PUBLICATIONS
Published works
Coupled fire-atmosphere simulations of the Rocky River fire using WRF-SFIRE
Title | Coupled fire-atmosphere simulations of the Rocky River fire using WRF-SFIRE |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2016 |
Authors | Peace, M, Mattner, T, Mills, GA, Kepert, J, McCaw, LW |
Journal | Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology |
Volume | 55 |
Issue | 4 |
Date Published | 04/2016 |
Abstract | The coupled atmosphere-fire behaviour model WRF-SFIRE has been used to simulate a fire where extreme fire behaviour was observed. Tall flames and a dense convective smoke column were features of the fire as it burnt rapidly up the Rocky River gully on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. WRF-SFIRE simulations of the event show a number of interesting dynamical processes resulting from fire-atmosphere feedback including that: fire spread was sensitive to small changes in mean wind direction; fire perimeter was affected by wind convergence resulting from interactions between the fire, atmosphere and local topography; and the fire plume mixed high momentum air from above a strong subsidence inversion. At one-minute intervals, output from the simulations showed fire spread exhibiting fast and slow pulses. These pulses occurred coincident with the passage of mesoscale convective (Rayleigh-Bènard) cells in the planetary boundary layer. Simulations show that feedback between the fire and atmosphere may have contributed to the observed extreme fire behaviour. The findings raise questions as to the appropriate information to include in meteorological forecasts for fires as well as future use of coupled and uncoupled fire simulation models in both operational and research settings. |
URL | http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/JAMC-D-15-0157.1 |