Wind is one of the most critical environmental factors affecting fire behavior and intensity.

WindWizard is a computer model designed to calculate the effect of topography on local wind flow. Outputs from the model are wind speed and direction every 100-300ft over the terrain. Simulations can be completed on a laptop computer in about 1 hour. Wind information at this detail is not available from the weather service. The wind simulations are not forecasts but rather simulations of what the wind flow would be under different general (synoptic) wind speed and direction scenarios.

The User can essentially pick the scenario they want to simulate; it might be based on forecasts, local observations or historical weather patterns. This high resolution wind information has been used to identify areas and/or conditions that may produce high fire intensity and spread rates and for identifying locations where fire spotting might occur. It also increases the accuracy of FARSITE predictions. Additional information is available at http://www.firemodels.org.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Bret Butler, Research Mechanical Engineer

Staff

Jason Forthofer, Mechanical Engineer, Kyle Shannon, Forester

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

This system is designed to provide detailed wind information to fire managers, prescribed fire planners, fire crews, and incident command teams.

Project Status

The tool is fully developed. A 5 year license for WindWizard is available from ANSYS corporation. Contact Bret Butler for additional information.

Funding Organization

This project has received significant funding from the US Forest Service and the Joint Fire Science Program

Downloads

We are currently in the process of developing a software package that will give users the ability to simulate wind profiles for any DEM of choice. The development is currently in a BETA phase. Continue to check this site for further updates. For additional questions please contact Dr. Bret Butler at the Fire Science Lab.

PUBLICATIONS

Butler, B.W., Forthofer, J.M., Finney, M., Bradshaw, L.S. and Stratton, R., 2004. High resolution wind direction and speed information for support of fire operations. In: Agiurre and Celedonio (Editors), Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO., Denver, CO; Proceedings RMRS-P-37CD, pp. 990.

McHugh, C.,Creating Wind – Velocity vectors in ArcView.

Jimenez, D.M., Creating Wind – Velocity vectors in ArcMap.