple-Basswood

    SAF 027: Sugar Maple

    SAF 028: Black Cherry-Maple

    SAF 030: Red Spruce-Yellow Birch

    SAF 031: Red Spruce-Sugar Maple-Beech

    SAF 032: Red Spruce

    SAF 033: Red Spruce-Balsam Fir

    SAF 034: Red Spruce-Fraser Fir

    SAF 035: Paper Birch-Red Spruce-Balsam Fir

    SAF 037: Northern White Cedar

    SAF 038: Tamarack

    SAF 039: Black Ash-American Elm-Red Maple

    SAF 040: Post Oak-Blackjack Oak

    SAF 042: Bur Oak (Eastern)

    SAF 043: Bear Oak

    SAF 044: Chestnut Oak

    SAF 045: Pitch Pine

    SAF 046: Eastern Redcedar

    SAF 050: Black Locust

    SAF 051: White Pine-Chestnut Oak

    SAF 052: White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak

    SAF 053: White Oak

    SAF 055: Northern Red Oak

    SAF 057: Yellow-Poplar

    SAF 058: Yellow-Poplar-Eastern Hemlock

    SAF 059: Yellow-Poplar-White Oak-Northern Red Oak

    SAF 060: Beech-Sugar Maple

    SAF 061: River Birch-Sycamore

    SAF 062: Silver Maple-American Elm

    SAF 063: Cottonwood

    SAF 064: Sassafras-Persimmon

    SAF 065: Pin Oak-Sweetgum

    SAF 066: Ashe Juniper-Redberry (Pinchot) Juniper

    SAF 067: Mohr's

    SAF 068: Mesquite

    SAF 069: Sand Pine

    SAF 070: Longleaf Pine

    SAF 071: Longleaf Pine-Scrub Oak

    SAF 072: Southern Scrub Oak

    SAF 073: Southern Redcedar

    SAF 074: Cabbage Palmetto

    SAF 075: Shortleaf Pine

    SAF 076: Shortleaf Pine-Oak

    SAF 078: Virginia Pine-Oak

    SAF 079: Virginia Pine

    SAF 080: Loblolly Pine-Shortleaf Pine

    SAF 081: Loblolly Pine

    SAF 082: Loblolly Pine-Hardwood

    SAF 083: Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine

    SAF 084: Slash Pine

    SAF 085: Slash Pine-Hardwood

    SAF 087: Sweetgum-Yellow-Poplar

    SAF 088: Willow Oak-Water Oak-Diamondleaf Oak

    SAF 089: Live Oak

    SAF 091: Swamp Chestnut Oak-Cherrybark oak

    SAF 092: Sweetgum-Willow Oak

    SAF 093: Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash

    SAF 094: Sycamore-Sweetgum-American Elm

    SAF 095: Black Willow

    SAF 096: Overcup Oak-Water Hickory

    SAF 097: Atlantic White-Cedar

    SAF 098: Pond Pine

    SAF 100: Pondcypress

    SAF 101: Baldcypress

    SAF 102: Baldcypress-Tupelo

    SAF 103: Water Tupelo-Swamp Tupelo

    SAF 104: Sweetbay-Swamp Tupelo-Redbay

    SAF 105: Tropical Hardwoods (Florida)

    SAF 106: Mangrove

    SAF 107: White Spruce

    SAF 108: Red Maple

    SAF 109: Hawthorn

    SAF 110: Black Oak

    SAF 111: South Florida Slash Pine

    SAF 201: White Spruce

    SAF 202: White Spruce-Paper Birch

    SAF 203: Balsam Poplar

    SAF 204: Black Spruce

    SAF 205: Mountain Hemlock

    SAF 206: Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir

    SAF 207: Red Fir

    SAF 208: Whitebark Pine

    SAF 209: Bristlecone Pine

    SAF 210: Interior Douglas-Fir

    SAF 211: White Fir

    SAF 212: Western Larch

    SAF 213: Grand Fir

    SAF 215: Western White Pine

    SAF 216: Blue Spruce

    SAF 217: Aspen (Western)

    SAF 218: Lodgepole Pine

    SAF 219: Limber Pine

    SAF 22: White Pine-Hemlock

    SAF 220: Rocky Mountain Juniper

    SAF 221: Red Alder

    SAF 222: Black Cottonwood-Willow

    SAF 223: Sitka Spruce

    SAF 224: Western Hemlock

    SAF 225: Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce

    SAF 226: Coastal True Fir-Hemlock

    SAF 227: Western Redcedar-Western Hemlock

    SAF 228: Western Redcedar

    SAF 229: Pacific Douglas-Fir

    SAF 230: Douglas-Fir-Western Hemlock

    SAF 231: Port Orford-Cedar

    SAF 232: Redwood

    SAF 233: Oregon White Oak

    SAF 234: Douglas-Fir-Tanoak-Pacific Madrone

    SAF 235: Cottonwood-Willow

    SAF 236: Bur Oak (Western)

    SAF 237: Interior Ponderosa Pine

    SAF 238: Western Juniper

    SAF 239: Pinyon-Juniper

    SAF 240: Arizona Cypress

    SAF 241: Western Live Oak

    SAF 242: Mesquite

    SAF 243: Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer

    SAF 244: Pacific Ponderosa Pine-Douglas-Fir

    SAF 245: Pacific Ponderosa Pine

    SAF 246: California Black Oak

    SAF 247: Jeffrey Pine

    SAF 248: Knobcone Pine

    SAF 249: Canyon Live Oak

    SAF 25: Sugar Maple-Beech-Yellow Birch

    SAF 250: Blue Oak-Digger Pine

    SAF 251: White Spruce-Aspen

    SAF 252: Paper Birch

    SAF 253: Black Spruce-White Spruce

    SAF 254: Black Spruce-Paper Birch

    SAF 255: California Coast Live Oak

    SAF 256: California Mixed Subalpine

    SRM 101: Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 102: Idaho Fescue

    SRM 103: Green Fescue

    SRM 104: Antelope Bitterbrush-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 105: Antelope Bitterbrush-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 106: Bluegrass Scabland

    SRM 107: Western Juniper-Big Sagebrush-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 108: Alpine Idaho Fescue

    SRM 109: Ponderosa Pine - Shrubland

    SRM 110: Ponderosa Pine - Grassland

    SRM 201: Blue Oak Woodland

    SRM 202: Coast Live Oak Woodland

    SRM 203: Riparian Woodland

    SRM 204: Northern Coastal Shrub

    SRM 205: Coastal Sage Shrub

    SRM 206: Chamise Chaparral

    SRM 207: Scrub Oak Mixed Chaparral

    SRM 208: Ceanothus Mixed Chaparral

    SRM 209: Montane Shrubland

    SRM 210: Bitterbrush

    SRM 211: Creosote Bush Shrub

    SRM 212: Blackbush

    SRM 213: Alpine Grassland (Pacific Southwest)

