Forest fire
U.S.A.: Fighting wildfires before they start
(Society of American Foresters, 25 September 2001)
25 September 2001
Burning virtual trees is helping forest managers choose the best methods for reducing the risk from forest fires before they start. This scenario might sound futuristic, but computer simulations of forest fires are already transforming how land managers protect their forests and the people who live near them. By combining satellite-derived vegetation data with topographic maps, weather data, and ecological knowledge, forest scientists can construct digital landscapes on which these virtual fires burn. The computer-assisted approach to fire risk assessment is still relatively new and only partially adopted by the fire management community, but the advantages of using computers have become widely recognized, and the technology is spreading like — well, like wildfire. Read complete article:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast28aug_1.htm?list472937
