USING SOLID TERRAIN MODELS TO FIGHT FOREST FIRES

摘要

We began using solid - ter- rain models to help fight forest fires back in 1999. Cut from high-density foam, these 3-D models show topography in great detail and in full color. These solid models have many advantages over flat maps. People immediately "get" the features of the terrain: scale, distance, points of view, and sightlines are easy to distinguish, even for those who don't know how to read a topographical map. We obtained our first model while we were fighting a huge California wildfire. Lightning had started the Kirk South Fire in the Los Padres National Forest, in Monterey County, California, September 8, 1999. Twenty days later, the fire was still uncon-tained and had spread over 20,000 acres. We had been using maps to illustrate our tactical plans during team briefing sessions. But our suppression tactics weren't working, and what we accomplished one day was undone the next when the fire burned over the fire lines.