Table 1 A numeric, relative ranking of difficulty in determining different types information used in fire research and management at three levels of detail. Complexity and uncertainty in measures also tend to follow the numeric ranking

Burn Perimeter

1

2

3

Area burned and not burned within perimeter

2

3

4

Nominal burn categories, e.g. crown burn

3

4

5

A continuous scale of severity magnitude

4

5

6

Specific first-order effects, e.g. duff consumption

5

6

7

Second-order effects and recovery, e.g. erosion

6

7

8