, Ph.D., a mechanical engineering researcher and assistant professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation Faculty to study the prediction and mitigation of fire spread in wildfire-prone areas. Her findings may elevate the importance of fire science in the national landscape.Yaghoobian is the sole investigator in a new study to explore the effect of the flight behavior and transport of fragments of burning materials, called “firebrands” or flying embers, by turbulent winds. Her five-year grant begins this spring.
“By understanding what a flying ember experiences in its flight path through turbulent winds we can predict where it will land and whether the ember can create a spot fire,” Yaghoobian said.
Yaghoobian’s research uses computer modeling techniques to replicate the physics of firebrand transport in her models. The method allows her to examine the flight dynamics of the fiery ember particles in the turbulent wind flows to predict where they might land, and whether they can initiate new spot fires.
“Post-fire studies indicate firebrands are responsible for most of the wildfire spreads into communities, commonly referred to as wildland-urban interfaces (WUI - rhymes with ‘gooey’),” she said. “The embers can be carried by the wind by several meters and kilometers ahead of the main fire, so we are trying to understand this phenomenon better, considering different atmospheric flow and land surface conditions.”
Because of increased drought and climate change the U.S. is experiencing increased wildfires in recent years and the costs associated with them have multiplied. Four-and-a-half million U.S. homes are currently at high or extreme risk of wildfires in the first half of 2020, 19,762 wildfires occurred in the U.S. burning more than 439,422 acres.
Dr. Yabhoobian’s study intends to advance fire science and help with the prediction and mitigation of fire spread.