Dimension, volume, and biomass data for hand-piled fuels in California and Washington

Land managers and air quality regulators need a tool to accurately and efficiently estimate the biomass and emissions from burning of hand-piled fuels as pile burning becomes a more widespread and common practice for treating high fire hazard areas with surface fuels in excess of desired levels. This data publication contains dimensions, volume, and biomass measurements of hand-constructed piles of different types of debris, with a variety of shapes and sizes, in forest and woodland areas in Washington and California. Study sites include the Sequoia National Forest, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, and the Los Padres National Forest where sample sites were typical of hand-piling operations in the West. Data include measurements, taken in 2008, of 121 hand-constructed piles composed primarily of coniferous (n=63) and shrub/hardwood (n=58) material.
Our objective was to quantify the relationships between pile composition, pile size, and pile biomass by measuring and weighing hand-constructed piles composed of different types of debris (i.e., conifer, shrub, and hardwood) with a variety of shapes and sizes.
Original metadata date was 05/01/2015. Minor metadata updates on 12/15/2016.