45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d English ISO/IEC 8859-1 (also known as Latin 1) dataset dataset NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg Lancaster LA1 4AP UK info@eidc.ac.uk https://eidc.ac.uk/ EIDC website The Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) is the UK's national data centre for terrestrial and freshwater sciences. information pointOfContact 2026-03-03T15:12:49 UK GEMINI 2.3 OSGB 1936 / British National Grid Flammability metrics from cone calorimetry for common wildfire fuels sampled in Great Britain from 2021-2023 2026-03-02 publication https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d 10.5285/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d doi: Belcher, C.M., Baker, S.J., Clay, G.D., Crawford, A.J., Doerr, S.H., Elliott, A., Ivison, K., Kettridge, N., Little, K., Morison, J.I.L., Nikonovas, T., Orpin, A., Tatkiewicz, W., Vitali, R. (2026). Flammability metrics from cone calorimetry for common wildfire fuels sampled in Great Britain from 2021-2023. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre 10.5285/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d This dataset contains flammability metrics for fuel types that are commonly involved in wildfires in the UK. Flammability data were obtained by cone calorimetry, and include measures of ignitibility (time to ignition), peak heat release rate, total heat release, and effective heat of combustion. The dataset contains the results of 1634 tests on 833 fuel samples, with 801 of these being tested in duplicate. Samples were obtained between January 2021 and October 2023 from 22 sites across Great Britain. Calorimetry data are matched to weather data obtained at times of sampling, and fuel moisture contents obtained by weighing samples before and after drying. The data will be used to assess comparative fire risk between vegetation types, and to refine inputs for fire behaviour modelling. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d Alastair Crawford University of Exeter a.j.crawford2@exeter.ac.uk pointOfContact Belcher, C.M. University of Exeter c.belcher@exeter.ac.uk author Baker, S.J. University of Exeter s.baker@exeter.ac.uk author Clay, G.D. University of Manchester gareth.clay@manchester.ac.uk author Crawford, A.J. University of Exeter a.j.crawford2@exeter.ac.uk author Doerr, S.H. Swansea University s.doerr@swansea.ac.uk author Elliott, A. Universty of Exeter andy@wildfiretac.com author Ivison, K. University of Birmingham katy_ivison@yahoo.co.uk author Kettridge, N. University of Birmingham n.kettridge@bham.ac.uk author Little, K. University of Birmingham k.e.little@bham.ac.uk author Morison, J.I.L. Forest Research james.morison@forestresearch.gov.uk author Nikonovas, T. Swansea University tadas.nikonovas@swansea.ac.uk author Orpin, A. University of Birmingham alice.orpin@gmail.com author Tatkiewicz, W. University of Exeter W.Tatkiewicz@exeter.ac.uk author Vitali, R. University of Exeter rvitali@envs.au.dk author University of Exeter EMAIL NOT PROVIDED owner NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre info@eidc.ac.uk publisher NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre info@eidc.ac.uk custodian Environmental Monitoring Facilities theme GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Environmental risk Phenology flammability fuel moisture wildfire heat release heat content heat of combustion cone calorimetry ignitibility Great Britain otherRestrictions no limitations otherRestrictions This resource is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence otherRestrictions If you reuse this data, you should cite: Belcher, C.M., Baker, S.J., Clay, G.D., Crawford, A.J., Doerr, S.H., Elliott, A., Ivison, K., Kettridge, N., Little, K., Morison, J.I.L., Nikonovas, T., Orpin, A., Tatkiewicz, W., Vitali, R. (2026). Flammability metrics from cone calorimetry for common wildfire fuels sampled in Great Britain from 2021-2023. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d textTable English utf8 biota environment 2021-01-01 2023-10-31 -3.61 0.76 50.65 57.43 Comma-separated values (CSV) NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre info@eidc.ac.uk distributor https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d Download the data Download a copy of this data download https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/45af9c3d-999d-44dd-83fc-b4d81632967d.zip Supporting information Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset information dataset dataset Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 The samples were collected from 22 sites across Great Britain (see supporting documentation). The general sampling regime included: (1) fortnightly sampling of lowland heath vegetation from March 2021 to February 2022; (2) monthly sampling of forest plantation litter from July 2022 to July 2023; and (3) monthly sampling of upland heaths and moorlands from July 2022 to July 2023, with sampling occasionally prevented by weather conditions or travel restrictions. As data for low fuel moisture conditions is of particular importance, further sampling of lowland heaths was undertaken on days without precipitation, and additional sampling at one site (Woodbury Common) focused on periods of dry weather from May to October 2023. Whether dead and/or live fuel samples were present varied seasonally according to species, and a small number of collected samples were lost during processing, or contained insufficient material to use two replicates for flammability testing. Weather data were recorded on the majority of sampling occasions; this depended on the equipment available at the time and location and is therefore not consistent across the dataset. Some individual weather data, fuel moisture values, and time-to-ignition values are missing due to human error. Shrubs were sampled by cutting approximately the top 15 cm of the canopy, and non-woody plants by taking the whole aboveground plant. Each litter sample was collected at a single point, and the duff samples from immediately beneath. Weather data were recorded with a Kestrel 5400FW or 3550FW Fire Weather Meter (Kestrel instruments, USA). Moisture content was preserved by sealing samples in zip-lock polythene bags (litter and vegetation) or polythene tubes (duff). Laboratory processing began typically 24 hours after collection, excepting lowland heath vegetation which was tested on the day of collection. Each sample was divided to provide two subsamples for flammability testing and one for moisture content measurement. Moisture content was obtained by weighing subsamples (c. 20 g), then placing them in a drying cabinet at 40-50° C until they reached constant weight. The flammability subsamples were analysed in an 'iCone plus' cone calorimeter (Fire Testing Technology Ltd, East Grinstead, UK). The weighed subsample is filled into a perforated steel cylinder of 375 cm3, and placed 25 mm beneath the heating element, set to 750° C, to achieve a heat flux of 50 kW m−2 at the surface of the sample. The apparatus maintains an electric arc 15 mm above the surface to ignite the pyrolysate. Time to ignition (TTI) is recorded manually. The sample remains in place until flaming ceases, and the test time is defined as ending 20 s after cessation of flaming. Non-ignition after 300 s (240 s for lowland heaths) results in the test being discontinued, as the fuel is considered non-ignitable in any realistic scenario. PHRR, THR and EHC are calculated automatically and recorded after the test is complete.