The Energy Release Component (ERC) is an NFDRS
(National Fire Danger Rating System) index related to how
hot a fire could burn. It is directly related to the 24-hour,
potential worst case, total available energy (BTUs) per unit area
(in square feet) within the flaming front at the head of a fire.
The ERC can serve as a good characterization
of fire season as it tracks seasonal fire danger trends well.
The ERC is a function of the fuel model and live and dead fuel
moistures. Fuel loading, woody fuel moistures, and larger fuel
moistures all have an influence on the ERC, while the lighter
fuels have less influence and wind speed has none. ERC has low
variability, and is the best fire danger component for indicating
the effects of intermediate to long-term drying on fire behavior
(if it is a significant factor) although it is not intended for
use as a drought index.
Charts from each Forest Service representative
weather station are arranged generally from the northern part
of the Geographic Area to the southern part. Representative stations
are those weather stations which represent the fire danger conditions
on the Forest Unit, and most stations contain at least twenty
years of historical weather data. Data collected prior to 1972
is not used in these analyses due to an issue with the relative
humidity measurements before that time.
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