Influences on stakeholder support for a wildfire early warning system in a UK protected area

Projected increases in wildfire risk and impacts to human populations in the UK have prompted the installation of expanded management approaches such as early warning systems (EWSs). Newer iterations of wildfire EWSs help mitigate risk through rapid detection, often using high-resolution monitoring technology and instantaneous information collection. While existing research suggests that local social context plays an important role in the effective application of EWSs, little is known about factors that contribute to stakeholder support for these technocratic systems and their successful implementation in protected areas. This study examines support for an EWS in Northumberland National Park, UK, using focus groups with a broad range of local stakeholders. We found that diverse stakeholder understandings of wildfire, different perceptions of wildfire risk, and varied identification of values at risk collectively help explain mixed support for the EWS. Mixed support also was an outgrowth of distrust between several stakeholder groups, indicating a need for improved communication regarding wildfire risk management across stakeholder groups. Results suggest that EWSs adopted in multi-use protected areas shared by a range of stakeholder are most likely to be successful when stakeholders have shared understandings of the hazard and opportunities for collective planning to address its risks. We conclude that EWSs are a viable approach to wildfire risk reduction, but there needs to be a critical consideration of pre-existing stakeholder dynamics for effective EWS implementation.     

It’s All in the Numbers: Acreage Tallies and Environmental Program Evaluation

Increasingly, performance measurement is being used to hold federal agencies accountable, represent environmental progress, and evaluate the effectiveness of environmental programs. The need to track measurable outputs has created a tendency to present programmatic progress solely by quantifiable data, despite the inherent complexity of natural resource management. Wetlands and fire management programs are two specific environmental arenas that have come to overemphasize the tracking of acreage numbers to validate existing policy direction. In both of these arenas, we find the definition and categorization of "countable" acres to be inconsistent and unreliable. We explore this systemic flaw for both wetlands and fire programs and describe its implications for environmental policy and natural resource management more broadly. We conclude with recommendations for improved performance measurement in these arenas.     

Flame Propagation Across Gelled Alkane-In-Water Emulsions

Flame propagation rates were measured for flames spreading across surfaces of gel-like alkane-in-water emulsions. A long, slender, water-cooled trough was used to contain the mixtures. Abrupt changes in the flame propagation velocities - of nearly two orders of magnitude - were observed to occur near ‘critical’ concentrations of certain alkane/water mixtures. Four alkanes were used - pentane, hexane, heptane, and octane - and fuel rich emulsions (in which water was the continuous phase) were employed. The ability of the aqueous phase of the emulsion to inhibit the release of fuel into the vapor phase plays an important role in the observed behavior. That is, the rate at which fuel can diffuse through both the emulsion and the thin liquid layers that reside on it, is an essential kinetic aspect of the phenomena which determine the flame propagation rate across gelled alkane-in-water emulsions.     

Forest Stand Dynamics and Livestock Grazing in Historical Context

Abstract:  Livestock grazing has been implicated as a cause of the unhealthy condition of ponderosa pine forest stands in the western United States. An evaluation of livestock grazing impacts on natural resources requires an understanding of the context in which grazing occurred. Context should include timing of grazing, duration of grazing, intensity of grazing, and species of grazing animal. Historical context, when and under what circumstances grazing occurred, is also an important consideration. Many of the dense ponderosa pine forests and less-than-desirable forest health conditions of today originated in the early 1900s. Contributing to that condition was a convergence of fire, climate, and grazing factors that were unique to that time. During that time period, substantially fewer low-intensity ground fires (those that thinned dense stands of younger trees) were the result of reduced fine fuels (grazing), a substantial reduction in fires initiated by Native Americans, and effective fire-suppression programs. Especially favorable climate years for tree reproduction occurred during the early 1900s. Exceptionally heavy, unregulated, unmanaged grazing by very large numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries occurred in most of the U.S. West and beginning earlier in portions of the Southwest. Today, livestock numbers on public lands are substantially lower than they were during this time and grazing is generally managed. Grazing then and grazing now are not the same.     

