Photogrammetric analysis of a fire front passage with Doppler wind lidar

On 30 January 2013, San Jose State University, in conjunction with the University of Houston, University of Utah, the University of Montana, and local authorities, conducted the FireFlux II field campaign in La Marque, Texas. The goal of the experiment was to examine behavior of a head fire in prairie grass on flat terrain. The control burn took place during a post-frontal Red Flag Warning. In addition to the array of instrumentation present during the field campaign, a ground-based Halo Photonics, Ltd. Stream Line 75 Lidar obtained Doppler wind velocities and backscatter intensity for the prescribed fire. By combining this lidar data, through photogrammetric techniques, with both ground-based and helicopter-based time-lapse photography and infrared imagery, an evaluation of the progression of the fire front is conducted. Preliminary analysis of the lidar measurements show strong fire-induced winds, while horizontal and vertical cross-sectional scans overlaid on corresponding images of the fire show the development of both the head fire and the flanking fire as it progressed across the prairie site. In situ measurements taken from micrometeorological towers from within the fire correlate to the wind behavior shown in the lidar analysis.