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Author(s):
Christine Stalling, Robert E. Keane
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fuels
Fuels Inventory & Monitoring

NRFSN number: 22113
Record updated:

The photoload technique provides a quick and accurate means of estimating the loadings of six wildland fuel components including 1 hr, 10 hr, 100 hr, and 1,000 hr downed dead woody, shrub, and herbaceous fuels. It involves visually comparing fuel loading conditions observed in the field with a set of photographed sequences to estimate fuel loadings; the photo sequences are a series of downward-looking oblique photographs depicting a series of graduated fuel loadings of synthetic fuelbeds for each of the six fuel components. The photoload technique has been implemented into multiple inventory and fuel monitoring projects worldwide. However, the original set of photo sequences are somewhat limited in that the fine woody fuel loading sequences were created using only Douglas-fir woody particles, and only seven shrub and four herbaceous species that are common to the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains are available for estimating shrub and herbaceous loading. To increase the accuracy and functionality of the photoload method in other geographic areas, new sequences must be created for more localized fine woody, shrub, and herbaceous fuel components specific to that area. This report details a procedure on how to create a set of photoload sequences in the field with minimal effort.

Citation

Stalling, Christine M.; Keane, Robert E. 2020. Creating photographic loading sequences in the field for the photoload sampling technique. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-416. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 41 p.