DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cnp5hqcbj
title: Data from: Charcoal analysis for temperature reconstruction with infrared spectroscopy

description: The duration and maximum combustion temperature of vegetation fires are
 important fire properties with implications for ecology, hydrology, hazard
 potential, and many other processes. Directly measuring maximum combustion
 temperature during vegetation fires is difficult. However, chemical
 properties of charcoal formed as a by-product of fire reflect key chemical
 transformations associated with temperatures. Therefore, they could be
 used indirectly to determine the maximum combustion temperature of
 vegetation fires. To evaluate the reliability of charcoal chemistry as an
 indicator of maximum combustion temperature, we studied the chemical
 properties of charcoal formed through two laboratory methods at measured
 temperatures. Using a muffle furnace, we generated charcoal from the woody
 material of ten different tree and shrub species at seven distinct peak
 temperatures (from 200 °C to 800 °C in 100 °C increments). Additionally,
 we simulated more natural combustion conditions by burning woody material
 and leaves of four tree species in a combustion facility instrumented with
 thermocouples, including thermocouples inside and outside of tree
 branches. Charcoal samples generated in these controlled settings were
 analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to
 characterize their chemical properties. The Modern Analogue Technique
 (MAT) was employed on FTIR spectra of muffle furnace charcoal to assess
 the accuracy of inferring maximum pyrolysis temperature. The MAT
 modeltemperature matching accuracy improved from 46% for all analogues to
 81% when including ±100 ℃. Furthermore, we used MAT to compare charcoal
 created in the combustion facility with muffle furnace charcoal. Our
 findings indicate that the spectra of charcoals generated in a combustion
 facility can be accurately matched with muffle furnace-created charcoals
 of similar temperatures using MAT, and the accuracy improved when
 comparing the maximum pyrolysis temperature from muffle furnace charcoal
 with the maximum inner temperature of the combustion facility charcoal.
 This suggests that charcoal produced in a muffle furnace may be
 representative of the inner maximum temperatures for vegetation
 fire-produced charcoals. FTIR spectroscopy is a promising tool for
 determining maximum fire temperature from charcoals of vegetation and
 prescribed fires and may have implications for fossil charcoal from
 palaeoecological records.  
description: # Application of infrared spectroscopy to charcoal analysis for
 temperature reconstruction 
 DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Minatre_reference_spectra.csv Variable
 List: \* Species: *Abies concolor* (ABCO), *Calocedrus decurrens *(CADE),
 *Pinus contorta* (PICO), *Pinus monticola* (PIMO), *Pinus ponderosa*
 (PIPO), *Acer glabrum* (ACGL), *Alnus rubra* (ALRU), *Arctostaphylos
 *(ARCT), *Quercus kelloggii* (QUKE), *Quercus vaccinifolia* (QUVA) \*
 Temperature: 200-800°C \* 950-3500: Fourier transform infrared
 spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra from wavenumber 950-3500 cm-1 DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: Minatre_combustionfacility_spectra.csv Variable List: \*
 Sample: Month and day of burn event combined with vegetation species
 combusted during burn event; *Abies concolor* (ABCO), *Pinus ponderosa*
 (PIPO), *Populus tremuloides* (POTR), *Quercus kelloggii* (QUKE) \*
 950-3500: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra from
 wavenumber 950-3500 cm-1