Related

Year Type Citation
2018 Conference Paper Hilton, J. et al. Pyroconvective interactions and dynamic fire propagation. AFAC18 (2018).
2018 Conference Paper Crawford, M. Risk modelling as a tool to support local government emergency management. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Kumar, V., Dharssi, I. & Fox-Hughes, P. Evaluation and calibration of a land surface based soil moisture for fire danger ratings. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Anderson, S. Get ready NSW- fostering all hazards resilience in local communities. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Young, C. Working from the inside out to improve utilisation of research in decision making. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Gissing, A. & Avci, A. The Hawaii nuclear alert: how did people respond?. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Peace, M., Kepert, J. & Ye, H. Simulations of the waroona fire with the access-fire coupled fire atmosphere model. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Blyth, S. Reducing bushfire risk to vulnerable community members through health and community services agencies – business continuity approach. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Sutherland, D., Wadhwani, R., Philip, J., Ooi, A. & Moinuddin, K. Simulations of the effect of canopy density profile on sub-canopy wind speed profiles. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Riddell, G. et al. Applying unharmed for risk reduction planning – comparing strategies and long-term effectiveness. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Richter, H. et al. Impact-based forecasting for the coastal zone. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Wallace, L. et al. Experiences in the in-field utilisation of fuels3D. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Hunt, S. & Eburn, M. How can business share responsibility for disaster resilience?. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Filkov, A., Duff, T. & Penman, T. Extreme fire behaviours: Surveying fire management staff to determine behaviour frequencies and importance. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Gray, S., Martin, P., Edwards, M., Griffith, M. & Derakhshan, H. Community strategy development for reducing earthquake risk in Western Australia. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Sangha, K., Edwards, A. C. & Russell-Smith, J. Emergency management opportunities for remote indigenous communities in northern Australia. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Van Leeuwen, J., Gissing, A. & Avci, A. Responses to the Lombok earthquake, 2018 – Rapid assessment study. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Ulubasoglu, M. Disasters and economic resilience: income effects of the Black Saturday bushfires on disaster-hit individuals. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Henderson, D., Smith, D. & Ginger, J. Large damage bills to buildings from cyclones can be reduced by small actions. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Engel, C., Jones, S. & Reinke, K. Performance of fire detection algorithms using himawari-8. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Lukasiewicz, A. & Dovers, S. The emerging imperative of disaster justice. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Bates, J. Research proceedings from the 2018 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2017 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Smith, J., Dudley, G., Stanios, A., Sayce, D. & Collins, A. A systematic approach to embedding safety, well-being and risk management when responding to interstate and international deployments. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Kruger, T. & McLennan, B. Volunteering into the future – disaster events, local governments & communities. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper McGill, C., Pidgeon, J. & Gagné, M. The emergency service volunteer framework: guiding good management in brigades, groups and units. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Bancroft, H. Prevalence and predictors of mental health in firefighters. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Karmel, S. Real people, real stories- if it’s flooded forget it. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Cirulis, B. et al. A systematic exploration of the potential for bushfire risk mitigation with prescribed burning. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Kruger, T. & McLennan, B. Emergency volunteering 2030: a sector-wide, management perspective. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Young, C. et al. Diversity and inclusion: Building strength and capability. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Rashid, M., Ronan, K. & Gaillard, J. C. Teacher-facilitated child-centered disaster resilience education program: a study in Bangladesh. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Robinson, J. Utilising grassroots engagement to drive cultural change. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Lawrence, D., Rikkers, W. & Bartlett, J. Mental health and wellbeing in the police and emergency services sector. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Pattiaratchi, C., Hetzel, Y. & Janekovic, I. Improved predictions of extreme sea levels around Australia. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Florec, V., Rogers, A., Hailu, A. & Pannell, D. J. Filling the gaps: how economics can help make important decisions when information is missing. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Gissing, A., Eburn, M. & McAneney, J. Planning and capability requirements for catastrophic and cascading events. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Whittaker, J. Community preparedness and responses to the 2017 NSW bushfires. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Keleher, S. Enhancing community resilience through the early childhood education and care workforce. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Caddis, B. & Dearnley, C. Real-time flood inundation mapping for flood intelligence – a case study from India. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Nairn, J. et al. Australia's future national heatwave forecast and warning service: operational considerations. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Rolfe, J. Transformative culture of disaster risk management as an enabler to resilience. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
Comprehensive School Safety: A participatory approach to bushfire emergency management planning in schools

