Case study: Wildfire visualization

Conference · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:548680

Ahrens, J; McCormick, P; Bossert, J; Reisner, J; Winterkamp, J

The ability to forecast the progress of crisis events would significantly reduce human suffering and loss of life, the destruction of property, and expenditures for assessment and recovery. Los Alamos National Laboratory has established a scientific thrust in crisis forecasting to address this national challenge. In the initial phase of this project, scientists at Los Alamos are developing computer models to predict the spread of a wildfire. Visualization of the results of the wildfire simulation will be used by scientists to assess the quality of the simulation and eventually by fire personnel as a visual forecast of the wildfire`s evolution. The fire personnel and scientists want the visualization to look as realistic as possible without compromising scientific accuracy. This paper describes how the visualization was created, analyzes the tools and approach that was used, and suggests directions for future work and research.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 548680
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--97-2761; CONF-970744--; ON: DE98001017
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
FIRES
FORECASTING
NATURAL DISASTERS
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION