Assessing the Potential for Pyroconvection and Wildfire Blow Ups

Leach, Ryan N.; Gibson, Chris V.

doi:10.15191/nwajom.2021.0904

i

Assessing the Potential for Pyroconvection and Wildfire Blow Ups

2021
By Leach, Ryan N. ; Gibson, Chris V.

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of Operational Meteorology
Personal Author:

Leach, Ryan N. ; Gibson, Chris V.
NOAA Program & Office:

NWS (National Weather Service)
Description:

Fire meteorologists have few tools for assessing atmospheric stability in the context of wildfires. Most tools at our disposal were developed for assessing thunderstorms and general convection, and so they ignore heat and moisture supplied by the wildfire. We propose a simple parcel-based model that can be used to assess how the atmosphere will affect a growing wildfire plume by also taking into account the heat and moisture released from the fire. From this model, we can infer trends in day to day atmospheric stability as it relates to fire plumes. We can also infer how significant the appearance of a pyrocumulus cloud on the top of a fire column is. In some cases, the appearance of a pyrocumulus indicates that the fire is near if not already blowing up, whereas in other cases environmental conditions remain too stable to have a significant effect. A qualitative application of the model is demonstrated through application to a 2017 wildfire case in Western Montana.
Keywords:

Atmospheric Science Computers In Earth Sciences Management Science And Operations Research Computers In Earth Sciences Management Science And Operations Research Computers In Earth Sciences Management Science And Operations Research
Source:

Journal of Operational Meteorology (2021)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2021.0904
ISSN:

2325-6184
Format:

PDF
Publisher:

National Weather Association
Document Type:

Journal Article
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:95432146f6b5f8825baa7fb8b7ff29be1f2d41d72857ba98e730f9054c58c545a437ce6d19c7c301b5b97b65f634964e36810faa91fd98c817399064558800e1
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/63685/noaa_63685_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.29 MB ]

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