The recently developed UN‐level Comprehensive School Safety (CSS) framework (UNESCO/UNICEF, 2014) provides a detailed and coordinated approach to reducing all hazard risks to the education sector. The CSS provides a guiding framework that can be customised to the Australian school setting to facilitate the development of a participatory approach to bushfire emergency management planning in schools.

Teacher facilitated child-centred disaster resilience education program: a participatory action research study in Bangladesh

This study aims to design and test a disaster resilience education program for children within the framework of participatory action research paradigm aligning with a child-centred disaster risk reduction (CC-DRR) ethos using bottom-up and top-down design strategies.

Improving the role of hazard communications in increasing residents’ preparedness for bushfires and floods: A summary of project findings

This project focused on the evaluation of communication strategies and identification of barriers and enablers to residents’ preparedness for bushfires and floods. 

Community Trust and Responses to Multi-Agency Warnings

“Based on the research conducted, the Bureau will likely explore greater flexibility in communication style, options for working with media and other agencies to incorporate visual footage (particularly television), and the possibility of interactions between multiagency and media messages. The Bureau is appreciative of the opportunity to work closely with QUT researchers in better understanding community responsiveness to our warnings communications and to provide guidance for enhancing our services to the community.” – Bureau of Meteorology

Integrated Urban Planning for Natural Hazard Mitigation

Urban Planning – UP systems have considerable potential to modify the impacts of natural hazards upon the built environment, and to contribute to resilience processes and outcomes. However, the full integration of planning systems with emergency management is still far from reaching its potential.

Flood risk communication to reduce vehiclerelated flood fatalities

If imagery in public risk communication always presents a fast flowing, clearly dangerous body of water, how do we expect drivers to behave when faced with more benign-looking water on the road?

Quick economic analysis tool: An efficient way to value mitigation

In order to help natural hazards managers with the prioritisation of mitigation options and the efficient allocation of resources, we are developing a Quick Economic Analysis Tool that will provide natural hazards managers with a quick and rough overview of the value for money they can get from investing in different mitigation options.

FUELS ain’t FUELS! Crops, “conservation farming” and cropland fires

"Firebreaks and spraying fence lines mightn’t stop the fire but give you something to burn back to. This could be made mandatory with a council by-law, so everyone has to do it. A little bit of loss could mean that a lot of people are safer." - Paul (farmer) 2015

Developing a Decision Support System for Western Australia

UNHaRMED (Unified Natural Hazard Risk Mitigation Exploratory Decision support system) is an interactive modelling platform helping to assist decision making, focussed on improving thinking about risk into the future; better managing and reducing risk; and positioning organisations and communities to best achieve this.

Unravelling the Natural Hazard Risk-based Policy Development Knot

Challenges and solutions for natural hazard risk-based policy development in New Zealand interrelate within a complex system or knot, where many of the solutions are inhibited by the challenges. We explore the use of causal loop diagrams as a tool to unravel this complex system to better enable decision-makers to develop risk based policy.

Disasters and economic resilience: Income effects of the Black Saturday Bushfires on disaster-hit individuals

We explore the impact of the most destructive bushfire disaster ever to hit Australia on the disaster-hit individuals’ economic resilience. By analysing Australian 2006 and 2011 Census data, we determine whether their  income levels were able to recover post disaster, considering demographic factors and sectors of employment.

Decision Making, Team Monitoring & Organizational Learning: 2018 Update

The project is providing practical techniques and strategies to help people function in more complex EM environments now and into the future. Throughout the project, there has been significant consultation with end users. End Users have trailed the tools being developed and found them to be useful. A number of agencies are implementing the tools in a variety of settings include real time evaluations, debriefs, exercising and individual use by IMT members.

