Predicting Smoke and Emissions from Prescribed Fires on Deep Organic Soils---Preliminary Results

The management of prescribed fires in areas with deep organic soils poses unique challenges for characterizing and predicting smoke and other emissions. We have undertaken a study to characterize fuel and fire effects on lands with deep organic soils in North Carolina and Virginia. In late 2008 we deployed two weather stations, complete with meteorological and fuel moisture sensors, in two representative sites at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (PLNWR) and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR), both in North Carolina. These weather stations are running continuously and collecting data on an hourly basis. Data from these stations will be presented and correlated with a prescribed burn at the PLNWR.