Researcher Marc Castellnou Measures Wildfire Plumes to Predict Extreme Fire Behavior
Firefighter and researcher Marc Castellnou, along with the GRAF/Bombers Catalonia team, is actively measuring wildfire plumes to better understand and predict extreme fire behavior. This research is crucial as heat waves and droughts, intensified by climate change, are making wildfires more unpredictable and devastating. Unlike many natural hazards, extreme wildfires can rapidly accelerate, creating their own weather systems by generating enormous plumes that rise several kilometers into the atmosphere, sometimes forming pyroclouds. These plumes interact with the surrounding atmosphere, producing powerful winds that can alter fire behavior and sustain extreme spread. Castellnou employs weather balloons to gather real-time data on temperature, wind, and humidity both inside and outside these wildfire plumes. By combining these unique measurements with meteorology and computer models, his research aims to provide firefighters with critical information to anticipate and respond to rapidly changing fire condit...