Flood assessment in urban areas

The primary focus of this study is an improved methodology for quantifying the flood risk. The outcome is substantial for decision-makers dealing with flood risk management for prioritisation of risk mitigation options and choosing best practice.

Virtually Resolute: Influencing Decision-Making to Promote Mental Health and Reduce Flood Driving

Flood driving fatalities are on the rise despite appeals to the general public. While much is known about the demography of flood driving fatalities, less is known about the psychological mechanisms of flood driving behaviour and how this might be used to influence behaviour change.

Implementing disaster resilience policy: making it happen in a federal system

Disaster resilience policy is being implemented via a range of programs and activities across Australia - effective implementation is critical for ensuring successful outcomes.

beyondblue’s National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services Phase 2 Update

beyondblue is undertaking the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services to build a comprehensive picture of the mental health and wellbeing of police and emergency services personnel in Australia. The beyondblue National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services is supported by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.

Restorative inquiries and natural disasters

The Policies, Institutions and Governance (PIGs) in Natural Disasters project recommended finding a new way to conduct post event inquiries.

Prevalence and predictors of mental health in firefighters

This study aimed to identify the prevalence and predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse in firefighters. Predictor variables included exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) as well as individual, operational and organisational factors.

Modelling the impact of lifeline infrastructure failure during natural hazard events

How prepared are we for extensive lifeline failure, and can graph theory aid in disaster mitigation?

Diversity and inclusion: Building strength and capability

The context in which Emergency Management Organisations (EMOs) work is changing due to social, environmental and economic factors. This is driving transformation across the sector as it strives to work with and build resilience and be representative of their diverse communities. This means that effective diversity and inclusion (D&I) is a business imperative needed to sustain EMOs into the future.

Near-surface turbulent wind flow over single terrain changes in tropical cyclones

Using wind observations from three tropical cyclone field campaigns, an analysis of near-surface turbulence is undertaken. With towers deployed in a variety of terrain exposures, preliminary results show turbulent parameters to be highly dependent on upstream terrain conditions. ‘Memory’ of these conditions can remain in the flow for many kilometres downwind a surface adjustment.

Volunteer sustainability is about much more than recruitment and retention

We asked 26 government and non-government volunteer managers about volunteer sustainability. You might be surprised by what they told us. Recruitment and retention practices are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the changes needed to meet the future.

This should be of alarm to everyone

Tasmanian Fire Service are undergoing a rigorous process of evaluating their School Fire Education Program and, as part of this process, are updating key fire safety messages to reflect research and best practice. 

When joining is not enough: Profiles of emergency services volunteers and the intention to remain

In this study, we examined how meeting the initial expectations of new volunteers when they join an emergency service is related to their intentions to remain with that service. A survey of 539 emergency services volunteers revealed that the new volunteers whose expectations matched what the volunteering role could deliver tended to participate in more volunteer activities and had a stronger intent to remain a volunteer. By contrast, when new volunteers had either too few or too many expectations, they were more likely to express turnover intentions after one year of service.

Enablers and inhibitors to the sustainable implementation of effective teacher delivered disaster resilience education through the Geography Syllabus

The NSW Geography Syllabus requires that all Stage 3 students (Years 5 and 6) in New South Wales study the effect of a contemporary bush fire event on people, place and the environment – approximately 100,000 students in 4,000 classrooms across 2,500 schools doing this Unit of Work each year.

A qualitative study of resident involvement in the 2013 Forcett Tasmania bushfire disaster

Friday 4 January 2013 was one of the most significant fire days in Tasmania since 1967. The fire threatened life and left a trail of destruction, animals perished, homes, livelihood and landscape were destroyed or damaged. Despite this there appeared to be a level of social structure and processes evident. In the post disaster phase, many of these local processes appeared to be overlooked by the well-intentioned external help or overwhelmed by the visitor - related goodwill.

Disaster risk reduction education policies and practices in Indonesia: Bridging the research-practice gaps

The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) stresses the importance of collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. However, little evidence of such collaboration exists in developing countries, including in Indonesia. In December 2015, we presented the findings to key government agencies, NGOs and academics, from a study investigating the sustainability and scaling-up challenges of DRR education in Indonesia. In 2017, we assessed how policy and practice have progressed.

