A cellular automaton model of fire-atmosphere interactions

Wildland fires are inherently complex phenomena with processes occurring across a range of spatial and temporal scales with varying degrees of feedback linking various processes. The influence of the atmosphere on a spreading fire and potential interactions has been an area of active research. Much of the modeling work on this problem has made use of the Navier-Stokes equations through a traditional computational fluid dynamics framework. An alternative approach is presented that involves a class of cellular automaton model referred to as a coupled map lattice for examining the problem of fire-atmosphere interactions. Results are presented to illustrate this approach's ability to capture various aspects of fire behavior while maintaining computational efficiency.