Simulating Fire Spread in Sagebrush Steppe: An Approach to Improving Input Data and Accuracy
Simulations of wildfire spread are needed for the management and study of wildfires in the vast sagebrush steppe of North America.
By comparing simulated fire-spread to actual wildfire patterns, managers and researchers can assess the accuracy of fire-spread simulations, but these simulations require information about the vegetation that serves as fuel. USGS researchers assessed the accuracy of the Fire-Area Simulator, or FARSITE, using different fuel-input options for the 2015 Soda Fire in Oregon and Idaho, USA. The researchers found that using satellite-derived vegetation maps to inform FARSITE resulted in a better simulation of fire spread when compared to other sources of vegetation information. In addition, this method accurately simulated fire-spread for the 2016 Cherry Road fire. This accurate method for simulating fire spread can help in understanding fire behavior, improve safety for firefighters, and inform wildfire fuel treatments.
Price, S.J., and Germino, M.J., 2022, Simulation of a historic megafire in sagebrush steppe using FARSITE- inaccuracies resulting from LANDFIRE inputs rectified using readily available vegetation maps derived from satellite imagery: Fire Ecology, v. 23, no. 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-022-00147-2
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