Improving parameterization of combustion processes in coupled fire-atmosphere models through infrared remote sensing

Abstract

The overall goal of this project was to improve the representation of combustion processes in coupled fire-atmosphere models operating at the landscape level. Models intended to be used for landscape-scale fires (hundreds of meters to 10s of kilometers), typically divide the simulation domain up into a mesh of grid cells and these grid cells typically range in size from 1-30 meters on a side. As the processes governing combustion occur on considerably smaller scales, models require a means of describing these processes capable of dealing with heterogeneity within a cell and must also be scalable if the cell size is changed. A detailed examination of these combustion processes will improve our understanding of fine-fuel heat exchange, ignition, and fire spread and how fire behavior may be affected by fuel conditions. The specific objectives of the project are to: 1) Track real-time high-resolution fuel moisture dynamics and fuel consumption at sub-meter scale in natural fuel beds containing both live and dead fuels; 2) Evaluate the subgrid-scale parameterization of solid-phase combustion used in a coupled fire-atmosphere models; 3) Examine how model resolution affects the level of detail required in subgrid scale models of combustion processes; 4) Examine interactions among fuel heterogeneity, in both arrangement and load that influences fire spread, principally through fire-atmosphere interactions

Citation

Goodrick, S.L., O'brien, J.J., Loudermilk, E.L., Linn, R.R. and Marshall, G.A.,. 2022. Improving parameterization of combustion processes in coupled fire-atmosphere models through infrared remote sensing.