Imperial College London
Alternate

Dr Yiannis Kountouris

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Centre for Environmental Policy

Senior Lecturer
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9316i.kountouris

 
 
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Location

 

106Weeks BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ford:2021:10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835,
author = {Ford, A and Harrison, S and Kountouris, I and Millington, J and Mistry, J and Perkins, O and Rabin, S and Rein, G and Schreckenberg, K and Smith, C and Smith, T and Yadav, K},
doi = {10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835},
journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Science},
pages = {1--23},
title = {Modelling human-fire interactions: combining alternative perspectives and approaches},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835},
volume = {9},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Although it has long been recognised that human activities affect fire regimes, the interactions between humans and fire are complex, imperfectly understood, constantly evolving, and lacking any kind of integrative global framework. Many different approaches are used to study human-fire interactions, but in general they have arisen in different disciplinary contexts to address highly specific questions. Models of human-fire interactions range from conceptual local models to numerical global models. However, given that each type of model is highly selective about which aspects of human-fire interactions to include, the insights gained from these models are often limited and contradictory, which can make them a poor basis for developing fire-related policy and management practices. Here, we first review different approaches to modelling human-fire interactions and then discuss ways in which these different approaches could be synthesised to provide a more holistic approach to understanding human fire interactions. We argue that the theory underpinning many types of models was developed using only limited amounts of data and that, in an increasingly data-rich world, it is important to re-examine model assumptions in a more systematic way. All of the models are designed to have practical outcomes but are necessarily simplifications of reality and as a result of differences in focus, scale and complexity, frequently yield radically different assessments of what might happen. We argue that it should be possible to combine the strengths and benefits of different types of model through enchaining the different models, for example from global down to local scales or vice versa. There are also opportunities for explicit coupling of different kinds of model, for example including agent-based representation of human actions in a global fire model. Finally, we stress the need for co-production of models to ensure that the resulting products serve the widest possible community.
AU  - Ford,A
AU  - Harrison,S
AU  - Kountouris,I
AU  - Millington,J
AU  - Mistry,J
AU  - Perkins,O
AU  - Rabin,S
AU  - Rein,G
AU  - Schreckenberg,K
AU  - Smith,C
AU  - Smith,T
AU  - Yadav,K
DO  - 10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835
EP  - 23
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 2296-665X
SP  - 1
TI  - Modelling human-fire interactions: combining alternative perspectives and approaches
T2  - Frontiers in Environmental Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.649835/full
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/91758
VL  - 9
ER  -
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