A coupled atmosphere-wildland fire meso-scale model

Jean Baptiste Filippi (1) , Frédéric Bosseur (1) , Jacques-Henri Balbi (1) , Denis Veynante (2) , Christine Lac (3) , Patrick Le Moigne (3) , Céline Mari (4) , Susanna Strada (4) , Bénédicte Cuenot (5) , Daniel Cariolle (5)

1 SPE - Sciences pour l'environnement
2 EM2C - Laboratoire d'Énergétique Moléculaire et Macroscopique, Combustion
3 CNRM - Centre national de recherches météorologiques
4 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie
5 CERFACS - Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique

A tight interaction exists between the development of a wildfire and the local meteorology near the front. The extreme convective effects of the heat released by the fire can modify the local wind circulation and consequently modify the fire propagation. Numerical coupling of a fire spread model with an atmospheric model has already been the subject of numerous study, most notably the work by Clark et al (2004). In this study we use the Meso-NH meso-scale numerical model in a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) configuration coupled to a simplified physical front tracking wildfire model to investigate the differences induced by the atmospheric feedback in propagation speed and behaviour. Simulations of typical experimental configurations show a good response of the coupled fire-atmospheric model. Numerical results matches qualitatively observed values for fire induced winds and convection. Both numerical models already have operational usage and might ultimately be run to support decisions in wildfire management

Domaines: Modélisation et simulation

Jean Baptiste Filippi, Frédéric Bosseur, Jacques-Henri Balbi, Denis Veynante, Christine Lac, et al.. A coupled atmosphere-wildland fire meso-scale model. 2009. ⟨hal-00593609⟩