Date of Award
12-2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Forest Resources
Committee Chair/Advisor
Song, Bo
Committee Member
Conner , William
Committee Member
Post , Chris
Committee Member
Shelburne , Victor
Abstract
Previous studies in fire visualization have required high end computer hardware and specialized technical skills. This study demonstrated fire visualization is possible using Visual Nature Studio and standard computer hardware. Elevation and vegetation data were used to create a representation of the New Jersey pine barren environment and a forest compartment within Hobcaw Barony. Photographic images were edited to use as image object models for forest vegetation. The FARSITE fire behavioral model was used to model a fire typical of that area. Output from FARSITE was used to visualize the fire with tree models edited to simulate burning and flame models. Both static and animated views of the fire spread and effects were visualized. The two visualization methods were compared for advantages and disadvantages. VNS visualizations were more realistic, including many effects such as ground textures, lighting, user made models, and atmospheric effects. However the program had higher hardware requirements and sometimes rendered images slowly. ArcScene had lower hardware requirements and produced visualizations with real time movement. The resulting images lacked many of the effects found in VNS and were more simplistic looking.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Brian, "Three Dimensional Visualization of Fire Spreading Over Forest Landscapes" (2008). All Theses. 492.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/492