Physics-based modelling of fires transitioning from the forest floor to the canopy

Can a physics-based model predict a transition from a surface fire to a crown fire?

From hectares to tailor-made solutions

How does the diverse and changing biophysical, climatic and human context of southern Australia influence prescribed burning effectiveness?

Training as Research and Research as Training in remote north Australia

The ‘BNH Training for Remote Communities’ was initially perceived as training for ranger group members. But as time went by and the participation of Bininj became more embedded, the focus shifted to ’resilience’ training for whole communities.

Extreme fire behaviours: Surveying fire management staff to determine behaviour frequencies and importance

Extreme fire behaviours (EFBs) are phenomena that occur within intense fires that have been shown to contribute greatly to their to impacts. However, there exists little understanding regarding how often particular EFBs occur, how these contribute to fire behaviour and what importance should be allocated to each in the development of models for decision support. To address this problem, we surveyed fire fighters from fire and land management agencies in Australia regarding their experiences with EFBs.

Deconstructing Suppression Efforts on Large Bushfires

Large bushfires (over 500ha) account for a disproportionate amount of both hectares burned and suppression expenditure; however, the effectiveness of large-fire suppression is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to provide a framework for the development of an overall assessment of the effectiveness of suppression. To achieve this we conducted a qualitative document analysis of operational documents for 10 large bushfires Victoria, classifying resource types and their usage at the fireline division or sector level.

Intercultural collaboration on Aboriginal country

This innovative 3-year research project explores cultural difference and similarity to gain insights into natural hazard management policy and practice. Specifically investigating the existing and emerging engagements between the natural hazards sector and diverse Aboriginal peoples across southern Australia. This is an intercultural project for an intercultural society.

Satellite monitoring of fire impact and recovery

We propose an index for continuous monitoring of forested areas. It is based on the free of charge Landsat satellite imagery. The index allows the creation of fuel load maps and the reconstruction of post fire fuel re-accumulation curves.

Resilient or suicidal giants: what types of fires do the world’s tallest flowering forests support?

Australian tall wet eucalypt-dominated forests are widely considered to experience a fire regime of infrequent, high-severity, stand-replacing crown fires. Yet, this paradigm ignores the possibility of low- and mixed-severity fires in these ecosystems. We analyse fuels from a network of long-term monitoring plots that span the continent to investigate the fire regime of tall wet eucalypt forests.

Changing Lives in a Changing World – recognising and respecting foundations of Indigenous community resilience

The Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC is supporting the investigation of Indigenous driven interests and initiatives in building community resilience as a foundation for more effective relationships with Emergency Management agencies. Indigenous culture and society is central to the future development of North Australia. Although the physical assets are easily recognised – land and sea, pristine environments, biodiversity, minerals, fishing resources, places for tourism etc.

Coupling Litter and Soil Moisture Dynamics For Dead Fuel Moisture Content Forecasting

This research aims to evaluate the role of soil moisture in determining dead fuel moisture content by coupling litter and soil moisture dynamics.

Remote sensing of tree structure and biomass in North Australian mesic savanna

This PHD research aims to develop and assess methods using stereo imagery and laser scanning data, to extract 3D tree structural parameters for estimating biomass/carbon stocks in NT mesic savannas.

Collaboration with women caring for country on Australia’s frontier

In the remote southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, Waanyi and Garawa peoples have been experiencing destructive wildfires invading their ancestral lands as a direct consequence of their displacement from country.

Australian flammability monitoring system website

"The new technology described here has enormous potential to improve the efficiency of bushfire operations across Australia and drive an expansion of our capability. The provision of accurate, spatially explicit, near real-time estimates of FMC and flammability at a range of spatial resolutions would permit more accurate targeting of scarce bushfire fighting resources in time and space. It would no longer be necessary to estimate jurisdiction-wide readiness based on anecdotal extrapolation of conditions at a few locations." Adam Leavesley, ACT Parks and Conservation Service 

Developing a decision framework that integrates ecological models to inform bushfire management planning

This project aims to develop a consolidated and flexible framework for applying ecological models and metrics to manage risks to ecosystem resilience and threatened species to facilitate effective decision making.

