Fire plumes in the atmospheric boundary layer

This project aims to develop a forecasting tool, driven by high resolution atmospheric modelling, that provides an objective measure of the influence of the above-surface atmospheric layer on fire behaviour. The forecasting tool will have the capability to:

1. Predict likely fire plume structure spatially and temporally across Australia given location and time.
2. Based on (1) above, assess how the profile of atmospheric stability and winds in the lower levels of the atmosphere will affect the surface fire behaviour, and
3. Produce forecast (or prediction) maps and meteograms showing when and where conditions are favourable for fires to erode nocturnal inversions and entrain the conditions are favourable for a fire to erode/overcome stable conditions in the atmosphere above it (e.g. a nocturnal inversion) and entrain/recruit the conditions higher in the atmosphere in a way which effects the behaviour at the surface.

The tool should be able to be integrated into CSIRO Spark Operational and also be able to augment assessments of Fire Danger made using the AFDRS. Training in the use of the tool for key operational staff is also a requirement of this project.