Data collected and analyzed^ according to Holgate (1965) shows sagebrush plants 

 to have a random distribution. Consequently, the additional information required to 

 fill the hexagonal fuel array is the number density of plants. The density, coupled 

 with the average planform area, dictates the percent cover that must be achieved for 

 a random filling of the array. 



Fuel Array Generation 



SLASH 



Assignment of the bulk depth to each 2-foot hexagonal cell is the first step 

 toward generating the slash fuel array. The fuel load then can be assigned to each 

 cell through direct and indirect relationships to the depth (see appendix III). 



After surrounding the area to be simulated by a boundary of depth values 

 having the same distribution as the array but not the spatial order, the remain- 

 der of the area can be filled with depths using a linear model suggested by Mike 

 Marsden of the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory: 



Y = b + b ,X, + b_X^ + b,X, + e 

 1 1 2 2 3 3 



where Y is the depth being assigned to a cell and X^, X , and X are the depths that 

 have been assigned to three adjacent cells and e is the error. 



12 