Improving flood forecast skill using Remote Sensing data

“The outcomes from this research will provide information for us to use remotely sensed data to improve our flood forecasting service. This work will support the development of both probabilistic flood forecasts, and flood  forecasts that provide much more detailed information on the impact of floods.” – Chris Leahy (Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

Long-distance spot-fires: An empirical analysis

Bushfires can ignite spot-fires at very long distances downwind. The number and maximum distance of spot-fires are not necessarily correlated, and can vary widely between bushfires. Bushfire observations from infrared aerial mapping collected by fire agencies helps to understand the processes and quantify the risk factors.

Increasing Emergency Management Capacity Through Business Sector Involvement

The resource capacities of emergency management organisations are geared around managing relatively frequent disaster scenarios. It is not cost effective to have significant investments of resources that might be only employed in the most extreme or catastrophic events. However, the inevitability of more extreme events that can overwhelm local and regional, and even national, resources means that it is worth considering where additional surge capacity might be sourced if and when needed.

Predicting Water Quality Parameters in Latrobe catchment using eWater Source

In this research the impact of bushfires on Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) in Latrobe catchment was predicted, for 2008-2016. The hydrological model applied (eWater Source), found higher levels of pollution after bushfires followed by rain, in accordance to the measured values, in the 6 monitoring points from Latrobe river, which were considered for this research. However, the model overestimated the pollution levels. At this stage, a new land use (mining) was introduced in the model and the results were much improved.

The problem of context – understanding the estimation of fire background temperature in South-Eastern Australia

Satellite remote sensing provides a timely and efficient method of detecting fire, but choosing the right parameters to encompass all potential fire activity is difficult. Variations in sample area conditions, such as coastline, cloud and land cover can impact the ability to correctly detect and attribute fires in the environment.

Influence of Road Characteristics on Flood Rescues in Australia

Vehicle-related flood fatalities and rescues are a significant emergency management and road safety problem. Motorists may enter floodwater that is too deep or too fast, or may attempt to drive along roads that have been
washed away. Gissing et al. (2017) investigated the influence of road characteristics on flood fatalities based on a site analysis of 21 road sections where fatalities had occurred.

Planning strategic adaptation pathways to manage future coastal flood risk

Future sea level rise will exacerbate coastal flooding globally. Adaptation pathways provide a dynamic plan under conditions of uncertainty to take short-term actions, whilst keeping future options open to make adjustments as conditions change.

Cloudy with a chance of fire

Recent advances in remote sensing have led to geostationary satellite data being available over Australia every 10 minutes. For frequent and accurate detection of fires from geostationary satellite data, and their assessment, a high-quality satellite cloud mask for Australian environments is required.

It is important to consider how future catastrophic disasters might be shaped by choices we make as a society to various political, economic and environmental alternatives along with technological advances. We have explored these influences through a series of short interviews with emergency management leaders and a review of relevant literature. The research seeks to provide some strategic foresight that may assist in the
development of strategic plans to minimize the consequences of future risks.

Improving predictions of extreme sea levels around Australia

The UWA/BNHCRC project has developed a high-resolution hydrodynamic model for all Australia that was used to simulate sea levels at 1 km resolution over the past 59 years. Extreme value theory was applied to these data to derive sea level statistics, including 100 year Average Recurrence Intervals (ARI), and ARI (Return Period) curves. The results have been made available to the public through an interactive web portal where you can access detailed extreme sea level information for every beach in Australia.

Fuels3D

Fuels3D is a smart-phone app coupled with photogrammetry and computer vision techniques to produce 3D point clouds of the environment from which fuel hazard metrics are derived. Fuels3D supplements existing visual assessments with repeatable and quantitative estimates of surface and near-surface fuel. Trials are currently underway with end-user agencies across Victoria, South Australia and ACT.