浅海平台油气火灾事故模拟评估应用

全球海洋油气开发重特大火灾事故频发,油气生产安全面临严峻挑战,以我国浅海某中心平台组为研究对象,对可能发生的三相分离器喷射火火灾、管线交叉处喷射火火灾、生产平台池火火灾以及储罐平台池火火灾,采用FDS软件建立该平台组的火灾动力学模型,对油气泄漏后火灾的发展态势、火场温度、热辐射强度、设备温度以及不同火灾工况的对比分析,研究火灾发生后对人员伤害,以及平台上油气管线、分离器、油气储罐、平台栈桥等重要设备安全性的影响,并提出操作人员和重要设备的安全距离。针对火灾事故风险控制提出建议措施,对海上火灾风险分析未来研究方向进行阐述。     

1993-2003年特大火灾发生规律、特征及原因分析

火灾作为一种灾害现象,其发生与发展具有随机性和确定性的双重特性.火灾统计分析是研究火灾随机性规律的一种有效方法,它通过总结、整理和分析大量的原始火灾资料,归纳出火灾发生的统计性规律.本文从1993-2003年我国火灾形势着手,联系火灾形势发展过程中的火灾起数、火灾中人员伤亡和直接财产损失等大量数据,重点分析了特大火灾的原因及类别特征,总结了特大火灾发生发展的规律和趋势,为正确认识和预测我国火灾形势、做好特大火灾的预防工作提供了参考.     

基于单体对象的城市区域火灾风险评价方法研究

从分析城市区域内单体对象自身的致灾因素及其制约灭火抢险救援力量发挥的环节入手,基于指数法和层次分析法建立了单体对象火灾风险评价指标体系.以单体对象火灾风险向量为基础,基于线性加权模型构建了一种新的区域火灾风险评价计算模型,并以树形结构表征了区域火灾风险评价结构.试点地区实例表明,该方法能够有效地评价城市区域火灾风险.     

外浮顶储罐泡沫灭火设施的选型

分析了外浮顶储罐火灾危险性及火灾类型,对目前泡沫灭火设施在外浮顶储罐中的应用及存在的问题进行阐述,建议外浮顶储罐的泡沫灭火设施采用边缘泡沫消防系统.     

插板对正庚烷油池火燃烧行为的影响研究

海上石油泄漏常规的处理方法是原位燃烧,加速其燃烧并使其燃尽是降低其对生态环境影响的重要措施之一。以正庚烷为燃料,在油池内插入竖直铝板,研究不同高度铝板对池火燃烧行为的影响。结果表明,插板对池火燃烧速率以及火焰高度具有明显的增强作用,随着板的高度的增加,增强作用先增大后减小,当H_p/D(板高与油池直径之比)为3.5时,增强作用最大。火焰高度、板的温度、热通量以及燃烧速率的变化趋势一致,它们的临界点均在H_p/D=3.5附近。插板后燃烧速率增大主要是因为插板自身的热传导导致了燃料的核态沸腾,使燃料接受的热反馈增大,从而加快了燃料的蒸发,增大了燃烧速率。     

隧道内偏置火源顶棚近壁面温度边界层效应研究

基于隧道火灾不同横向火源位置的非对称卷吸影响,通过模拟计算分析了中心火源和偏置火源产生的烟气沿纵向最大温升变化规律,研究了顶棚下方近壁面区域内的不同温度分布,提出偏置火源纵向空间最大顶棚温升公式。结果表明:在壁面黏性作用下,沿纵向蔓延的烟气最高温度在顶棚下方呈现“温度边界层”分布;随着火源位置的偏移,下游出现偏置距离起主导作用影响温度衰减的区域,衰减速度相较于中心火源逐渐降低;火源下游近壁面最高温度位置逐渐远离顶棚后趋于稳定。研究结果对于排烟方式的设计以及空间通风效果的提升有着重要意义。