EGU21-6502, updated on 09 Jan 2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6502
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Instantaneous spatio-temporal rate of spread of fast spreading wildfires - a new approach from visible and thermal image processing

Benjamin Schumacher1, Katharine Melnik2, Marwan Katurji1, Veronica Clifford2, Jiawei Zhang1, Hamish Mcnair1, and Grant Pearce2
Benjamin Schumacher et al.
  • 1University of Canterbury, School of Earth and Environment, Christchurch, New Zealand (benjamin.schumacher@pg.canterbury.ac.nz)
  • 2New Zealand Forest Research Institute (Scion), New Zealand

The rate of spread (ROS) of wildfires is an important parameter for understanding fire-atmospheric interactions and developing fire-spread models, but it is also vital for firefighting operations to ensure the safety of firefighters (Plucinski 2017, Stow 2019). Spatial ROS observations are usually carried out by using visible and thermal satellite imagery of wildfires estimating the ROS on a time scale of hours to days for large fires (>100 ha) or repeated passing with an airborne thermal infrared imager for higher spatial and temporal resolution (Viedma et al. 2015, Stow 2014). For fire experiments in highly controlled conditions like laboratory fires or during light fuel prescribed burns, ROS estimation usually involves lag-correlation of temperature point measurements (Finney 2010, Johnston 2018). However, these methodologies are not applicable to fast-spreading grass or bush fires because of their temporal and spatial limitations. Instantaneous spatial ROS of these fires is needed to understand rapid changes in connection with the three major drivers of the fire: fuel, topography and atmospheric forcings.

We are presenting a new approach towards a spatial ROS product which includes newly developed image tracking methods based on thermal and visible imagery collected from unmanned aerial vehicles to estimate instantaneous, spatial ROS of fast spreading grass or bush fires. These techniques were developed using imagery from prescribed wheat-stubble burns carried out in Darfield, New Zealand in March 2018 (Finney 2018). Results show that both the visible and thermal tracking techniques produce similar mean ROS; however they differ in limitations and advantages. The visible-spectrum tracking method clearly identifies the flaming zone and provides accurate ROS measurements especially at the fire front. The thermal tracking technique is superior when resolving dynamics and ROS within the flaming zone because it resolves smaller scale structures within the imagery.

 

References:

Finney, M. et al. 2010: An Examination of Fire Spread Thresholds in Discontinuous Fuel Beds.” International Journal of Wildland Fire, 163–170.

Finney, M. et al. 2018: New Zealand prescribed fire experiments to test convective heat transfer in wildland fires. In Advances in Forest Fire Research, Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra: Coimbra, 2018.

Johnston, J. M., et al. 2018:  Flame-Front Rate of Spread Estimates for Moderate Scale Experimental Fires are Strongly Influenced by Measurement Approach. Fire 1: 16–17

Plucinski M., et al. 2017: Improving the reliability and utility of operational bushfire behaviour predictions in Australian vegetation. Environmental Modelling & Software 91, 1-12.

Stow, D., et al. 2014: Measuring Fire Spread Rates from Repeat PassAirborne Thermal Infrared Imagery. Remote Sensing Letters 5: 803–881.

Stow, D., et al. 2019: Assessing uncertainty and demonstrating potentialfor estimating fire rate of spread at landscape scales based on time sequential airbornethermal infrared imaging, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 40:13, 4876-4897

Viedma, O., et al. 2015:  Fire Severity in a Large Fire in a Pinus Pinaster Forest Is Highly Predictable from Burning Conditions, Stand Structure, and Topography. Ecosystems18: 237–250.

How to cite: Schumacher, B., Melnik, K., Katurji, M., Clifford, V., Zhang, J., Mcnair, H., and Pearce, G.: Instantaneous spatio-temporal rate of spread of fast spreading wildfires - a new approach from visible and thermal image processing, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-6502, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6502, 2021.