Predicting Fire Severity Using Surface Fuels and Moisture

Fire severity classifications have been used extensively in fire management over the last 30 years to describe specific environmental or ecological impacts of fire on fuels, vegetation, wildlife, and soils in recently burned areas. New fire severity classifications need to be more objective, predictive, and ultimately more useful to fire management and planning. Our objectives were to (1) quantify the relationships between fuel loading and moisture characteristics of surface fuels and the t...