    SRM 214: Coastal Prairie

    SRM 215: Valley Grassland (Pacific Southwest)

    SRM 216: Montane Meadows

    SRM 217: Wetlands (Pacific Southwest)

    SRM 301: Bluebunch Wheatgrass-Blue Grama

    SRM 302: Bluebunch Wheatgrass-Sandberg Bluegrass

    SRM 303: Bluebunch Wheatgrass-Western Wheatgrass

    SRM 304: Idaho Fescue-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 305: Idaho Fescue-Richardson Wheatgrass

    SRM 306: Idaho Fescue-Slender Wheatgrass

    SRM 307: Idaho Fescue-Threadleaf Sedge

    SRM 308: Idaho Fescue-Tufted Hairgrass

    SRM 309: Idaho Fescue-Western Wheatgrass

    SRM 310: Needle-and-Thread - Blue Grama

    SRM 311: Rough Fescue-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 312: Rough Fescue-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 313: Tufted Hairgrass-Sedge

    SRM 314: Big Sagebrush-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 315: Big Sagebrush-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 316: Big Sagebrush-Rough Fescue

    SRM 317: Bitterbrush-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 318: Bitterbrush-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 319: Bitterbrush-Rough Fescue

    SRM 320: Black Sagebrush-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 321: Black Sagebrush-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 322: Curlleaf Mountain-Mahogany-Bluebunch Wheatgrass

    SRM 323: Shrubby Cinquefoil-Rough Fescue

    SRM 324: Threetip Sagebrush-Idaho Fescue

    SRM 401: Basin Big Sagebrush

    SRM 402: Mountain Big Sagebrush

    SRM 403: Wyoming Big Sagebrush

    SRM 404: Treetip Sagebrush

    SRM 405: Black Sagebrush

    SRM 406: Low Sagebrush

    SRM 407: Stiff Sagebrush

    SRM 408: Other Sagebrush Types

    SRM 409: Tall Forb (Great Basin)

    SRM 410: Alpine Rangeland (Great Basin)

    SRM 411: Aspen Woodland

    SRM 412: Juniper-Pinyon Woodland

    SRM 413: Gambel Oak

    SRM 414: Salt Desert Shrub

    SRM 415: Curlleaf Mountain-Mahogany

    SRM 416: True Mountain-Mahogany

    SRM 417: Littleleaf Mountain-Mahogany

    SRM 418: Bigtooth Maple

    SRM 419: Bittercherry

    SRM 420: Snowbush

    SRM 421: Chokecherry-Serviceberry-Rose

    SRM 422: Riparian (Great Basin)

    SRM 501: Saltbush-Greasewood

    SRM 502: Grama-Galetta

    SRM 503: Arizona Chaparral

    SRM 504: Juniper-Pinyon Pine Woodland

    SRM 505: Grama-Tobosa Shrub

    SRM 506: Creosotebush-Bursage

    SRM 507: Palo Verde-Cactus

    SRM 508: Creosotebush-Tarbush

    SRM 509: Oak-Juniper Woodland and Mahogany-Oak

    SRM 601: Bluestem Prairie

    SRM 602: Bluestem-Prairie Sandreed

    SRM 603: Prairie Sandreed-Needlegrass

    SRM 604: Bluestem-Grama Prairie

    SRM 605: Sandsage Prairie

    SRM 606: Wheatgrass-Bluestem-Needlegrass

    SRM 607: Wheatgrass-Needlegrass

    SRM 608: Wheatgrass-Grama-Needlegrass

    SRM 609: Wheatgrass-Grama

    SRM 610: Wheatgrass

    SRM 611: Blue Grama-Buffalograss

    SRM 612: Sagebrush-Grass

    SRM 613: Fescue Grassland

    SRM 614: Crested Wheatgrass

    SRM 615: Wheatgrass-Saltgrass-Grama

    SRM 701: Alkali Sacaton-Tobosagrass

    SRM 702: Black Grama-Alkali Sacaton

    SRM 703: Black Grama-Sideoats Grama

    SRM 704: Blue Grama-Western Wheatgrass

    SRM 705: Blue Grama-Galetta

    SRM 706: Blue Grama-Sideoats Grama

    SRM 707: Blue Grama-Sideoats Grama-Black Grama

    SRM 708: Bluestem-Dropseed

    SRM 709: Bluestem-Grama

    SRM 710: Bluestem Prairie

    SRM 711: Bluestem-Sacahuista Prairie

    SRM 712: Galetta-Alkali Sacaton

    SRM 713: Grama-Muhly-Threeawn

    SRM 714: Grama-Bluestem

    SRM 715: Grama-Buffalograss

    SRM 716: Grama-Feathergrass

    SRM 717: Little Bluestem-Indiangrass-Texas Wintergrass

    SRM 718: Mesquite-Grama

    SRM 719: Mesquite-Liveoak-Seacoast Bluestem

    SRM 720: Sand Bluestem-Little Bluestem Dunes

    SRM 721: Sand Bluestem-Little Bluestem Prairie

    SRM 722: Sand Sagebrush-Mixed Prairie

    SRM 723: Sea Oats

    SRM 724: Sideoats Grama-New Mexico Feathergrass-Winterfat

    SRM 725: Vine Mesquite-Alkali Sacaton

    SRM 726: Cordgrass

    SRM 727: Mesquite-Buffalograss

    SRM 728: Mesquite-Granjeno-Acacia

    SRM 729: Mesquite

    SRM 730: Sand Shinnery Oak

    SRM 731: Cross Timbers-Oklahoma

    SRM 732: Cross Timbers-Texas (Little Bluestem Post Oak)

    SRM 733: Juniper-Oak

    SRM 734: Mesquite-Oak

    SRM 735: Sideoats Grama-Sumac-Juniper

    SRM 801: Savanna

    SRM 802: Missouri Prairie

    SRM 803: Missouri Glade

    SRM 804: Tall Fescue

    SRM 805: Riparian (Southeastern)

