The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation
In this study, we focus on the effects of fuel bed representation and fire heat and smoke distribution in a coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform for two landscape-scale fires: the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Caldor Fire. The fuel bed representation in the coupled fire-atmosphere simulation pl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/7/264 |
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| author | Kasra Shamsaei Timothy W. Juliano Matthew Roberts Hamed Ebrahimian Neil P. Lareau Eric Rowell Branko Kosovic |
| author_facet | Kasra Shamsaei Timothy W. Juliano Matthew Roberts Hamed Ebrahimian Neil P. Lareau Eric Rowell Branko Kosovic |
| author_sort | Kasra Shamsaei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study, we focus on the effects of fuel bed representation and fire heat and smoke distribution in a coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform for two landscape-scale fires: the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Caldor Fire. The fuel bed representation in the coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform WRF-Fire currently includes only surface fuels. Thus, we enhance the model by adding canopy fuel characteristics and heat release, for which a method to calculate the heat generated from canopy fuel consumption is developed and implemented in WRF-Fire. Furthermore, the current WRF-Fire heat and smoke distribution in the atmosphere is replaced with a heat-conserving Truncated Gaussian (TG) function and its effects are evaluated. The simulated fire perimeters of case studies are validated against semi-continuous, high-resolution fire perimeters derived from NEXRAD radar observations. Furthermore, simulated plumes of the two fire cases are compared to NEXRAD radar reflectivity observations, followed by buoyancy analysis using simulated temperature and vertical velocity fields. The results show that while the improved fuel bed and the TG heat release scheme have small effects on the simulated fire perimeters of the wind-driven Camp Fire, they affect the propagation direction of the plume-driven Caldor Fire, leading to better-matching fire perimeters with the observations. However, the improved fuel bed representation, together with the TG heat smoke release scheme, leads to a more realistic plume structure in comparison to the observations in both fires. The buoyancy analysis also depicts more realistic fire-induced temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation when the fuel bed is improved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:05:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-30b2a03302e24821aa395a3f4936a9ab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:05:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-30b2a03302e24821aa395a3f4936a9ab2023-11-18T19:17:34ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552023-07-016726410.3390/fire6070264The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere SimulationKasra Shamsaei0Timothy W. Juliano1Matthew Roberts2Hamed Ebrahimian3Neil P. Lareau4Eric Rowell5Branko Kosovic6Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USAResearch Application Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80305, USAPhysics Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USACivil & Environmental Engineering Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USAPhysics Department, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USADivision of Atmospheric Science, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USAResearch Application Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80305, USAIn this study, we focus on the effects of fuel bed representation and fire heat and smoke distribution in a coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform for two landscape-scale fires: the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Caldor Fire. The fuel bed representation in the coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform WRF-Fire currently includes only surface fuels. Thus, we enhance the model by adding canopy fuel characteristics and heat release, for which a method to calculate the heat generated from canopy fuel consumption is developed and implemented in WRF-Fire. Furthermore, the current WRF-Fire heat and smoke distribution in the atmosphere is replaced with a heat-conserving Truncated Gaussian (TG) function and its effects are evaluated. The simulated fire perimeters of case studies are validated against semi-continuous, high-resolution fire perimeters derived from NEXRAD radar observations. Furthermore, simulated plumes of the two fire cases are compared to NEXRAD radar reflectivity observations, followed by buoyancy analysis using simulated temperature and vertical velocity fields. The results show that while the improved fuel bed and the TG heat release scheme have small effects on the simulated fire perimeters of the wind-driven Camp Fire, they affect the propagation direction of the plume-driven Caldor Fire, leading to better-matching fire perimeters with the observations. However, the improved fuel bed representation, together with the TG heat smoke release scheme, leads to a more realistic plume structure in comparison to the observations in both fires. The buoyancy analysis also depicts more realistic fire-induced temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation when the fuel bed is improved.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/7/264WRF-firecanopycrown firecoupled fire-atmosphere simulationmass lossburning rate |
| spellingShingle | Kasra Shamsaei Timothy W. Juliano Matthew Roberts Hamed Ebrahimian Neil P. Lareau Eric Rowell Branko Kosovic The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation Fire WRF-fire canopy crown fire coupled fire-atmosphere simulation mass loss burning rate |
| title | The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation |
| title_full | The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation |
| title_short | The Role of Fuel Characteristics and Heat Release Formulations in Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Simulation |
| title_sort | role of fuel characteristics and heat release formulations in coupled fire atmosphere simulation |
| topic | WRF-fire canopy crown fire coupled fire-atmosphere simulation mass loss burning rate |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/7/264 |
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