Fire spread experiments in the field: Temperature and heat fluxes measurements

A measurement device dedicated to the experimental study of wildland fires is presented in this paper. It consists of a thermocouple and two heat flux gauges (radiant and total) fixed on an insulated support. Some data were obtained in the field during a series of four fire spread experiments conducted across various vegetative fuels, ranging from pine needle bed to shrub. The measurement device was located at the top of the vegetation, in the centre of the plots, and data were collected during fire spread in the preheating, flaming and charring regions. The uncertainties of the temperature and heat fluxes measurements, due to radiation or convection, are evaluated. For this range of experiments and in the limit of one-point measurement, radiation from flames is the dominant heat transfer process in the preheating region.