    SRM 806: Gulf Coast Salt Marsh

    SRM 807: Gulf Coast Fresh Marsh

    SRM 808: Sand Pine Scrub

    SRM 809: Mixed Hardwood and Pine

    SRM 810: Longleaf Pine-Turkey Oak Hills

    SRM 811: South Florida Flatwoods

    SRM 812: North Florida Flatwoods

    SRM 813: Cutthroat Seeps

    SRM 814: Cabbage Palms Flatwoods

    SRM 815: Unpland Hardwood Hammocks

    SRM 816: Cabbage Palm Hammocks

    SRM 817: Oak Hammocks

    SRM 818: Florida Salt Marsh

    SRM 819: Freshwater Marsh and Ponds

    SRM 820: Everglades Flatwoods

    SRM 821: Pitcher Plant Bogs

    SRM 822: Slough (Southeastern)

    SRM 901: Alder (Alaska)

    SRM 902: Alpine Herb (Alaska)

    SRM 903: Beach Wildrye-Mixed Forb

    SRM 904: Black Spruce-Lichen

    SRM 905: Bluejoint Reedgrass

    SRM 906: Broadleaf Forest

    SRM 907: Dryas

    SRM 908: Fescue

    SRM 909: Freshwater Marsh

    SRM 910: Hairgrass

    SRM 911: Lichen Tundra

    SRM 912: Low Scrub Shrub Birch-Ericaceous

    SRM 913: Low Scrub Swamp

    SRM 914: Mesic Sedge-Grass-Herb Meadow Tundra

    SRM 915: Mixed Herb-Herbaceous

    SRM 916: Sedge-Shrub Tundra

    SRM 917: Tall Shrub Swamp (Alaska)

    SRM 918: Tussock Tundra

    SRM 919: Wet Meadow Tundra (Alaska)

    SRM 920: White Spruce-Paper Birch

    SRM 921: Willow

    Unknown: Unknown

    SAF Cover Types - Eyre, F.H. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters. 148pp.

    SRM Cover Types - Shiflet, T.N. 1994. Rangeland cover types of the United States. Society for Range Management. 165 pp. pdf here

  • Structural Classes: Fuelbeds with canopy layers are assigned one of seven stand structural classes.

    See Structural ClassesStructural Classes

  • Change Agents: Change agents are natural or anthropogenic disturbances or management actions that affect fuelbed structure and composition. Multiple change agents may apply to each fuelbed.

    See Change Agents
    Category Change Agent Definition

    Change over time

    Fire exclusion

    Exclusion of fire from a landscape through active suppression, land use changes, and/or cessation of aboriginal burning.

    Introduction of exotic species

    Invasion of exotic species, which alters native vegetation and/or local fire regimes.

    Stand development

    Succession of forest vegetation over time.

    Fuel treatments

    Chipping

    Conversion ofwoody fuelsinto small pieces through mechanical chipping.

    Lop & scatter

    Woody fuels treatment in which fuels are cut into smaller pieces and scattered on site.

    Mastication

    Conversion of woody fuels into a small, densely packed layer through mechanical grinding.

    Pile & burn

    Concentration of woody fuels into piles and burning.

    Prescribed fire

    Application of controlled fire to obtain planned objectives for silviculture, wildlife habitat, grazing, and fire hazard reduction.

    Pruning

    Removal of the lower branches of trees andshrubs.

    Timber harvest

    Clearcut

    Harvest of all or nearly all trees in a forest stand.

    Logging methods/ equipment damage

    Damage to vegetation from mechanical fuel treatments and/or timber harvests.

    Salvage logging

    Dead and/or live tree removal from an area that has burned by a wildfire.

    Selection cut
    (thin large diameter)

    Thinning harvest in which large trees are removed from a stand. Sometimes termed "thinning from above."

    Stumpwooding

    Removal or harvest of stumps.

    Thinning (thin from below)

    Thinning harvest in which small trees are removed throughout a forest stand to increase growth, decrease ladder fuels, and achieve other management objectives.

    Land use change

    Ditching/draining

    Channeling water away from an area, often creating a drier combustion environment.

    Paving

    Conversion of wildland fuels to roads and other impervious surfaces.

    Natural event

    Avalanche

    Disturbance to vegetation from snow and/or ice slides.

    Blowdown

    Wind disturbance to forest stands in which trees are toppled by strong winds.

    Flood

    Disturbance to riparian and adjacent lands through flooding water courses.

    Ice damage

    Damage to trees and other vegetation from heavy accumulations of ice and/or snow.

    Insects & disease

    Mortality of trees and other vegetation from insect attacks and disease, leading to accumulation of dead fuels.

    Landslide

    Mass wasting event that alters soil and damages and/or removes existing vegetation.

    Windthrow

    Uprooting of trees from wind and rain events.

    No change

    Some fuelbeds have no recent change agent and are listed as "no change."

    Vegetation treatment

    Grazing

    Management of vegetation for livestock forage and production.

    Residual fertilization

    Amendments of soil nutrients, often to increase biomass of existing vegetation.

    Restoration work

    Ecosystem restoration in which fuels are reduced through timber harvest, prescribed burning, and other practices.

    Tree planting

    Planting trees.

    Turpentining

    Collection of turpentine from pine trees. This practice generally causes scarring and pitching on tree boles.

    Wildfire

    Wildfire

    An unplanned wildland fire; this category includes unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to put the fire out.

    Wildfire (ground)

    A wildfire confined to surface fuels.

    Wildfire (crown)

    Wildfire that consumes both surface fuels and tree crowns.

Browse to File

The Browse to File button opens the FCCS\fuelbeds folder within the FFT. Select one to many fuelbeds and click Open. They will now be listed under "Selected Fuelbeds" in the Fuelbed Selection screen.

Only fuelbeds located within the FFT's FCCS\fuelbeds folder (or subfolders thereof) can be selected via Browse to File. To incorporate fuelbeds located elsewhere on your computer, first copy them into FFT's FCCS\fuelbeds\user folder.

Browse to file dialog

LANDFIRE Fuelbed Lists

LANDFIRE supports a 30-m FCCS fuelbed map of the conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska and Hawaii. To access the raster layers, you can either download them from the online data access page or use the LANDFIRE data access tool as an ArcGIS toolbar.

The FCCS fuelbed layer simply represents FCCS fuelbed IDs. FFT allows you to open the fuelbeds directly from a LANDFIRE attribute table and then run FCCS, Consume and FEPS calculations on that fuelbed list. Tabular outputs in FFT can then be used to join output variables such as fuel loading or predicted consumption and emissions to the original fuelbed raster layer (within ArcGIS or another GIS application) for a spatial display of modeled outputs.

  1. From ArcGIS, open the attribute table and export it as a comma-delimited text file (listed as "text file" in the export options box).

