Modelling forest fires using complex networks

Forest fires have been a major threat to the environment throughout history. In order to mitigate its consequences, we present, in a first of a series of works, a mathematical model with the purpose of predicting fire spreading in a given land portion divided into patches, considering the area and t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMathematical and computational applications Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 1 - 17
Main Authors Perestrelo, Sara, Grácio, Clara, Cabral de Almeida Ribeiro, Nuno Manuel, Lopes, Luís
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI 28.09.2021
MDPI AG
Subjects
Automata theory
Cellular automata
Cellular communication
Complex networks
Fire spreading
Firebreaks
Forest & brush fires
Forest fires
Mathematical models
Multilayer networks
Multilayers
Series (mathematics)
Simulation
Vegetation
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Summary:Forest fires have been a major threat to the environment throughout history. In order to mitigate its consequences, we present, in a first of a series of works, a mathematical model with the purpose of predicting fire spreading in a given land portion divided into patches, considering the area and the rate of spread of each patch as inputs. The rate of spread can be estimated from previous knowledge on fuel availability, weather and terrain conditions. We compute the time duration of the spreading process in a land patch in order to construct and parametrize a landscape network, using cellular automata simulations. We use the multilayer network model to propose a network of networks at the landscape scale, where the nodes are the local patches, each with their own spreading dynamics. We compute some respective network measures and aim, in further work, for the establishment of a fire-break structure according to increasing accuracy simulation results.
ISSN:2297-8747
1300-686X
2297-8747
DOI:10.3390/mca26040068