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Olkola Fire Simulation

Tutorial 

To build skill in using the Olkola NetLogo model it is best to use the model to produce some example fire simulations that you can show others to explain how fire behaves and what needs to be done to manage it. To improve your skills using the fire simulation model and your understanding of fire behaviour complete the two exercises;

    (1)  create a fire behaviour matrix
    (2) create a fire management video.

The outputs from these two exercises will be placed on a web page illustrating Olkoa fire behaviour. 

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1. Create a fire behaviour matrix

The example shown here uses three fire danger settings and two wind speed settings. This illustrates how the outcome of a fire is very dependent on the fire weather conditions.

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To produce a fire matrix you need to

  1. Set your fire weather conditions

  2. Set some ignition points

  3. Save those ignitions points

  4. Run the model

  5. Wait for the model to run for a day or two or until the fire goes out.

  6. Save a picture of the outcome

  7. Change the fire weather conditions and go back to step one and repeat.

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Do this for at least three fire danger settings and at least wind speed settings. 

To save a picture use the Save Picture button at the bottom right of model window

When press the 'Save Picture' button the map window is automatically saved in the output folder in the directory where you have saved the model.

Each saved picture is named with the fire weather settings you used for the model run. To make the matrix you can import the pictures into PowerPoint and label them with their wind speed and fire danger setting as with the example.

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2. Create a fire management video 

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Create a video that illustrates some basic principles of how to use fire to manage fire. An example of what we want to produce is shown in the video below. Make something like this but for Olkola country.

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To create this video you need to use the "Vid Start" and "Vid Save" buttons. "Vid Start" will capture each frame of the simulation as it runs. When you have finished capturing a simulation example of controlling fire "Vid Save" then saves the output video into a folder of your choice.

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Unfortunately, the video format is very large and not very good for sharing. To be able to play and share the video you then need to convert the format. In order to do this, I included free video conversion software you will find in the output > video folder called qwinff. To convert your video:

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  1. Run qwinff.exe to open the interface

  2. Drag your video into the interface

  3. Click 'next' and use the default mp4 output settings

  4. Click 'finish' on the settings window

  5. Click 'Start' on the main window

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You find the output video I'm mp4 format. You can now share this via email or upload it to Youtube.

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Remember more information about how to use the model is on the main Olkola fire sim page.

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