8 research outputs found
Instrumentation of wildland fire: Characterisation of a fire spreading through a Mediterranean shrub
International audienc
A hybrid small-world network/semi-physical model for predicting wildfire spread in heterogeneous landscapes
International audienc
Examination of WFDS in Modeling Spreading Fires in a Furniture Calorimeter
International audienceValidation of physics-based models of fire behavior requires comparing systematically and objectively simulated results and experimental observations in different scenarios, conditions and scales. Heat Release Rate (HRR) is a key parameter for understanding combustion processes in vegetation fires and a main output data of physics-based models. This paper addresses the validation of the Wildland-urban interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS) through the comparison of predicted and measured values of HRR from spreading fires in a furniture calorimeter. Experimental fuel beds were made up of Pinus pinaster needles and three different fuel loadings (i.e. 0.6, 0.9 and 1.2 kg/m2) were tested under no-slope and up-slope conditions (20°). An Arrhenius type model for solid-phase degradation including char oxidation was implemented in WFDS. To ensure the same experimental and numerical conditions, sensitivity analyses were carried out in order to determine the grid resolution to capture the flow dynamics within the hood of the experimental device and to assess the grid resolution’s influence on the outputs of the model. The comparison of experimental and predicted HRR values showed that WFDS calculates accurately the mean HRR values during the steady-state of fire propagation. It also reproduces correctly the duration of the flaming combustion phase, which is directly tied to the fire rate of spread
Overview of the Meso-NH model version 5.4 and its applications
This paper presents the Meso-NH model version 5.4. Meso-NH is an atmospheric
non hydrostatic research model that is applied to a broad range of
resolutions, from synoptic to turbulent scales, and is designed for studies
of physics and chemistry. It is a limited-area model employing advanced
numerical techniques, including monotonic advection schemes for scalar
transport and fourth-order centered or odd-order WENO advection schemes for
momentum. The model includes state-of-the-art physics parameterization
schemes that are important to represent convective-scale phenomena and
turbulent eddies, as well as flows at larger scales. In addition, Meso-NH has
been expanded to provide capabilities for a range of Earth system prediction
applications such as chemistry and aerosols, electricity and lightning,
hydrology, wildland fires, volcanic eruptions, and cyclones with ocean
coupling. Here, we present the main innovations to the dynamics and physics
of the code since the pioneer paper of Lafore et al. (1998) and provide an
overview of recent applications and couplings