  2. Rename the ".csv" extension to ".lf" and copy the text file into the FTT fuelbeds folder (for example, c:\FuelFireTools\FCCS\fuelbeds\LF_fuelbeds.lf)

  3. Open FFT, click the Browse to File(s) button, and select your LANDFIRE fuelbed list file (e.g., LF_fuelbeds.lf)

  4. FFT will populate the Selected Fuelbeds list box with the fuelbeds specified in the text file.

Online documentation of the FCCS LANDFIRE fuelbed layer is here and includes a data dictionary for the attribute table, source fuelbed files (xml format), and source text file of the attribute table (csv format) along with map metadata.

Load a Saved Unit

A burn unit (needed to run Consume or FEPS) is a collection of fuelbeds, saved along with a unit name, unit size and other inputs needed by the calculators. Selecting a saved unit from the "Load a saved unit" listbox will populate the Selected Fuelbeds listbox with that unit's fuelbeds.

Duplicate Fuelbeds

Making fuelbed copies is helpful for creating variations of a single fuelbed. For example, if a forest has undergone different treatment types (e.g., thinning vs. thinning and prescribed burning), you can start with the same source fuelbed and edit the fuelbeds to represent each treatment.

To generate duplicates, right-click on a fuelbed and select 1 to 5 copies. These will be automatically moved to the Selected Fuelbeds listbox and be named as the source fuelbed followed by a "u#". The newly created files will be saved to the FCCS\fuelbeds\user folder. If you need more than 5 copies of a fuelbed, simply repeat the process.

Use Metric Units

To use metric units in the Fuelbed Editor, Burn Unit Editor, reports and graphs, click on the "Use Metric Units" box on the bottom of the Fuelbed Selector screen.

Burn Unit Editor

A burn unit is a collection of fuelbeds, saved along with a unit name and size, among other inputs. While Consume and FEPS require that you create a burn unit, FCCS users may find the unit concept helpful for organizing their fuelbeds into named groups. The Burn Unit Form is accessed from the Fuelbed Selector by clicking the 'Save/edit this unit' link beneath the 'Load a saved unit' listbox in the upper right corner of the form.

To define a unit, enter the unit name, size, and percent area and consumption equation for each of the unit's fuelbeds. Other inputs on this form are optional. FFT initially assigns equal area percents to each fuelbed, such that they sum to 100%; click on each value to modify the proportion. The default consumption equation set is Natural (Western). Other options are Activity, which applies to recent logging slash, Natural (Boreal) for boreal and tundra fuelbeds and Natural (Southern) for fuelbeds representative of the southeastern United States. You can either specify a consumption equation by fuelbed row or replace all of them by selecting a consumption equation to apply to all fuelbeds.

Save/edit unit

Fuelbed Editor

Create User Fuelbeds

To create a custom fuelbed, you must first select an FCCS fuelbed to copy and modify. You can also select the original FCCS fuelbed that you copied if you’d like to have it as a reference while editing the copied fuelbeds, but it will not be editable. It will probably be most efficient to select a fuelbed that has similar vegetation and fuelbed structure to your custom fuelbed. Because you must customize an existing fuelbed in the FCCS fuelbed library, it is important that you review every stratum, category, and subcategory screen to tailor them to your dataset. You can also copy 0:Bare Ground if you wish to start with a blank fuelbed.

Once you have selected a list of fuelbed copies, click the Edit Fuelbeds button to launch the fuelbed editor. The fuelbed editor allows you to view and edit fuelbed data in copied fuelbeds. It displays all fuelbeds within the Selected Fuelbeds listbox on the right of the fuelbed selection screen. An Open Digital Photo Series button is available at the bottom of the Fuelbed Editor if you would like to reference a natural fuels photo series while editing fuelbed data. The editor is organized into tabs, starting with General fuelbed information and then stratum-specific inputs from the Canopy to Ground Fuels.

Fuelbed Editor

To edit a cell, simply click on the cell and type in a new value. You can also tab between cells as you would in a spreadsheet. Some input cells allow for multiple entries (e.g., ecoregion, cover type on the Search Variables tab and Species/Relative Cover inputs on stratum tabs). Double-click to edit these cells. A pop-up dialog box allows you to add and delete selections.

FFT validates each entry based on hard limits and some simple validation rules (e.g., tree height to live crown cannot exceed tree height, etc.). If you make a validation error, the entry cell will be highlighted in red with a tool tip detailing the validation error.

To create a custom fuelbed, you must first select an FCCS fuelbed to modify. It will probably be most efficient to select a fuelbed that has similar vegetation and fuelbed structure to your custom fuelbed. Because you must customize an existing fuelbed in the FCCS fuelbed library, it is important that you review every stratum, category, and subcategory screen to tailor them to your dataset. You can also select 0:Bare Ground if you wish to start with a blank fuelbed. An Open Digital Photo Series button is available at the bottom of the Fuelbed Editor if you would like to reference a natural fuels photo series while editing fuelbed data.

Once you are done editing, click the Save button. FFT will prompt you to save or cancel your changes for each modified fuelbed. Your customized fuelbed(s) will be stored in the FCCS\fuelbeds\user subfolder within your FFT directory. FFT simply adds a "_u" to the original filename. You can change the suggested filename in the second column of the multiple file save dialog box and then click the Save Marked Items button. If you do not wish to save a modified fuelbed, unclick the check box to the right of the fuelbed name or click the Save None button.

Edit Species

The Relative cover (%)/Species input boxes require entry of at least one species and a corresponding relative cover. Double click on the input cell to open the Edit Species popup box.

  • To add a species, double-click on a species from the lower list.
  • To search for a species by common name, enter a full or partial common name. Because more than one common name can apply to a species, many common names are not supported.
  • To search for a species by scientific name, enter a Genus (capitalized) or Genus and species.

A relative cover must be entered for each species, and total cover must add to 100%. The total relative cover box will be highlighted in red if species percent values do not add to 100%.

Present Checkboxes

Almost every fuelbed row within the Fuelbed Editor pages contains a Present checkbox. Fuelbeds rarely contain every available fuelbed category. For example, fuelbed 420 is a grassland fuelbed and does not contain any Canopy fuels; input cells are blank for all Tree, Snag and Ladder Fuels tabs, and in each case the Present checkbox is unchecked.

When you are editing fuelbeds, there will likely be categories you wish to either remove or add. You can do this using the Present check box. Using the example of fuelbed 420, if you wished to add an Overstory tree layer, you would need to first check the Present box to enable the row for editing and enter all required values. Similarly, if you wished to remove the secondary herb layer for that same fuelbed, you would click on the Herb -> Secondary Layer tab and uncheck the Present box. The row becomes disabled and is highlighted in red. To restore values, simply check the Present box. Once you save fuelbed changes, however, the original values will be permanently erased.

