The objective of this Statement of Need was to improve understanding of ignition patterns, self-organization of convective structures, and near-fire smoke plume development for the purpose of improving management of fire for military land-use.

Specific research objectives included:

• Improve understanding of physical fire processes at spatial and temporal scales relevant to the processes being examined,
• Improve characterization of fuels as to composition, load, spatial scale, and distribution in three physical dimensions and over time scales relevant to the phenomena to be examined, and
• Improved characterization of fuel material consumption and other fire effects under diverse conditions.

Proposers were asked to specifically state the rationale for their research approach, describe their understating of current practice, and explain how their approach would result in new insight into fire phenomena. Expected research outcomes were required to be discussed in the context of current fire science and management strategy including potential benefits with respect to Department of Defense management needs. Research efforts which integrated the three specific research objectives stated above were favored. Research efforts should have sought to leverage other concurrent national efforts such as the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment, Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment, and the NASA wildland fire tropospheric chemistry project research programs. Proposers should have also demonstrated a knowledge of the SERDP Fire Science Strategy: Resource Conservation and Climate Change (September 2014), relevant current and past SERDP research efforts, and place their proposed research within the context of the SERDP strategy and current national research efforts. To the extent that modeling was proposed, a model validation scheme and approach to the incorporation of the resultant model into current tools was required to be explicitly described.

Funded projects will appear below as project overviews are posted to the website.