Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Modeling wind adjustment factor and midflame wind speed for Rothermel's surface fire spread model

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): Patricia L. Andrews
    Date: 2012
    Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-266. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 39 p.
    Publication Series: General Technical Report (GTR)
    Station: Rocky Mountain Research Station
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-266
    PDF: Download Publication  (4.29 MB)

    Description

    Rothermel's surface fire spread model was developed to use a value for the wind speed that affects surface fire, called midflame wind speed. Models have been developed to adjust 20-ft wind speed to midflame wind speed for sheltered and unsheltered surface fuel. In this report, Wind Adjustment Factor (WAF) model equations are given, and the BehavePlus fire modeling system is used to demonstrate WAF calculation and effect on modeled fire behavior. There are differences in implementation of the same basic wind adjustment models in various fire behavior applications, including the Fireline Handbook and FARSITE. Differences are due to assumptions such as tree shape and rules for transition from sheltered to unsheltered conditions. Specifics are given for differences among WAF tables and calculation applications. This technical documentation is useful to analysts, system developers, fire weather meteorologists, and those who are interested in model background and foundation.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to rmrspubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Andrews, Patricia L. 2012. Modeling wind adjustment factor and midflame wind speed for Rothermel's surface fire spread model. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-266. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 39 p.

    Cited

    Google Scholar

    Keywords

    wildland fire, fire behavior, fire danger rating, fire modeling, fire spread

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/39729