Input Validation

The fuelbed editor contains minimal input validation. To date, the editor mostly checks if inputs exceed hard limits and contains some error checking of invalid input combinations. Tree inputs, for example, cannot be over 400 feet in height, and height to live crown shouldn't exceed tree height. If your entry exceeds a hard limit or has another validation error, the cell will be outlined in red. If you move the mouse cursor over an input cell highlighted in red, a tool tip will indicate the validation error.

With over 300 possible inputs, care must be taken when editing fuelbeds. Common input errors include:

  • Adding height/depth, percent cover or loading data to a fuel category but missing input species and relative cover.
  • Entering species relative covers but not summing to 100%
  • Overlooking an important total canopy cover input on the Tree: Overstory tab
  • Entering percent cover and height in the Herb stratum but not a loading value.
  • Entering loading values for sound woody fuels but not an overall depth and percent cover.
  • Entering litter dimensions but missing a litter arrangement and type.
  • Entering duff dimensions but missing a duff derivation.

General Tab

Fuelbed Description

Each fuelbed is assigned a fuelbed filename, name and description.

Fuelbed -- Reference fuelbeds that are part of the FFT installation have a simple file naming convention of FB_0001_FCCS or FB_0300_LF to indicate that fuelbeds were either constructed as part of the original FCCS or for LANDFIRE mapping purposes.

Fuelbed name - Along with the file name, each fuelbed has a descriptive name that generally includes the major vegetation type (e.g., Douglas-fir forest).

Fuelbed description -- The fuelbed description generally contains information of where the fuelbed is located, dominant vegetation, and important change agents.

Note: If you choose to customize a fuelbed, it is a good idea, for reference purposes, to include the source fuelbed as part of your fuelbed name (e.g., a customized fuelbed "FB_0004_FCCS" with a name of Douglas-fir forest will have a default filename of FB_0004_FCCSu01.xml and a user-defined fuelbed name of "FB4 Douglas-fir forest with hand piles").

Search Variables

The fuelbed search variables tab contains the five search variables (ecoregion, vegetation form, cover type, change agent and stand structural class) along with three other descriptive fields. Many of the fields allow for multiple inputs. To edit or add data, double click on an input field and then make your selections from the popup dialog box.

  • Ecoregion - Bailey's ecoregion division. Double click to edit.
  • Vegetation form - Type of vegetation. Select one from dropdown list
  • Cover type - SAF or SRM vegetation cover type. Double click to edit.
  • Stand structural class - Forest structural class. Select one from dropdown list.
  • Change agent - Major disturbance or change agent. Double click to edit.

  • Natural fire regime - Natural fire regime (Hann et al. 2004) is recorded as part of the fuelbed description. It is an optional input but has been assigned to all reference fuelbeds.

    Definitions:

    1. 0-35 year frequency and low severity (most commonly associated with surface fires) to mixed severity (in which less than 75% of the dominant overstory vegetation is replaced.)
    2. 0-35 year frequency and high severity (stand replacement; greater than 75% of the dominant overstory vegetation is replaced).
    3. 35-200+ year frequency and mixed severity (<75% of dominant overstory vegetation is replaced).
    4. 35-200+ year frequency and high severity (stand replacement).
    5. 200+ year frequency and high severity (stand replacement).

  • Condition class - Fuelbeds can be assigned a fire regime condition class including:

    Class 1: Fire regimes are within the natural (historical) range, and the risk of losing key ecosystem components is low. Vegetation attributes (species composition, structure and pattern) are intact and functioning within the natural (historical) range.

    Class 2: Fire regimes have been moderately altered from their natural (historical) range. Risk of losing key ecosystem components is moderate. Fire frequencies have departed from natural frequencies by one or more return intervals (either increased or decreased). This results in moderate changes to one or more of the following: fire size, intensity and severity, and landscape patterns. Vegetation and fuel attributes have been moderately altered from the natural (historical) range.

    Class 3: Fire regimes have been substantially altered from their natural (historical) range. The risk of losing key ecosystem components is high. Fire frequencies have departed from natural frequencies by multiple return intervals. Dramatic changes occur to one or more of the following: fire size, intensity, severity and landscape patterns. Vegetation attributes have been substantially altered from their natural (historical) range.

    Reference: https://www.frames.gov/files/7313/8388/1679/FRCC_Guidebook_2010_final.pdf

  • Data quality ranking - Reference fuelbeds were created from published literature, grey literature, online databases and expert opinion (Riccardi et al. 2007). A data quality ranking is assigned to each of the reference fuelbeds and indicates the level to which fuelbeds have been created from published values.

    1. No data (no hard numbers for any data value)-created from experience and/or ecological literature
    2. Partial data-less than 35% of mode inputs from literature, photo series, or peer-reviewed data source
    3. Partial data-35-85% of mode inputs from literature, photo series, or peer-reviewed data source
    4. Data driven-85-100% of inputs from photo series or peer-reviewed data source
    5. Data driven-85-100% of all data (min, max, mode) from photo series or peer-reviewed data source

Reference: Riccardi, C.L., Ottmar, R.D., Sandberg, D.V., Andreu, A., Elman, E., Kopper, K., and Long, J. 2007. The fuelbed: a key element of the fuel characteristic classification system. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 37(12): 2394-2412.

Stratum Tabs

Canopy Stratum

The canopy stratum has three categories including trees, snags and ladder fuels. Canopy variables are on the second tab on the FCCS editor. Many fuelbeds are missing canopy layers or, in the case of some grassland and shrub lands, may be missing a canopy stratum altogether. In these cases, some or all panels are grayed out, and the Present button is unchecked. A tool tip with the name of each stratum or category appears as you position your mouse on each sub tab, including:

  • Overstory (tree ): Uppermost canopy layer, including emergent, dominant and codominant trees.
  • Midstory (tree ): Intermediate canopy layer, including trees below the overstory and above the understory.
  • Understory (tree ): Lowermost canopy layer including seedlings, saplings and other small trees.
  • Class 1 Foliage (snag ): Recently-dead conifers that still have most of their foliage in addition to bark, branches and tree top.
  • Class 1 (snag ): Recently-dead trees that still have bark, branches and top intact.
  • Class 2 (snag ): Snags that have shed fine branches but retain coarse branches and bark.
  • Class 3 (snag ): Snags with extensive heartwood decay and that no longer have bark, branches or a tree top.
  • Ladder Fuels: Ladder fuels can provide vertical continuity between surface fuels and crown fuels and contribute to torching and crowning potentials. In forests where ladder fuels are present, you can enter ladder fuel type, minimum and maximum height and specify if there is vertical continuity between the lower strata and canopy,.

