Fuel Moisture Tables
The tables on this page provide guidelines and information on moisture content and curing levels.
Foliar Moisture Content
Foliar moisture content is used in conjunction with canopy base height for each pixel in your landscape to determine the surface to crown fire transition threshold for each pixel.
The below table shows guidelines for estimating live fuel (foliage) moisture content based on Rothermel, 1983:
| Stage of Vegetative Development | Moisture (%) |
|---|---|
| Fresh foliage, annuals developing, early in growing cycle | 300 |
| Maturing foliage, still developing with full turgor | 200 |
| Mature foliage, new growth complete and comparable to older perennial foliage | 100 |
| Entering dormancy, coloration starting, some leaves may have dropped from the stem | 50 |
| Completely cured, treat as dead fuel | 30 |
Live Herbaceous and Live Woody Fuel Moisture
This table presents the percentage of live herbaceous fuel moisture content for different levels of curing based on Scott and Burgan, 2005:
| Curing | Live Herbaceous Fuel Moisture (%) | Live Woody Fuel Moisture (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Uncured | 120 | 150 |
| 1/4 cured | 98 | - |
| 1/3 cured | 90 | 120 |
| 1/2 cured | 75 | - |
| 2/3 cured | 60 | 90 |
| 3/4 cured | 53 | - |
| Fully cured | 30 or less | 60 |
Dead Fuel Moisture
Dead fuel moisture scenarios from Scott and Burgan, 2005:
| Size Class | Very Low | Low | Moderate | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hr. | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 10 hr. | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| 100 hr. | 5 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
