Coupling Litter and Soil Moisture Dynamics For Dead Fuel Moisture Content Forecasting

Several models have been used for dead fuel moisture content (FMC) forecasting. However, none of these models explicitly consider how soil moisture affects FMC. This project aims to evaluate the role of soil moisture in determining FMC and improve the forecast of FMC by coupling litter and soil moisture dynamics. The Australian Water Resources Assessment system Landscape model (AWRA-L) (Van Dijk, 2010; Frost et al., 2016) and the physical-based litter prediction model (Koba) (Matthews, 2006) are used for the coupling.