Incorporation of spotting and fire dynamics in a coupled atmosphere - fire modelling framework

Spotting is a challenging aspect of bushfire operations. We currently have poor capacity to estimate exactly how far ahead of a fire a spot fire could form. This research is providing insight into this problem by helping us understand the dynamic effects that can influence ember transport. This will help emergency response during major bushfires. - Brad Davies, NSW RFS

Launceston Flood Risk Mitigation Assessment

This poster provides outcomes of a retrospective Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) study of a flood risk mitigation investment (levee system) in Launceston. The study assessed the long term cost to Launceston from flood hazard before and after the new mitigation works for flood events ranging from the 20 year Annual Recurrence Interval (ARI) up to the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF).

A case study of South Australia's severe thunderstorm and tornado outbreak (28 September 2016)

One of the most significant thunderstorm outbreaks recorded in South Australia impacted central and eastern parts of the state on 28 September 2016. Multiple supercell thunderstorms produced at least seven tornadoes, destructive wind gusts, large hail and intense rainfall. Transmission lines were brought down in four different locations, which contributed to a state-wide power outage.

Cost-effective mitigation strategy for earthquake risk

This project will address the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian buildings subject to earthquakes. Simultaneous progress is being made by the 4 partner investigators to assess the vulnerability of two classes of existing buildings.

Impact-based forecasting for the coastal zone

Developing a pilot capability to estimate the impacts of East Coast Low hazards on the built environment, enabling more timely mitigation action by a range of stakeholders.

Improving the resilience of existing housing to severe wind events

This project aims to investigate and reduce damage from windstorms by developing vulnerability models for structural strength of housing from field and laboratory observations to allow evaluation of cost effective strategies, and producing retrofitting solutions and guides for home owners and builders.

Coupled fire-atmosphere simulations of the Sir Ivan Fire

ACCESS-Fire couples an empirical fire spread model to the Australian numerical weather prediction model. The coupled model captures the dynamical interactions between a fire, local topography and the surrounding atmosphere in three dimensions.

Progressive failures of roofs under wind loading

Progressive or cascading failures of roofing connections were simulated using a computer model based on wind tunnel data, dynamic connection tests and damage surveys observations. Results identify the most vulnerable parts of the roof and how damage can spread during a storm, which is essential for developing retrofitting measures for older houses.

A new soil dryness product for fire prediction applications

The present study discuss the development and evaluation of a new soil dryness product based on an advanced land surface modelling system.

Reducing wind damage to buildings by improving internal pressure design

Destructive winds are inevitable around Australia and the world, thus our buildings must be prepared to withstand their damaging effects. A common and seemingly small failure of a door or window often contributes to the failure of the whole building due to wind entering, generating large internal pressures. These pressures can contribute to more than half of the total load on structural elements. This project will provide much needed  information of the magnitude of these pressures with respect to building parameters to improve internal pressure design.

Investigating the effect of soil moisture, temperature and precipitation extremes on fires risk and intensity in Australia

The frequency of extreme events such as heatwaves are expected to increase due to the effect of climate change, particularly in semi-arid regions such as areas of Australia. Extreme temperatures and deficits in soil moisture provide ample conditions for bushfires. This study investigates these associations both past, present and future.

Damage Assessment of U-Slab Bridges under Flood Loading

Resistance to flood loading are critical parameter affecting the design of bridges under flood loading. Since the flood intensity is raising due to global warming, it is recommended to review the design of the
bridges under flood loading. Historical data show that flood as a natural hazard is a costly disaster in Australia. Resilience of society depends on the resilience of the road infrastructures.

Understanding carbon pools to improve emission estimates from fires

"Use of prescribed burning creates emissions and particulates. However, fire management can potentially decrease the emissions produced by fires via modifications to their size and intensity. Currently, agencies such as ACT Parks and Conservation Service and National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW don’t have the capacity to report how much C is emitted from their prescribed burning programs. With the recent public focus on air quality, the ability to estimate C emissions it is vital for management agencies.

Numerical assessment of a steel bridge subjected to Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fires

The focus of this research is to assess the performance of a steel plate girder bridge subjected to WUI fire events. Fire scenarios were modelled with physics based Fire Dynamic Simulation(FDS). Sequentially coupled heat transfer analysis gave the temperature distribution of the bridge. 12mm Web area experienced the highest temperature development of 350C . This leads to a 25% of decrease of steel Youngs modulus.

