U.S.-Brazil Cooperative Research: Biomass Combustion in Brazilian Forest Fires

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Hinckley9908547This US-Brazil award supports a three year collaborative research between Drs. Thomas H. Hinckley, David V. Sandberg, and Ernesto Alvarado, of the University of Washington, and Dr. Joao Andrade de Carvalho of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais for a study of biomass combustion in Brazilian Amazon forest fires. The collaborators will develop a modeling methodology to assess the flaming and smoldering combustion of tropical biomass from slash fires in the Brazilian Amazon forest, and the change in flammability of primary forest adjacent to the deforested clearcuts created for the slash burns. The project consists of combustion measurements of open slash burn from deforested primary forest and laboratory burning of tropical woods in a wind tunnel under controlled environmental conditions. Open controlled fires will be conducted in farms near Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso in the Brazilian Amazon forest. Laboratory experiments will be conducted at the Combustion and Propulsion Laboratory of the Brazil's National Institute of Space Research.This award will lead to the development of fire-danger rating capability for tropical forests and savannahs, better guidelines for controlling the effects of fires in the Amazon Region, and an improved estimate of the carbon released and carbon sequestered by tropical ecosystems. ***