Description of wildfires spreading and extinguishing with the aid of agent-based models

Abstract

The article describes a new method of describing wildfires spreading and extinguishing based on agent-based models. The agent approach in conjunction with geoinformation systems (GIS) permits to efficiently describe the interaction of a big number of participants of wildfire fighting: spreading fire, fire brigades, means of mechanization, air means, etc. In the current paper, this approach is illustrated by an example of two types of agents denoted as A and B. The burning fire line is seen as a chain of type A agents, each of which imitates burning of an elementary area of vegetable fuel. The fire line movement is described by Hamilton-Jacobi equation and is calculated based on the moving grid algorithm. Agents of another type - B-agents - describe fire extinguishing, they approach the agents of A type and affect them decreasing fire intensity to zero. This model is presented by a GIS-oriented software system which may be enhanced and be useful both for fire control management and training personnel in wildfire fighting tactics.