Forest fires as critical phenomena
- 1 October 1984
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Physics A: General Physics
- Vol. 17 (14), L757-L760
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0305-4470/17/14/006
Abstract
A simple model is presented which describes the propagation of a fire in a densely packed forest from a centrally located burning tree. This model shares some features with random bond percolation from which it is distinct. The authors find that the critical probability pc is approximately 1/3 for the triangular lattice, i.e. the onset of a spanning or 'penetrating' fire. In addition they find (i) a fractal dimensionality, dr of 1.75+or-0.05, (ii) the radius of gyration scales with time ( nu ) as 0.75+or-0.02 and (iii) the number of burnt trees scales with time as dt approximately 1.33+or-0.03 where dt is a metric exponent. More realistic models are presented for future consideration.Keywords
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