Assessing SWAT model sensitivity to fire-related soil organic carbon changes using digital soil mapping products

"Biomass burning is one of the main causes of carbon loss in the soil and could lead to increased erosion and runoff. SWAT models can be used to predict long-term impact of land use change on catchment flow and water quality as well as testing “what-if” scenarios. Fire in water catchments needs to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis so land managers can chose the best options to increase the mass of carbon in soil and retain water in the system.

The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index

The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index will assess and report the resilience of Australian communities to natural hazards. Assessment of disaster resilience is based on eight themes that encapsulate the influences on disaster resilience. The index results for the eight themes are presented here. Further work will compute coping and adaptive capacity indexes, and an overall index of disaster resilience.

Ignitability of eucalyptus litters

The propagation of fire inside a typical forest canopy is heavily dependent on the amount of oxygen present during the fire propagation, fire intensity, and ignitability of surface fuels which is generally composed of forest litter, shrubs, etc. In eucalyptus vegetation the forest litter predominantly contains eucalyptus leaves, twigs, and bark. The present work discusses experimental observation for the ignitability of forest litter composed of eucalyptus leaves.

Type Title Credited author Credited author/s NON-CRC
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 powered by INTERSCHUTZ
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 - Continuing the conversation: Community ssutton
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 - Continuing the conversation: A changing world arogers, mcrosweller, htagore
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 - Continuing the conversation: Changing the emergency management sector for the better cyoung
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 - Research Forum
Presentation-Audio-Video AFAC18 Day 2 - highlights
Presentation-Slideshow Pyroconvective interactions and dynamic fire propagation jsharples, James Hilton, asullivan, wswedosh, cthomas Rachel Badlan
Presentation-Slideshow Shifting the power coalition through Actionaid. Holly Miller
Presentation-Slideshow Applying UNHaRMED for risk reduction planning – Comparing strategies and long-term effectiveness. griddell, hvandelden, rvanhout, hmaier, jnewman, azecchin, gdandy
Presentation-Slideshow Reducing bushfire risk to vulnerable community members through health and community service agencies Suzanne Blyth
Presentation-Slideshow The value of grassroots communication and engagement to drive cultural transformation Joanne Robinson
Presentation-Slideshow Transformative culture of disaster risk management as an enabler to resilience jrolfe
Presentation-Slideshow Factors contributing to firefighters' mental health and wellbeing hbancroft
Presentation-Slideshow Community strategy development for reducing earthquake risk in Western Australia Stephen Gray
Presentation-Slideshow ACCESS-Fire to better understand risk mpeace, jkepert Harvey Ye
Presentation-Slideshow What is ‘(in)action’? Rethinking traditional understandings of disaster risk reduction in urban households bcook Isabel Cornes, Paula Satizábal, Maria De Lourdes Melo Zurita
Presentation-Slideshow Risk modelling as a tool to support local government emergency management mcrawford
Presentation-Slideshow A systematic approach to embedding safety, well-being and risk management when responding to interstate and international deployments Julian Smith, Graeme Dudley, Andrew Stanios, David Sayce, Andrew Collins
Presentation-Slideshow How economics can help make important decisions when information is missing vflorec, arogers
Presentation-Slideshow Experiences in the in-field utilisation of Fuels3D lwallace, aleavesley, rbessell, stelfer
Presentation-Slideshow Performance of fire detection algorithms using Himawari-8 Chermelle Engel, sjones, kreinke
Presentation-Slideshow A LiDAR-derived fuel map for the ACT aleavesley, myebra, avandijk
Presentation-Slideshow That psychological bulls**t devery, pmillerrose, areynolds, jtrigg Helen Keen-Dyer, Matt Dyer
