Relationship Between Palmer's Drought Severity Index and the Moisture Index of Woody Debris in the Southern Coastal Plain

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  • Authors: Haywood, James D.; Stagg, Richard H.; Tiarks, Allan E.
  • Publication Year: 2004
  • Publication Series: Miscellaneous Publication
  • Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 39-43

Abstract

After the 1998 through 2000 drought in Louisiana, some prescribed burns had uncommonly severe fire behavior. A significant portion of the consumed fuels most likely were larger material normally unavailable for burning. Therefore at sites in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, we studied the relationship between Palmer’s Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and the drying rate of 3- to 12-inch-diameter woody fuels, expressed as resistance of fuel moisture to electrical current in kiloPascals. Woody fuels dried as drought severity increased. Once the drought abated in Novem-ber 2000, fuel moisture indexes rose but not as quickly as PDSI. Although there is a general relationship between drought condition and drying of large-diameter fuels 1 year after the drought ended, large fuels had not sufficiently rewetted and remained available for burning in the event of a wildfire or prescribed burn.

  • Citation: Haywood, James D.; Stagg, Richard H.; Tiarks, Allan E. 2004. Relationship Between Palmer''s Drought Severity Index and the Moisture Index of Woody Debris in the Southern Coastal Plain. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 39-43
  • Posted Date: April 1, 1980
  • Modified Date: August 22, 2006

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