Studying wildfire behavior using FIRETEC

Abstract

A coupled atmospheric/wildfire behavior model is described that utilizes physics-based process models to represent wildfire behavior. Five simulations are presented, four of which are highly idealized situations that are meant to illustrate some of the dependencies of the model on environmental conditions. The fifth simulation consists of a fire burning in complex terrain with non-homogeneous vegetation and realistic meteorological conditions. The simulated fire behavior develops out of the coupling of a set of very complex processes and not from prescribed rules based on empirical data. This represents a new direction in wildfire modeling that we believe will eventually help decision makers and land managers do their jobs more effectively.