TY - JOUR PY - 2022// TI - Extension of the Balbi fire spread model to include the field scale conditions of shrubland fires JO - International journal of wildland fire A1 - Chatelon, François Joseph A1 - Balbi, Jacques Henri A1 - Cruz, Miguel G. A1 - Morvan, Dominique A1 - Rossi, Jean Louis A1 - Awad, Carmen A1 - Frangieh, Nicolas A1 - Fayad, Jacky A1 - Marcelli, Thierry A1 - Chatelon, François Joseph A1 - Balbi, Jacques Henri A1 - Cruz, Miguel G. A1 - Morvan, Dominique A1 - Rossi, Jean Louis A1 - Awad, Carmen A1 - Frangieh, Nicolas A1 - Fayad, Jacky A1 - Marcelli, Thierry SP - 176 EP - 192 VL - 31 IS - 2 N2 - The 'Balbi model' is a simplified rate of fire spread model aimed at providing computationally fast and accurate simulations of fire propagation that can be used by fire managers under operational conditions. This model describes the steady-state spread rate of surface fires by accounting for both radiation and convection heat transfer processes. In the present work the original Balbi model developed for laboratory conditions is improved by addressing specificities of outdoor fires, such as fuel complexes with a mix of live and dead materials, a larger scale and an open environment. The model is calibrated against a small training dataset (n = 25) of shrubland fires conducted in Turkey. A sensitivity analysis of model output is presented and its predictive capacity against a larger independent dataset of experimental fires in shrubland fuels from different regions of the world (Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) is tested. A comparison with older versions of the model and a generic empirical model is also conducted with encouraging results. The improved model remains physics-based, faster than real time and fully predictive.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1049-8001 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF21082 ID - ref1 ER -