Published works

Fire behavior models that predict the progression of bushfires are becoming increasingly important in management.  Most existing models have been developed based on data and observations of fires burning under relatively mild conditions.  If the models are to be relied upon for fires that occur under extreme weather conditions (where fires are fast moving and more intense), these conditions must also be considered in their design.

There is increasing evidence that there are particular fire phenomena that occur only in extreme fire conditions.  These include fire tornados, atmospheric coupling, ember storms and vorticity driven lateral spread.  Research into such phenomena is limited, there is still much to learn about when they occur and what their effect is on fire behavior.  Currently there are no operational fire spread models that can accommodate these important effects. To account for these phenomena, it is first necessary to describe them and the conditions under which they occur, including fuel conditions, surface weather and atmospheric profiles.

This project is designed to build on our knowledge of the unique features of extreme fires by a) Collating observations of extreme fires that have occurred in Australia in recent years, b) Analysing fire phenomena in conjunction with accessory information (ie. Weather, fuel and topography) and c) Developing mathematical relationships to describe important fire phenomena.