Presentation-Slideshow Quantification of inter-regional differences in risk mitigation from prescribed burning across multiple management values bcirulis, hclarke, rbradstock, mboer, tpenman, oprice
Presentation-Slideshow Simulations of the effect of canopy density profile on sub-canopy wind speed profiles dsutherland, rwadhwani, jphilip, aooi, kmoinuddin
Presentation-Slideshow Multi-temporal and spatial remote sensing imagery to monitor flammability in Australia myebra, avandijk, gcary
Presentation-Slideshow Australia's national heatwave service John Nairn
Presentation-Audio-Video Community preparedness and responses to the 2017 NSW bushfires jwhittaker
Presentation-Slideshow Disasters and economic resilience: Income effects of the Black Saturday bushfires on disaster-hit individuals mulubasoglu, fbeaini
Presentation-Slideshow Hazard smart remote communities in Northern Australia bsithole Otto Campion, Hmalan Hunter-Xenie
Presentation-Slideshow Tourist responses to the Lombok Earthquake, 2018 – Rapid Assessment Study agissing
Presentation-Slideshow Diversity and inclusion: Building strength and capability cyoung, ccormick, jpyke, rjones, brasmussen Neelam Marahaj,
Presentation-Slideshow Answering the call- Mental health and wellbeing in the police and emergency services sector. dlawrence
Presentation-Slideshow Fostering all-hazards resilience in local communities Sarah Anderson
Presentation-Slideshow The emergency service volunteer framework: guiding good management in brigades, groups and units Courtenay McGill
Presentation-Slideshow Working from the inside out to improve utilization of research in decision making cyoung
Presentation-Slideshow The emerging imperative of disaster justice Anna Lukasieicz
Presentation-Slideshow How can business share responsibility for disaster resilience? shunt
Presentation-Slideshow Child-centred teacher-facilitated disaster resilience education program mrashid, kronan
Presentation-Slideshow Disaster awareness among Sri Lankan School children K. Prasanna Chandith
Presentation-Slideshow Predicting extreme water levels around Australia cpattiaratchi, yhetzel, ijanekovic
Presentation-Slideshow Engaging early childhood education and care to support optimal early child development following a natural hazards Anita Nepean-Hutchison, Sharleen Keleher
Presentation-Slideshow Large damage bills (to buildings) from cyclones can be reduced by small actions dhenderson
Presentation-Slideshow Lived experiences of emergency services volunteers in Western Australia dkragt
Presentation-Slideshow Real-time flood inundation mapping for flood intelligence:A case study from India Carrie Dearnly, Ben Caddis
Presentation-Slideshow The Hawaii Nuclear Alert:How did people respond? agissing Ashley Avci
Presentation-Slideshow Real people true stories Samantha Karmel
Presentation-Slideshow Volunteering into the future: disaster events, local governments and communities tkruger, bmclennan
Presentation-Slideshow Defining floodwater -expert and public perspectives mtaylor, khaynes Matalena Arifa Ahmed
Presentation-Slideshow Evaluation and calibration of a land surface model based soil moisture analysis for fire prediction idharssi, vinodkumar, pfoxhughes
Presentation-Slideshow The development of a pyrocumulonimbus prediction tool ktory, jkepert
Presentation-Slideshow Impact-based forecasting in the coastal zone: East Coast Lows hrichter, sschroeter, mdunford, jsexton, medwards
Presentation-Slideshow Emergency volunteering 2030: A sector-wide, management perspective bmclennan, tkruger
Presentation-Slideshow Adoption of a strengths-based approach to address catastrophic disasters agissing, meburn
Presentation-Slideshow Keynote: Conflicting Evidence: prescribed burning: when ‘evidence’ is not the reality nburrows
Presentation-Audio-Video Launch of the Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2018
Presentation-Slideshow Keynote: Research Informing Policy Anna-Maria Arabia
Presentation-Slideshow Live, love & lead from I2We: w/Purpose2Impact! Dana Born
Presentation-Slideshow The seven sins of emergency management Craig Fugate
Presentation-Slideshow Resilience and vulnerability: Two Sides of the same coin mcrosweller
Presentation-Slideshow Countdown to safety: the 1986 Challenger incident Mike Mullane
Presentation-Slideshow Transforming fire and rescue response through innovation Eric Yap

In the media

Landgate FireWatch

Landgate FireWatch Hotspots