A general model for wildfire propagation with wind and slope

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive geometric model for wildfire spread that incorporates wind, slope, and anisotropies within a Lorentz-Finsler framework, enabling real-time computation of complex firefront shapes.

Contribution

It presents a novel theoretical framework that generalizes previous models by allowing non-elliptical wavefronts, accounting for more realistic wildfire propagation effects.

Findings

Wavefronts are no longer restricted to elliptical shapes.

The model can simulate fire evolution with wind and slope effects.

Real-time computation of complex firefronts is feasible.

Abstract

A geometric model for the computation of the firefront of a forest wildfire which takes into account several effects (possibly time-dependent wind, anisotropies and slope of the ground) is introduced. It relies on a general theoretical framework, which reduces the hyperbolic PDE system of any wave to an ODE in a Lorentz-Finsler framework. The wind induces a sort of double semi-elliptical fire growth, while the influence of the slope is modeled by means of a term which comes from the Matsumoto metric (i.e., the standard non-reversible Finsler metric that measures the time when going up and down a hill). These contributions make a significant difference from previous models because, now, the infinitesimal wavefronts are not restricted to be elliptical. Even though this is a technical complication, the wavefronts remain computable in real time. Some simulations of evolution are shown, paying special attention to possible crossovers of the fire.