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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Photo of Michael Gollner
Photo of flames

Monday, April 28, 2014 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Michael Gollner

"Modeling Wildfires: Past, Present and Future"

ABSTRACT -- In 2012, wildland fires burned more than 4.3 million acres, destroying 4244 structures and killing 34 firefighters. An accurate computer model of wildland fire is therefore essential, for land use planning and for real-time operations. In the early 1970's, Richard Rothermel and colleagues developed the first operational fire model. Although it was a great improvement, it cannot model many of the extreme fire behaviors seen today.

This talk will discuss projects that seek to improve the accuracy of the models and to allow better use of real-time data. For example, a recent joint project with the US Forest Service showed that fires spread through small-scale, local interactions. A joint project with UC San Diego aims at better use of real-time data. This approach to modeling is similar to weather forecasting.

SPEAKER -- Dr. Michael J. Gollner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He studies fire science using experiments and combustion and fluid dynamics theory. His work includes real-time, sensor-driven wildland fire modeling, mechanisms of wildland fire spread, and fire hazards in green buildings. Dr. Gollner will teach the first engineering-based wildland fire course at the University of Maryland in 2014.

His research is supported by the NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Forest Service, among others. He serves in the International Association for Fire Safety Science. He is Associate Editor of Fire Technology and serves on the board of the Fire Safety Journal. For NASA, he has reviewed fire research experiments for the International Space Station. Dr. Gollner holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the UC, San Diego.


Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov