Gielis superformula and wildfire models

Abstract

Experimental data on the propagation of wildfires show that its short-time spread has a double semi-elliptical shape. Our main goal is to show that this shape can be accurately approximated in polar coordinates by choosing suitable parameters in Gielis superformula and, then, implemented in a geometrical model for wildfire propagation. In this model, the firefront can be determined by computing the lightlike geodesics of a specific Finsler spacetime, and we derive a concise and efficient expression of the geodesic equations in these coordinates.