Coupled fire-atmosphere modeling of wildland fire spread using DEVS-FIRE and ARPS

This article introduces a new wildland fire spread prediction system consisting of the raster-based Discrete Event System Specification Fire model (DEVS-FIRE) and the Advanced Regional Prediction System atmospheric model (ARPS). Fire-atmosphere feedbacks are represented by transferring heat from DEVS-FIRE to ARPS as an externally forced set of surface fluxes and mapping the resulting changes in near-surface wind from ARPS to DEVS-FIRE. A preliminary evaluation of the performance of this coupled model is performed through idealized tests and an examination of the September 2000 Moore Branch Fire; the results conform well with those of other coupled models and are superior to those produced by the uncoupled DEVS-FIRE model, motivating further investigation.