We evaluated the potential of a fiber optic cable connected to distributed temperature sensing (DTS) technology to characterize rangeland fire behavior in real time. We used a 'fire cable' containing three optic fibers coated with three different materials designed to protect the fiber. The 150-m long cable was deployed in grasslands and burned in three prescribed fires. The cable was arranged to allow comparison between head, back and flank fire conditions. Thermocouples were placed at selected locations along the cable for temperature comparison against DTS measurements. Results indicated the fire cable when used with DTS technology can quantify temperature, heat duration, and potentially rate of spread. A similar temperature response curve between fire cable and thermocouple was observed during the rising limb, but the metal armoring of the fire cable remained hot longer than the thermocouples after the flames had passed. This technology allowed for continuous fire temperature distribution mapping, a phenomenon that is difficult to otherwise quantify without this technology. These results add understanding of DTS and fire cable technology as a new method for characterizing and mapping real-time rangeland fire behavior conditions.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.