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Project Vesta: Fire in Dry Eucalypt Forest: Fuel Structure, Fuel Dynamics and Fire Behaviour
Project Vesta Fire in Dry Eucalypt Forest Fuel Structure Fuel Dynamics and Fire Behaviour Author:John Gould, W. L. McCaw, N. P. Cheney, P. F. Ellis, I. K. Knight, A. L. Sullivan Project Vesta was a comprehensive research project to investigate the behavior and spread of high-intensity bushfires in dry eucalypt forests with different fuel ages and understorey vegetation structures. The project was designed to quantify age-related changes in fuel attributes and fire behavior in dry eucalypt forests typical of southern Aus... more »tralia.
The four main scientific aims of Project Vesta were:
* To quantify the changes in the behavior of fire in dry eucalypt forest as fuel develops with age (i.e. time since fire)
* To characterize wind speed profiles in forest with different overstorey and understorey vegetation structure in relation to fire behavior
* To develop new algorithms describing the relationship between fire spread and wind speed, and fire spread and fuel characteristics including load, structure and height
* To develop a National Fire Behavior Prediction System for dry eucalypt forest
These aims have been addressed through a program of experimental burning and associated studies at two sites in the south-west of Western Australia.« less