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

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(IIM-AIF ( Hl•Nt1
( Wl WIIi% ft. 0%-ft1 WMID. I .-M; BURN SIAYSON
Subtropi•al. %arm tempetate. and warm coainepri |limates, icasauna1 to cttenmam winter frilts having lowi
to moderate t+) value-N a,'
It f-) values lot the year. or at teast 5 -B- months. Examples are:
Precipitation No. o; Months Yearly Humidity Values
Location Pattern "H D "B' 1+1 t-J
Palma de Mallorca. Sp. Medit. 5 3 6 +17 -3t
Athcns. Gfecce Medit 4 4 7 +41 -5
Sal Jose. Calf. Medit. 3 ft 7 +58 -38
Sacramento. Calif Medit. 4 5 6 +73 -44
Bahia Blanca. Argen. Steppe 0 6 7 + 7 -14
Fresno. (alit. Medit. 1 8 8 +15 -64
Granada. Spain Medit. 5 5 6 +28 -40
Abilene. Texas Steppe 0 8 6 +20 -15
Madrid, Spain Media 3 4 5 +27 -30
Temperature: Limiting during winter, but many woody species and grasses grow through the winter.
Precipitavion: Restrictive most of year: extremely so during dry. hot summer.
Majorveejtation t ypes: Semi-dense to dense stands of thick-leaved shrubs. Desert shrub in driest pcrtion. Grasslandlike
vegetation under steppe pattern.
Ground-story vegetation: Shrubs in dense stands of woody vegetation. Grasses and semi-shrubs in open desert
shrub and grassland.
* Amount: Heavy to moderate dry weight in dense shrub stands. Low in desert shrub and grassland types.
Moisture content: Drops during long dry season. Shrubs retain 70-80 percent of dry weight: grasses. 5-10
percent.
Litter layer: Thin layer accumulates under dense shrub stands. many dead stems in the shrubs caused by frequent
draught years. Light litter from current leaf growth in grassland or desert shrub types.
Total available fuel weight on a good burning day: 0.28 pounds per square foot.
Burn days: Long dependable burning season.
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Desiccation needs: Dry grass and dead woody material will bum readily during the dry season. But removal of
all woody vegetation under normal burning weather requires desiccation with a foliar spray or an application
of pellets to the soil. Under extreme weather, intense fires may burn out of control aMn present a major hazard.
ISECRET 3.10