Natural indicators on ground operations

It exists some natural caracteristics that enable to identify natural indicators about the dryness or weather conditions without technical tools.

Soil desiccation is one natural indicator of the leak of water in the soil. The deeper the drought, the more important this marker is visible.

In addition of the leak of water available for the plants, the soil increase in temperature leading the fire to cause severe damage in depth. If rain comes, the soil could be washed away and get eroded.

Dust is a clear vision of the dryness of the soil. The more important the drought is, and the more dust will be put in the air after a vehicle, person, animal passage.

Water withdrawal is a critical indicator of severe drought. It indicates that evaporation rate is superior to rainfall witch can lead, it the water resource is not managed, to hydrological crisis.

The touch and cracking of the surface bedding indicates the dryness of the fine fuel, the one that will ignite first in case of a fire.

The more dry is the material, the more it cracks under pressure. If you hear crackling under your shoes while walking in the forest, it might give you a clear indice that the material you are walking on is ready to burn.

Of course, this litter fuel is more receptive to meteorological changez (humidity, rainfall) and can also charge rapidly in humidity as well as dry out fast.

The russeting of pine needles as well as the wilting of the leaves indicate a state of slowing down of the tree's biological system. This may be due to the climate, with long periods of drought, or to insect or parasite attacks. Each species has a different response to these stresses, so it is important that you can visually determine what these signs mean.

You don't have a device to know the wind direction. No problem, use a rubalise and point it north. The wind will guide you.This can help on the field.

Clouds are natural indicators of the stability of the atmoshpere. Cumulus can indicate you unstable air while cirrus cloud, stable air.

The more the clouds grow and tend to get higher, the more unstable the air mass is, which can lead to loss of fire control.

Beaufort scale can also give you some visual details to estimate the wind force and anticipate consequences on the ground if a fire breaks out.

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