Experimental fire provides knowledge about damage after forest fires
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 09:37
in Earth & Climate
An experimental fire that was deliberately set in Portugal last Friday has provided Wageningen University researchers in the Netherlands with the first information about the soil erosion that occurs after forest fires. A research team set fire to 10 ha of heathland under controlled conditions. The experiment is not only important for areas in the Mediterranean that have burned or are threatened with fire, but also for Australia, where it is expected that the drinking water supply will be threatened following the recent forest fires. The first measurements in Portugal have shown that the flames reached searing temperatures of up to 900 C...