A simple index for assessing fuel moisture content

Abstract

Assessing fuel moisture content to within a reasonable degree of accuracy is an important part of wildland fire management. In this paper we introduce a fuel moisture index that provides a simple and intuitive method for assessing fuel moisture content. The method can be quickly and easily applied in a field setting to provide a dimensionless measure of fuel moisture content. We compare the index with predictions from several models for fuel moisture content and conclude that it provides an equivalent measure of fuel moisture content for a number of fuel types. We go on to briefly discuss how the index could be used to construct a simple and intuitive fire danger index.