Fire Weather

Weather is the most rapidly changing factor controlling fire behavior and fire danger. AirFire studies the atmospheric interactions with fire on scales of 1 to 1000 km. The goal of these studies is development of tools and knowledge to support fire operations and planning so that individuals responsible for these tasks can better protect lives and property. Current areas of active research include predicting dry lightning outbreaks; the impact of moisture produced by burning on plume behavior; synoptic scale dynamics producing rapid fire growth; and the energy budget of the fire environment.

Downdraft Convective Available Potential Energy (DCAPE)