EAGER: Wildfire Modeling and Prevention Initiative: Developing a Technical Framework for Integrating Research with Public Policy Decision Support

Wildfires are increasing in both absolute number and severity in the American southwest and this trend is predicted to continue over decades to come. Therefore, the need for descriptive and predictive simulation tools to support wildfire prevention, or suppression during future wildfire events, is becoming critical. As a first step, this project aims to develop a technical framework for integrating three-dimensional landscape models, real-time environmental data, and suite of simulation codes, and wildfire management protocols. This research will involve determining how best to merge elevation and ground classification datasets, couple fire propagation, atmospheric, and hydrologic simulation codes, and verify the accuracy of the coupled computations against historical wildfire data. Key components in the development of the technical framework include: 1) Identifying and obtaining access permissions to the wide variety of datasets needed to create the high-resolution digital model of the topography and landscape of San Diego County. 2) Investigating how these datasets can be seamlessly “sewn together” using GIS software systems. The integration methodology being developed will be investigated using an unburned area of San Diego County’s Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, which is an ideal rapid prototyping and validation site for this project. It is prone to the strong Santa Ana wind events we wish to study and is already equipped with intensive real-time wireless ground sensors connected through the NSF’s High-Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN).