Investigating the Impact of Smoke Radiative Feedback on Wildfire Spread

Wildfires can spread rapidly, threatening ecosystems, human lives, and property. Real-time monitoring of fire dynamics is crucial for improving response times and firefighting efficiency. Meteorological models, particularly the WRF-Fire model, have been widely used to predict wildfire behavior by integrating factors such as weather conditions, topography, and fuel distribution. However, the radiative feedback from smoke, which is emitted during fires, can significantly influence fire spread, yet its impact remains underexplored. This study aims to explore the impact of smoke on wildfire spread by using the WRF-Fire-Chem model, a coupled version of WRF-Fire that integrates a chemical module. The research focuses on a typical U.S. forest fire case study and examines the effects of different smoke components (such as black carbon and organic carbon) and their radiative feedback on wildfire spread. Four simulation scenarios were designed: (1) wildfire spread without smoke; (2) wildfire spread with smoke emission; (3) wildfire spread with smoke but without black carbon; and (4) wildfire spread with smoke but without organic carbon. By comparing these scenarios, the study quantitatively investigates the role of smoke in influencing wildfire spread and examines how black carbon's heating effect and organic carbon's cooling effect contribute to the fire's dynamics. The results indicate that the heating effect of black carbon accelerates fire spread, while the cooling effect of organic carbon partially suppresses the expansion of the fire. This research not only deepens our understanding of the coupling effects between wildfire spread and atmospheric components but also provides important insights for improving and optimizing future wildfire prediction technologies.