Estimation of Heat Released from Fire Based on Combustible Load in Inner Mongolian Grasslands

Li Jiang, Wala Du () and Shan Yu
Additional contact information
Li Jiang: Department of Geographical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Wala Du: Institute of Grasslands Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot 010010, China
Shan Yu: School of Geographical Sciences, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: The grasslands of Inner Mongolia are prone to wildfires, which can endanger the grassland ecosystem, as well as people’s lives and property. The amount of heat released by grassland fires must be determined for the quantitative evaluation of grassland fires. On the basis of a field survey of combustible load and an indoor heat release experiment, together with the acquisition of NDVI and fire area data, this study evaluated the amount of combustible load, plant heat release, potential heat release, and fire-caused heat release in Inner Mongolia grasslands. The following results were obtained: (1) The models for determining Inner Mongolia’s combustible load (Y) per unit area throughout the growing and nongrowing seasons were Y i = 412.74NDVI i 1.5917 and Y j = −7.21t j + Y 10 (i represents May–October of the growing season; j represents November–April of the following year). In the northern temperate zones, grasslands and meadows showed a decline in combustible load per unit area. The interannual combustible load variance increased between 2001 and 2016; (2) the per square meter average heat release of Stipa capillata , Cleistogenes squarrosa , Carex doniana , Leymus chinensis , and other plants was 0.51, 0.18, 0.17, 0.3, and 1.42 MJ/g, respectively. Unit weights were released at 2.13, 1.77, 2.06, 1.9, and 3.99 MJ/m 2 ; (3) from 2001 to 2016, Inner Mongolia’s grassland fires predominantly occurred in northern temperate grasslands and meadows. Over the 16 year period, the total heat emission was 1.01 × 10 12 MJ, with variable decreasing trends noted in spring and fall. The main practical objectives of this paper were to provide basic data for fire spread modeling and suggest more scientific and effective fire management methods for the future.

Keywords: surface combustible load; potential heat release; fire heat release; Inner Mongolia grasslands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/11/2099/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/11/2099/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:11:p:2099-:d:979688

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().