Vietnam War: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon - Paperless Archives

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CLIMATE MI-HUYL
MILD WINTER; HUMID YEARLONG
Semi-tropical, cool tropical, subtropical. warm marine, and warm continental climates-from virtually frostfree
to occasional frost in most years-having no D" months and "B" months. Examples are:
Precipitation No. of Months Yearly Humidity Values
Location Pattern "H" "r D""' (+-)
Miami. Florida Humid 6 0 0 +268 0
Brisbane. Aust. Monsoon 8 0 0 +218 0
Bogota. Colonmbia Humid 7 0 0 +146 0
New Orleans, La. Humid 11 0 0 +287 0
P. Macquarie. Aust. Humid 12 0 0 +343 0
Sydney. Aust. Humid I I 0 0 +333 0
Pensacola. Fla. Humid 12 0 0 +234 0
Houston, Texas Steppe 8 0 0 +146 0
Charleston, S.C. Humid 8 0 0 +209 0
Temperature: Evergreen woody plants and most grasses grow throughout the winter. Under continental climate-with
more frost many woody plants are deciduous.
Precipitation: Not limiting under humid pattern, but plant growth may be restricted for short periods each year
under monsoon or steppe pattern. Steppe pattern limits the abundance of woody vegetation.
M•ojr velpttion typ•s: Tropical and subtropical hardwood forest; or deciduous forest under continental climate.
Prairie or woodland under steppe precipitation pattern. Man-made secondary forests and savana also occur.
Ground-story vegetation: Tree seedlings, woody vines, scattered shrubs and grasses, and plants such as palmetto.
Grass is dominant under steppe precipitation pattern.
Amount: Relatively low in dry weight.
Moisture content: High most of year.
Litter layer: Mainly current leaf fall. Little accumulation of dead woody material.
Total available fuel weight on a good burning day: 0.13 pounds per square foot.
Burn days: No burn season; best odds during period, or periods, of lowest monthly rainfall.
Desiccation needs: Must remove forest canopy and kill understory plants for successful burning. Use either foliar
sprays or an application of pellets to the soil.
Foliar sprays: Apply a defoliant spray at least 6 months ahead of the planned burning date. If a second spray
is needed, wait at least 6 weeks and apply a repeat spray on the exposed under-story. On each date, apply the
following mix.are per acre:
i
8 lbs., a.e., of 1:1 mix of 2,4-D) and 2,4,5-T plus 2 lbs., a.e., of pieloam ester, both combined in diesel
oil to make 5 gallons of total mixture.
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