Cataloging Information
Simulation Modeling
Fuels
Many wildfire behaviour modeling studies have focused on fires during extreme conditions, where the dominant processes are resolved and smaller-scale variations have less influence on fire behaviour. As such, wildfire behaviour models typically perform well for these cases. However, they can struggle in marginal conditions (e.g. low-intensity fire) as small-scale variations significantly influence fire physics at scales below grid resolution. In an effort to generalize wildfire behaviour models and improve their overall performance, we have developed a new set of equations for wet and dry fuel to capture the finer-scale sub-grid variations in temperature and moisture. We explore the behaviour of these equations in simple scenarios ranging from high- to low-intensity fire. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance against observations of surface fire. In all cases the proposed model performs well after peak temperature is reached; however, the rise of fuel temperature at the onset of combustion is faster than expected.
Citation
Access this Document
Treesearch
publication access with no paywall
Check to see if this document is available for free in the USDA Forest Service Treesearch collection of publications. The collection includes peer reviewed publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports produced by Forest Service employees, as well as science synthesis publications and other products from Forest Service Research Stations.