It is crucial for emergency and disaster management organisations to predict of the rate of spread and intensity of bushfires for operational planning, community warnings and the deployment of their resources.

In this project, the research team tested two established reliable physics-based models: Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and FIRESTAR3D to simulate bushfire scenarios in three broad areas:

(1)  sub-canopy wind flow,

(2)  firebrand transport, and

(3)  propagation of grass and forest fires.

The team made significant inroads into providing usable outputs as well understanding various aspects of bushfire behaviour. 

This project was also established to create a capability and capacity in Australia to conduct research and understand physical-based wildfire modelling approaches. There are several international groups developing these models, and it is imperative that Australia can interact and work alongside these researchers to translate the findings to the Australian context. Overall, this project has obtained greater insight into bushfire physics and outcomes are now being utilised to parameterise various phenomena for operational models.

Read the final report here.