MTT Fireline Intensity - Minimum Travel Time Fire Spread (MTT) Output

Fireline intensity describes the heat energy released per unit time from a one-foot-wide (or one-meter-wide) section of the fuel bed extending from the front to the rear of the flaming zone. Fireline intensity is a function of rate of spread and heat per unit area, and is directly related to flame length. In IFTDSS the units are in BTU/ft/sec in the Map Studio and reports, in the download it is kW/m.

Fireline intensity for an MTT output, shades of green indicate less intensity while shades of red indicate more intensity.

Rate of Spread is modeled for every cell.

MTT versus Landscape Fire Behavior – Output Differences

Minimum Travel Time Fire Spread (MTT) Fireline Intensity outputs may not match Landscape Fire Behavior, there are several reasons for this:

  • Fireline Intensity is specific to the direction the fire is spreading and can include heading, backing or flanking fire in MTT.

  • Fireline Intensity is the maximum rate of spread (head fire) regardless of direction in Landscape Fire Behavior.

  • Fireline Intensity is only calculated for areas that fire has burned in MTT.

  • Fireline Intensity is calculated for every pixel on the landscape in Landscape Fire Behavior.