Editing tips:

  • If your fuelbed has only one tree canopy layer, enter it in the Overstory and unclick the Present checkbox in the Midstory and Understory.
  • Total canopy cover is input on the Tree - Overstory tab and represents the total cover of all canopy layers by ground projection.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Cover

Percentage cover by crown projection in each canopy layer.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Height

Height of vegetation in each canopy layer.

Feet
(0-75 ft)

Meters
(0-23 m)

HLC/HLB

Height to Live Crown/Base in each canopy layer.

Feet

Meters

Density

Density of each canopy layer

Stems/acre

Stems/hectare

DBH

Diameter at Breast Height

Inches

Centimeters

Relative cover

Relative cover of species (%) in each canopy layer. Must sum to 100%.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Species

Scientific name.

Shrub Stratum

The shrub stratum describes shrubs in primary and secondary layers.

  • Primary layer: Main shrub layer distinguished by height, form, species composition or any other user-defined characteristic.

  • Secondary layer: Secondary (and optional) vegetation layer.

Editing tips:

  • If shrub strata are covered in needle drape that would be expected to contribute to fire behavior, this is indicated by a "yes" in the needle drape column.
  • If your fuelbed has only one shrub layer, enter it into the primary shrub layer and uncheck the Present button in the secondary shrub layer. You can define the two shrub layers by any number of characteristics including shrub layer height, form, or species composition.
  • Percentage live refers to the percentage of biomass that is live in the shrub layer, not simply the percentage of individuals that are live.
  • Shrub loading is an optional input and is calculated by FCCS if the input remains zero.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Cover

Percentage cover by crown projection in each shrub layer.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Height

Height of vegetation in each shrub layer.

Feet
(0-75 ft)

Meters
(0-23 m)

Percent live

Percentage of biomass that is alive in each shrub layer.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Needle drape

Is the needle drape on the shrub component sufficient to affect the surface fire behavior?

Yes or No

Yes or No

Loading

Optional shrub loading. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons per acre
(0-150 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-336 Mg/ha)

Relative cover

Relative cover of species (%) in each shrub layer. Must sum to 100%.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Species

Scientific name.

 

 

Herb Stratum

The herb stratum describes herbaceous vegetation including grasses, sedges, rushes and forbs in primary and secondary layers. Not all fuelbeds contain an herb stratum or both herb layers.

  • Primary layer - Main vegetation layer distinguished by height, form, species composition or any other user-defined characteristic.
  • Secondary layer - Secondary (and optional) vegetation layer.

Editing tips:

  • If your fuelbed has only one herb layer, enter it into the primary layer and uncheck the Present button in the secondary herbaceous fuels layer.
  • You can define the two herb layers by any number of characteristics including height, form, and/or species composition. For example, forbs and grasses are generally placed in separate layers.
  • Percentage live refers to the percentage biomass that is alive in the stratum, not the percentage of individuals that are alive. Percentage live generally reflects growing season conditions unless the fuelbed is specific to another season.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Cover

Percentage cover in each layer.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Height

Height of vegetation in each layer.

Feet
(0-75 ft)

Meters
(0-23 m)

Percent live

Percentage of biomass that is alive in each herb layer.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Loading

Optional herb loading. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons per acre
(0-150 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-336 Mg/ha)

Relative cover

Relative cover of species (%) in each shrub layer. Must sum to 100%.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Species

Scientific name.

 

 

Wood Stratum - downed and dead wood

The Wood Stratum includes downed and dead wood, stumps and piles. The FCCS surface fire behavior equations rely on cover, depth and loading inputs for fine, sound wood (1-hr, 10-hr, and 100-hr) classes. Other wood categories apply to fuel loading, carbon and consumption/emissions calculations.

Sound wood - downed and dead wood with minimal decay by timelag size class.

Rotten wood - partially decomposed downed and dead wood by timelag size class.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Cover

Percent cover of 1-hr, 10hr and 100-hr sound wood

Percent
(0-100 %)

Percent
(0-100 %)

Depth

Depth of 1-hr, 10-hr, and 100-hr sound wood

Inches
(0-120 in)

Centimeters
(0-305 cm)

1-hr

Loading of ≤ 1 inch sound wood.

Tons per acre
(0-50 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-112 Mg/ha)

10-hr

Loading of >1/4 to ≤1 inch sound wood.

Tons per acre
(0-100 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-448 Mg/ha)

100-hr

Loading of >1 to 3 inch sound wood.

Tons per acre
(0-200 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-448 Mg/ha)

1000-hr

Loading of >3 to 9 inch) sound or rotten wood.

Tons per acre
(0-500 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-1120 tons/ac)

10,000-hr

Loading of >9 to 20 inch sound or rotten wood.

Tons per acre
(0-1000 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-2241 tons/ac)

>10,000-hr

Loading of >20 inch sound and rotten wood.

Tons per acre
(0-1000 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-2241 tons/ac)

Relative cover

Relative cover of species (%) in all sound wood categories.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Scientific name

Scientific name of species in all sound wood categories.

 

 

Wood Stratum - stumps

Sound stumps - stumps with minimal decay.

Rotten stumps - stumps that are partially decomposed.

Lightered/pitchy stumps - stumps that contain concentrations of pitch and other resinous volatiles and burn vigorously.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Height

Height of stumps in each category.

Feet
(0-5 ft)

Meters
(0-1.5 m)

Diameter

Diameter of stumps in each category.

Inches
(0-500 in)

Centimeters
(0-1270 cm)

Density

Number of stumps per unit area in each category.

Stems per acre
(0-50,000/ac)

Stems per hectare
(0 -123,500/ha)

Relative cover

Relative cover of species (%) in all rotten wood categories. Must sum to 100%.

Percentage
(0-100%)

Percentage
(0-100%)

Scientific name

Scientific name of species in each stump category.

 

 

Wood Stratum - piles

Piles are defined as accumulations of woody fuels, including natural fuel accumulations ("jackpots"), hand piles and machine piles. FERA's pile calculator has been incorporated into the Fuelbed Editor to facilitate calculation of pile volume and biomass. On the Pile tab, right-click a fuelbed row to either create/edit or delete pile information. In this example, FB_0004 is highlighted. Right-clicking on the row will open the pile editor (see below).

Piles of the same dimensions are saved as "pile groups." You may specify multiple pile groups to represent the piles within your fuelbed. In this example, three pile groups were added to represent 10 hand piles, 2 landing piles and 5 additional machine piles.

To view edit existing pile group data, double click the row. Hand and machine pile algorithms require different inputs (see table below).

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric
(hard limits)

Pile type

Hand or machine pile calculations are supported. Pile type changes the required inputs based on equation specifications.

