Atmospheric processes in the atmospheric boundary layer significantly influence the behavior of wildfires

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Improving Aviation LLC $299,668 under the Small Business Innovation Research Program to develop a fully automated wind observing system called WINDTL. The system will allow for measurements of local wind velocity components and statistics near wildfire fronts with improved temporal and spatial resolution compared to existing satellite and weather model data. With a completion date of February 28, 2023, the project aims to provide higher resolution wind information critical for precise wildfire spread modeling, especially within wildland-urban interfaces. The NOAA SBIR Program seeks to stimulate technological innovation and increase commercialization of federal research through awards to small businesses, such as this project to advance wildfire forecasting capabilities.

Temporal and spatial variability of fine-scale winds at fire fronts play a key role in controlling the rate of fire spread. Available wind information from satellites and numerical weather prediction models does not meet the need for the temporal and spatial resolution for precise modeling of wildfires, especially the fire spread through ember dispersal within wildland-urban interfaces (WUI). We propose a fully automated wind observing system, windtl, that allows measurements of local velocity components and their statistics close to the fire front.