Research

Recent Publications

A review of operations research methods applicable to wildfire management
Responding to bushfire risk: the need for transformative adaptation
Differences in water use between mature and post-fire regrowth stands of subalpine Eucalyptus delegatensis R. Baker
Policy review Mechanisms for sharing responsibility A report of the Sharing Responsibility project

Extreme fire behaviour

This project is investigating firebrand and spotfire potential and behaviour under extreme fire weather conditions. It is studying, both individually and en masse, the propagation and transitions of behaviour as a fire develops and involves different fuel layers.

From this knowledge, information on expected size and extent of fire in the landscape, and suppression capacity, will be used to construct frameworks for determining the most effective allocation of suppression resources, on both a seasonal and incident basis.

Purpose-built scientific instrumentation, methods and protocols will be developed and deployed to collect high quality physical data from active high intensity wildfires to validate research results

Publications from this Project

Conference Proceedings

An extreme fire processes cycle model for the February 2009 Victorian Fires

Bannister T, Gellie N, gibos K, Potter B

Journal Article

Field evaluation of two image-based wildland fire detection systems

Matthews S, Sullivan A, Gould J, Hurley R, Ellis P, Larmour J

Opportunities for the Project

PhD student opportunity firebrand research

CLOSING DATE:

PhD student opportunity: firebrand research

An opportunity exists for a PhD student to contribute to a project aimed at the development of understanding of the firebrand (ie in flight) potential of forest materials, notably the bark of eucalypt trees.

You will undertake research on a project aimed at describing the potential for ‘spotting’ (igniting new ‘spotfires’ ahead of bushfires) of eucalypt bark, and specifically the conditions likely to lead to the extreme hazard of mass ignition.

You will be involved in specific aspects of the project that include:

Collection of selected vegetative materials, notably eucalypt bark, which have the notoriety or potential to generate effective firebrands;
Development of methods to measure the combustion and aerodynamic characteristics of samples burning at their terminal velocities in a vertical wind tunnel;
Development of methods to measure the potential of firebrands of the above materials to ignite a typical, natural, forest fuelbed(s) for a range of wind velocities and fuel moisture contents
Quantification of the most significant in-flight firebrand characteristics for the selected materials
Quantification of the ignition potential of these materials when in a condition equivalent to that resulting from combusting flight

To be successful you’ll need:

A degree in Physics or Engineering
Sound skills in statistics
A flexible and innovative approach to problem-solving
Strong communication skills, and the ability to work as part of a team
A commitment to research which will address the lack of knowledge of a significant and costly facet of bushfire behaviour: spotting

You will be enrolled at the Australian National University, Canberra and based at CSIRO’s ACT sites at Yarralumla and Black Mountain. Field work in NSW and Victoria will entail appraisal of potential firebrand fuels, and collection. The student will be co-supervised by Dr Andrew Sullivan and Dr Peter Ellis (CSIRO Ecosytem Sciences).

For more information contact Dr Andrew Sullivan email: andrew.sullivan@csiro.au

Contact for more info:

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Masters student opportunity: Fire development, transitions and suppression

CLOSING DATE:

Masters student opportunity: Fire development, transitions and suppression

A masters level student is sought for the Bushfire CRC extension project “Fire development, transitions and suppression”. This project seeks to define the conditions necessary for initiation, development and propagation of high intensity fires and to determine anticipated short term fire danger, fire load and suppression resource demands. The project consists of three components: 1) Firebrand potential and spotfire initiation; 2) Fire propagation and transitions; and 3) Fire load and suppression resourcing. This masters project will operate within the third component. This component is focused on predicting fire load (the number, extent and behaviour of active fires) and determining suppression resourcing required to cope with given fire loads.

The proposed maters project will focus on suppression resource productivity and response. The project will aim to develop empirical models that would provide a greater understanding of factors influencing line production and response times for different resource types, thereby providing a means for making direct comparisons of firefighting resource types under a range of conditions. Productivity models will predict the rate of fireline production (length of fire edge extinguished in a given time) for different suppression resources, fire and environmental conditions. Response models will predict the time taken for different suppression resources to reach a fire. Data collection will involve elicitation of expert knowledge in workshops and the use of resource tracking systems.

The project will be useful for developing a highly qualified person who could pursue a career in either fire management or fire research. The ideal candidate would be someone with an undergraduate degree and experience working in strategic roles within the Australian fire industry who is interested in pursuing a career in either senior fire management or research. Ideally the student will be based within a fire agency for the duration of their project and will involve the agency in data collection work.

The masters program will be supervised by CSIRO (Dr Matt Plucinski), an end user agency and a university. The end user agency will assist with selection of case study areas and will assist with the provision and collection of data. The university will be selected by the Bushfire CRC from their partnering institutions.

For more detail contact Dr Matt Plucinski email: matt.plucinski@csiro.au

Contact for more info:

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