 

 

Number of piles

Total number of piles. If you have piles per area, multiply by area to enter the total number.

 

 

Pile shape

Select the option that best represents the shape of your pile group.

 

 

Pile dimensions

The number of required pile dimensions varies by pile shape. W = width, H = Height, and L = Length.

Feet

Meters

Pile composition

Conifer or shrub/hardwood. Applicable to hand piles only.

 

 

Consumption

Percent consumption of piled material. A recommended default is 90%.

Percent
(0-100%)

Percent
(0-100%)

Percent soil

Percentage soil by volume. Applicable to machine piles only.

Percent
(0-100%)

Percent
(0-100%)

Packing ratio

Specify how densely packed the pile is (10% for piles with a lot of air space, 20% for densely packed piles, and 25% for high density piles with large logs). Applicable to machine piles only.

 

 

Pile species composition

Enter a primary and optional secondary species to specify a wood density. Applicable to machine piles only.

Percent
(0-100%)

Percent
(0-100%)

Pile quality

Specify whether the material within the pile is clean, dirty or very dirty. Applicable to machine piles only.

 

 

Litter-Lichen-Moss Stratum

Litter - Top layer of the forest or rangeland floor; composed of loose debris of dead sticks, branches, twigs, dead grass, and recently fallen leaves or needles that has been minimally altered by decomposition.

Lichen - Ground lichens occurring on rocks, bare ground or low vegetation.

Moss - Low-growing bryophytes; usually occurring in moist habitats.

  • Percentage cover and depth are required for each layer.
  • The litter layer requires users to select an overall litter arrangement and enter relative cover by litter type(s).
  • The moss layer requires users to designate a moss type (other moss or sphagnum moss).
  • Loading is an optional input. If left a zero, FCCS will calculate the fuel loading of each layer based on input cover, depth, litter arrangement and type.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Depth

Total depth of litter, lichen or moss layer.

Inches
(0-30 in)

Centimeters
(0-76 in)

Cover

Total percentage cover of litter, lichen or moss layer based on linear coverage.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Loading

Optional fuel loading by layer. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons per acre
(0-150 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-336 Mg/ha)

Litter arrangement

3 arrangements (select one):

  • Normal
  • Fluffy
  • Perched (on grass or forb)

 

 

Litter type

Multiple types can apply:

  • Short needle pine
  • Long needle pine
  • Other conifer
  • Broadleaf deciduous
  • Broadleaf evergreen
  • Palm fronds
  • Grass

 

 

Relative cover

Relative cover of each litter type (%). Must sum to 100%.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Moss type

2 types (select one):

  • Sphagnum moss
  • Other moss (e.g., feathermoss)

 

 

Ground Fuels Stratum - duff

Duff - Partially to fully decomposed organic material between the LLM stratum and mineral soil. Duff is described in two layers: an upper layer representing the Oe soil horizon and a lower layer representing the Oa soil horizon. These layers are also called fermentation and humic layers, respectively, by some fuels specialists and foresters.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Cover

Percentage cover of the upper or lower duff layers based on linear coverage.

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Percentage
(0-100 %)

Depth

Depth of upper or lower duff layer.

Inches
(0-200 in)

Centimeters
(0-508 in)

Type

Upper duff types (select one):

  • Dead moss and litter (upper)
  • Fibric peat (upper)

Lower duff types (select one):

  • Fully decomposed moss & litter (lower)
  • Fully decomposed sphagnum moss & sedge (lower)

 

 

Loading

Optional loading by layer. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons per acre
(0-150 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-336 Mg/ha)

Ground Fuels Stratum - basal accumulations

Basal accumulations are mounds of bark, downed woody debris, litter and duff surrounding tree trunks. The radius of a basal accumulation is measured from the outer edge of the tree trunk to the outer edge of the accumulation.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Depth

Depth of basal accumulation of ground fuels around tree trunks.

Inches
(0-50 in)

Centimeters
(0-127 cm)

Radius

Radius of basal accumulation of ground fuels around tree trunks.

Feet
(0-20 ft)

Meters
(0-6 m)

Density

Number per area of basal accumulations.

Number per acre

(0-50,000)

Number per hectare

(0-127,000)

Type

7 types (select one):

  • bark slough
  • needle litter
  • branches
  • broadleaf evergreen
  • broadleaf deciduous
  • grass
  • palm fronds

 

 

Loading

Optional fuel loading of basal accumulations. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons per acre
(0-150 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-336 Mg/ha)

Ground Fuels Stratum - squirrel middens

Squirrel middens are mounds of cone scales and other cone debris accumulated over time from squirrels extracting seeds. The mounds are composed exclusively of organic matter that can burn for extended periods of time.

Variable

Definition

English Units
(hard limits)

Metric Units
(hard limits)

Depth

Depth of squirrel middens.

Inches
(0-200 in)

Inches
(0-200 in)

Radius

Radius of squirrel middens.

Feet
(0-50 ft)

Meters
(0-15.2 m)

Density

Density of squirrel middens.

#/acre
(0-40/ac)

#/acre
(0-101/ha)

Loading

Optional loading by layer. If left at zero, FCCS will calculate the loading.

Tons/acre
(0-250 tons/ac)

Megagrams per ha
(0-560)

Environmental Variables

Before you run calculations, you need to specify an environmental input scenario. If you have already saved an environmental input scenario, double-click it in the top left box to load those values. Partial entries (e.g., inputs that only pertain to FCCS) are allowed, but Consume requires both FCCS and Consume inputs, and FEPS requires all three panels to be filled out.

Environmental Variables

FCCS Variables

FCCS calculations can be made using the default scenario (FCCS Benchmark Inputs) or from custom inputs.

  • To create a custom scenario for FCCS calculations, enter environmental variables for the FCCS pathway, enter an Environmental Scenario Name, and click the Save Scenario button.
  • A list of 16 pre-loaded fuel moisture (FM) scenarios can be selected by clicking Select FM Scenario link and double-clicking a FM row.

Consume Variables

Consume variables - The Consume calculator requires that selected fuelbeds are saved as a burn unit. If you have not already done so, select the Consume radio button at the top of the Consume panel to open the “Save burn unit?” dialog box. Select OK to open the “Save/edit unit” dialog box. Unit name and size are required inputs.

  • The Consume calculator requires both FCCS and Consume environmental inputs. Click on the Consume radio button to enter inputs for Consume.
  • If any fuelbeds in your burn unit are specified as Activity fuels, you will need to enter additional environmental inputs (days since rain, length of ignition, source of 1000-hr FM, and Harvest within 3 months?)

