Prescribed Burn Consumption Tonnes Per Unit Area

Difference matched pre/post dry-load measurements with physical area weights, retaining negative apparent consumption rather than clipping measurement/background changes; not a prescribed-burn recipe.

Description

Matched pre/post dry-load measurements estimate fuel consumption over represented areas.

Matched pre/post dry-load measurements estimate fuel consumption over represented areas. A negative apparent difference can expose measurement or background changes instead of being clipped.^[1]

When to use Prescribed Burn Consumption Tonnes Per Unit Area

Use this tool to difference matched pre/post dry-load measurements with physical area weights, retaining negative apparent consumption rather than clipping measurement/background changes; not a prescribed-burn recipe.

Gather the tree inventory, plot measurements or model parameters. Check diameter, area, time and moisture conventions; keep paired observations aligned.

How to use Prescribed Burn Consumption Tonnes Per Unit Area and understand its results

Gather the tree inventory, plot measurements or model parameters. Check diameter, area, time and moisture conventions; keep paired observations aligned.
Enter preBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2, postBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2, representedAreasM2 using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read consumedDryMassTonnes, consumedDryTonnesPerHa, signedConsumedLoadKgPerM2. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
preBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2	Pre burn dry loads kg per m2	list of number	Required
postBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2	Post burn dry loads kg per m2	list of number	Required
representedAreasM2	Represented areas m2	list of number	Required

Pair nonnegative dry loads with positive represented m². Return signed local consumption, total tonnes after dividing kg by 1000 and tonnes/ha using 10 × pooled kg/m².

Paired lists must be nonempty and have equal lengths.

consumed mass kg=Σ(before kg/m²−after kg/m²) × area m²

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
consumedDryMassTonnes	Consumed dry mass tonnes	number
consumedDryTonnesPerHa	Consumed dry tonnes per ha	number
signedConsumedLoadKgPerM2	Signed consumed load kg per m2	list of number

json

{
  "input": {
    "preBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2": [
      1,
      2
    ],
    "postBurnDryLoadsKgPerM2": [
      0.5,
      1.5
    ],
    "representedAreasM2": [
      100,
      200
    ]
  },
  "output": {
    "consumedDryMassTonnes": 0.15,
    "consumedDryTonnesPerHa": 5,
    "signedConsumedLoadKgPerM2": [
      0.5,
      0.5
    ]
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Negative consumption remains visible. This is observed accounting rather than a burn prescription.

Numeric inputs and returned numeric values must be finite; an unrepresentable returned value produces an error. Numeric lists are limited to 100,000 entries; the rules above may require smaller limits. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use PM2.5 Smoke Emission Per Ton Burned: Aggregate distinct measured consumed dry fuel classes and caller PM2.5 mass emission factors; grams/kg equals kg/tonne, and emitted mass is not dispersion, exposure or air-quality safety. For a complementary task, use Byram Fireline Intensity kW/m: Compute Byram heat-yield×consumed-fuel×front-spread fireline intensity using supplied dry fuel consumption, not full fuel load or a fire-danger/response recommendation.

References

Prescribed Burn Consumption Tonnes Per Unit Area — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

PM2.5 Smoke Emission Per Ton Burned
Aggregate distinct measured consumed dry fuel classes and caller PM2.5 mass emission factors; grams/kg equals kg/tonne, and emitted mass is not dispersion, exposure or air-quality safety.
Byram Fireline Intensity kW/m
Compute Byram heat-yield×consumed-fuel×front-spread fireline intensity using supplied dry fuel consumption, not full fuel load or a fire-danger/response recommendation.