Published works

This annual report is output from the Bushfire and National Hazards CRC, ‘Mapping Bushfire Hazard and Impacts’. It summarises the project objectives, introduces the team members as well as documents the project progress and outcomes during the financial year 2016/2017.

In consultation with the end users we have identified a subset of key outputs that have the highest utilisation potential, and that will be the focus of our work program in the future.

On those lines, the project team has made considerable progress this financial year towards the validation and increased accessibility to the “Australian Flammability Monitoring System” for operational prediction of live fuel moisture content (FMC) and flammability in Australia. In this regard, we have created a prototype web service to make spatial information on FMC and flammability easier and faster to access.

Additionally we have:

1)    Evaluated the suitability of coarse resolution near-surface soil moisture data to improve the McArthur forest fire danger index

2)    Undertaken development of a predictive model for estimating forest surface fuel load with LiDAR data

3)    Developed a satellite-based method for the estimation of grassland aboveground biomass

4)    Published four journal manuscript with another three currently in review and one invited book chapter in preparation, ten conference abstracts and two milestone reports;

5)    Hosted two international exchange visits and were approached by more than 30 domestic and international applicants for a PhD scholarship or postdoc position in bushfire research; and

Over the next three years (2017-2020), this research project will focus on increasing the understanding, reliability and long-term continuity of the AFMS, and through this, its acceptance and adoption. Also, a small number of promising, low-cost in-field techniques will continue to be investigated to improve their cost/benefit ratio and utility.