FEPS Variables

FEPS can use inputs made on the environmental variables screen (Run FEPS) or with (Run FEPS with files).

The environmental inputs in the following table are required for each FEPS run. These parameters represent a 24-hour period for now. FEPS is under active development and will soon be modified to support wildland fire events that span multiple days. Once you enter values for these parameters, those values are used in the weather model to populate the hourly meteorological data. You can modify the hourly meteorological data values.

Advanced FEPS

FEPS users that have FOFEM consumption results or hourly meteorological data may wish to bypass intermediate calculations in FEPS and provide their own intermediate files. To do this, click on the "Run FEPS with Files" button on the Environmental Variables screen. To create sample intermediate files, you can first run FEPS normally (using the Run FEPS button) and then find the files in the c:\FuelFireTools\00_results\feps folder).

The three intermediate files are:

  • Runfeps.csv: contains consumption data (from Consume) and environmental variables inputs
  • Diurnal_out.csv: contains hourly meteorological data, generated from FEPS based on environmental inputs
  • Growth_out.csv:

Results

The FFT Results Screen shows the options for viewing results:

FFT Results

Various views of the calculated results are available in packaged reports and graphs. Both reports and graphs can be printed. NOTE: viewing the pdf reports requires that you have a pdf viewer on your system. There are several free pdf viewers - Adobe reader is popular.

Custom Analysis

All of the calculated results for each calculator are exposed in the tabular output (csv) files. If your needs go beyond our packaged reports and graphs, you can do additional processing in python, R, or any application that understands the csv format.

Run from a Command Prompt

All of the calculators in FFT (FCCS, Consume, and FEPS) can be run from the command line. Get detailed usage instructions by running the application without arguments.

FCCS

FCCS is a Java application and is packaged in a jar file. Location is c:\FuelFireTools\FCCS\fuelbed.jar

C:\FuelFireTools\FCCS>java -jar fuelbed.jar

Error: no input files specified!


*** ============================================================ ***
FCCS Fuel Characteristics Calculator Version: 3.0.259
        This program calculates various fuel characteristics. It can also create
        a fuel loadings file for the Consume fuel consumption and emissions program.

        Options:
                -h, --help:     Help text
                -p, --param:    Specify environmental parameters to the calculator
                                (windspeed, slope, moisture_id, moisture_file)
                -g, --generate:         Generate a Consume fuel loadings file.
                -o, --output_filename:  Specify the name for the results file.
                -d, --dump_heap:        Debugging switch.
                -l, --consume_loadings_filename:        Specify the name for the Consume fuel loadings file.

                The moisture file format is comma separated values (csv) with the following columns:
                        oneHourFM,tenHourFM,hundredHourFM,liveNonWoodyFM,liveShrubFM,crownFM

        Specify any necessary options and the files to process.
        Calculated output goes to "fccs_summary.csv" by default.
        The optional Consume loadings file is "consume_loadings.csv" by default.

        Examples:
                java -jar fuelbed.jar my_fuelbed.xml
                java -jar fuelbed.jar ..\data\fuelbeds\*.xml
                java -jar fuelbed.jar ..\data\fuelbeds\*.xml -o c:\myresults\results.csv
                java -jar fuelbed.jar -p windspeed=10  -p slope=40 ..\data\fuelbeds\*.xml

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Consume

Consume is written in Python. Run it from c:\FuelFireTools\Consume\consume_batch.python

    C:\FuelFireTools\Consume>..\bin\python.exe consume_batch.py
    usage: consume_batch.py [-h] [-f loadings file] [-x output columns]
                            [-l message level] [--metric] [-o output filename]
                            [burn type      (activity | natural)]
                            [input file     csv format]

        Consume predicts fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and heat release
        based on input fuel loadings and environmental variables.  This command
        line interface requires a specified burn type (either activity or natural),
        environmental variables input file (csv format), and fuel loadings file
        (generated by FCCS 3.0, csv format), and.  A sample fuel loadings file
        (fuel_loadings.csv) and environmental inputs file (input.csv) have been
        provided. For more information on FCCS input files and results,
        please see: LINK.

    positional arguments:
      burn type     (activity | natural)
      input file    (csv format)

    optional arguments:
      -h, --help            show this help message and exit
      -f loadings file      Specify the fuel loadings file for consume to use. Run
                            the FCCS batch processor over the fuelbeds for which
                            you want to generate consumption/emission results to
                            create a fuel loadings file.
      -x output columns     Specify the output column configuration file for
                            consume to use
      -l message level      Specify the detail level of messages (1 | 2 | 3). 1 =
                            fewest messages 3 = most messages
      --metric              Indicate that columns should be converted to metric
                            units.
      -o output filename    Specify the name of the Consume output results file.

    Examples:
        // display help (this text)
        python consume_batch.py

        // Simple case, natural fuel types, required input file (uses built-in loadings file)
        python consume_batch.py natural input_natural.csv

        // Specify an alternative loadings file
        consume_batch.exe natural input_natural.csv -f my_loadings.xml

        // Specify a column configuration file. Please see the documentation for details.
        consume_batch.exe activity input_activity.csv -x output_summary.csv

FEPS

FEPS is a C++ application. Run it from c:\FuelFireTools\FEPS_2\feps.exe

C:\FuelFireTools\FEPS_2>feps
FEPS Single Executable : Version - 2.0.200
usage:
    feps <options>

options:
    -b FILE    Basic input file (required scenario#1 and scenario#2)
    -e FILE    Emissions input file (required scenario#1 and scenario#2. Consume can produce this file)
    -i         Flag: if present write intermediate files (optional scenario#1, invalid scenario#2)
    -g FILE    Time profile file (required scenario# 2, invalid scenario#1)
    -d FILE    Diurnal weather file (required scenario# 2, invalid scenario#1)

Fuelbed Converter

Custom fuelbeds created in the stand-alone version of FCCS (version 2.2 or earlier) need to be converted to the FCCS 3.0 format before they can be used in FFT.

C:\FuelFireTools\Tools>java -jar fuelbed_converter.jar

Use to convert FCCS 2.x fuelbeds to the current 3.x format.
Files will first be validated against the 2.x schema. Invalid files will NOT be converted

1.) Navigate to the directory containing the fuelbeds to convert
2.) Invoke the conversion command
3.) Files that have been successfully converted will be in the "000_Output" directory.

An example:
        java -jar fuelbed_converter.jar *.xml

If you have "in between" fuelbeds (newer than version 2 but not version 3) use the "/2" switch
        java -jar fuelbed_converter.jar /2 *.xml

NOTE: this doesn't validate the input files against any schema, it simply tries to apply the appropriate conversions.