Wildland surface fire spread modelling, 1990–2007. 2: Empirical and quasi-empirical models
Andrew L. Sullivan
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: andrew.sullivan@csiro.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 18(4) 369-386 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06142
Submitted: 1 November 2006 Accepted: 15 August 2008 Published: 29 June 2009
Abstract
In recent years, advances in computational power have led to an increase in attempts to model the behaviour of wildland fires and to simulate their spread across landscape. The present series of articles endeavours to comprehensively survey and précis all types of surface fire spread models developed during the period 1990–2007. The current paper surveys models of an empirical or quasi-empirical nature. These models are based on the statistical analysis of experimentally obtained data with or without some physical framework for the basis of the relations. Other papers in the series review models of a physical or quasi-physical nature, and mathematical analogues and simulation models. The main relations of empirical models are those of wind speed and fuel moisture content with rate of forward spread. The focus of the discussion is on the treatment of the wind speed and fuel moisture functions by the models.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Bushfire Dynamics and Applications (BDA) group and the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science for supporting the present project; Jim Gould and Rowena Ball for comments on the draft manuscript; and the members of BDA who ably assisted in the internal refereeing process, namely Stuart Anderson, Miguel Cruz, and Juanita Myers. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the four anonymous IJWF referees who helped make this a better paper.
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1 Methods have been developed to convert these one-dimensional models to spatial simulations of fire spread across the landscape; these are discussed in the next and final paper.
2 Excelsior is wood shavings cut into long thin strands.
