Simulation of the evolution of the 21 May 2009 wildfire from Mongolia to China using WRF-Fire Model

Journal:Trans Atmos Sci

Key Words:fire propagation;grassland;forest;meteorological factors;WRF-Fire

Abstract:The evolution of the "5·21" Mongolia wildfire in 2009 and the effect of fire-prevention isolation barrier along the China-Mongolia border were investigated by using WRF-Fire.The results showed that the model could reproduce the impacts of boundary winds on fire propagation.The simulation for fire area and propagation are shown to be broadly consistent with the observations:The first stage(1200 UTC 21st to 2200 UTC 21st),fire spread southwest slowly in the Mongolia because of low fuel loading on the near-bare surface with northeast wind.The second stage(2200 UTC 21 to 1100 UTC 22),wind direction turned to northwest,and fire spread southeast across flat and uniform grassland.Before the fire reached the border,the fire spread rapidly towards the isolation barrier because wind speed increased to reach around 8~10 m/s and wind direction was consistent with slope direction.The third stage(1100 UTC 22 to 2000 UTC 23),the barrier and firefighting was effective in preventing the fire entering Chinese territory.Then,the fire line spread north after wind direction turned to south.The fourth stage(2000 UTC 23 to 1200 UTC 24),wind speed reached more than 16 m/s and direction turned to northwest.However,fire spread south slowly due to the eastern isolation barrier and lake.When fire line reached the southern barrier,because of barrier and firefighting,the wildfire event ended at 0800 UTC 26.In the case that there was no barrier,sensitivity test showed that the fire would across the border and spread southeast and northeast following wind direction.In this situation,the main fuel type changed from grassland to needle forest,and the spreading fire would lead to a great loss of forest.

All the Authors:董琪如

First Author:Jun Yang

Indexed by:Journal paper

Discipline:Natural Science

Document Type:J

Volume:43

Issue:4

Page Number:718-727

Translation or Not:no

Date of Publication:2019-12-15

Publication links:http://dx.doi.org/10.13878/j.cnki.dqkxxb.20170418001