Influence of fuel structure on gorse fire behaviour

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
en
Date
2023
Authors
Valencia Correa, Andres
Melnik , Katherine O.
Sanders , Nick
Sew Hoy , Adam
Yan , Mozhi
Katurji, Marwan
Zhang, Jiawei
Schumacher, Benjamin
Hartley , Robin
Aguilar-Arguello , Samuel
Abstract

Background. Complex interactions between fuel structure and fire substantially affect fire spread and spatial variability in fire behaviour. Heterogeneous arrangement of the fuel coupled with variability in fuel characteristics can impact heat transfer efficiency, preheating of unburned fuel and consequent ignition and spread. Aim. Study the influence of pre-burn fuel structure (canopy height, spatial arrangement) on fire behaviour (rate of spread, flame residence time) derived from high-resolution video of a prescribed gorse fire. Method. Rate of spread and flame residence time are calculated and mapped from high-resolution overhead visible-spectrum video, and compared with the Canopy Height Model derived from pre-burn Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) scans. Results. Geospatial analytics can provide precision observations of fire behaviour metrics. Rates of spread under high wind conditions are influenced by local changes in canopy height and may be more dependent on other fuel characteristics, while flame residence time is better correlated with canopy height. Conclusions. These observational technology and spatio-temporal analytical techniques highlight how detailed fire behaviour characteristics can be derived from these data. Implications. The results have implications for wildfire modelling and Wildland–Urban Interface (WUI) building design engineers, as the reported dataset is suitable for model validation and the analysis contributes to further understanding of gorse fire hazard.

Description
Citation
Valencia A, Melnik KO, Sanders N, Sew Hoy A, Yan M, Katurji M, Zhang J, Schumacher B, Hartley R, Aguilar-Arguello S, Pearce HG, Finney MA, Clifford V, Strand T (2023). Influence of fuel structure on gorse fire behaviour. International Journal of Wildland Fire.
Keywords
fire behaviour, gorse, image analysis, image velocimetry, lidar, rate of spread, residence time, UAV, ulex europaeus, wildfires
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
41 - Environmental sciences::4102 - Ecological applications::410205 - Fire ecology
40 - Engineering::4005 - Civil engineering::400507 - Fire safety engineering
Rights
All rights reserved unless otherwise stated