Associação para o Desenvolvimento da Aerodinâmica Industrial

Abstract. Accurate and spatially explicit information on forest fuels becomes essential to designing an integrated fire risk management strategy, as fuel characteristics are critical for fire danger estimation, fire propagation, and emissions modelling, among other aspects. This paper proposes a new European fuel classification system that can be used for different spatial scales and purposes (propagation, behaviour, and emissions). The proposed classification system is hierarchical and encompasses a total of 85 fuel types, grouped into six main fuel categories (forest, shrubland, grassland, cropland, wet and peat/semi-peat land, and urban), plus a nonfuel category. For the forest cover, fuel types include two vertical strata, overstorey and understorey, to account for both surface and canopy fuels. In addition, this paper presents the methods to map fuel types at the European scale, including the first-level of the classification system. Land cover, biogeographic datasets, and bioclimatic modelling were used. The final map, which is publicly available (https://doi.org/10.21950/YABYCN; Aragoneses et al., 2022a), included 20 fuel categories at 1 km spatial resolution. A first assessment of this map was performed using field information obtained from LUCAS (Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey), complemented with high-resolution data. This validation exercise provided an overall accuracy of 88 % for the main fuel types and 81 % for all mapped fuel types. To facilitate the use of this fuel dataset in fire behaviour modelling, an assignment of fuel parameters to each fuel type was performed by developing a crosswalk to the standard fuel models defined by Scott and Burgan (2005; FBFMs – Fire Behavior Fuel Models), considering European climate diversity. This work has been developed within the framework of the FirEUrisk project, which aims to create a European-integrated strategy for fire danger assessment, reduction, and adaptation.

The differences between the detonation behaviour of ammonium nitrate based emulsion explosives sensitized with polymeric and those sensitized with glass micro-balloons is presented and discussed. Expancel® are hollow polymeric micro-balloons that contain a hydrocarbon gas. The mean particle size of these particles is 30 m with a wall thickness of about 0.1 m. The detonation velocity and the failure diameter of the emulsion explosive sensitized with different amounts of these particles have been measured in cylindrical charges by optical fibers. The detonation velocity demonstrates non-linear behaviour in relation to density and reaches the maximum value for a density lower than that of the matrix. The detonation fails when the density approaches that of the matrix. The detonation in the emulsion explosives extinguishes itself at a porosity value that seems to be independent from the nature of the sensitizing agent. For low densities, the detonation velocity is almost independent of the charge diameter, and is close to the values predicted by BKW equation of state.

Shallow coastal lagoons driven by tidal processes are extremely dynamic environments prone to continuous natural and anthropogenic pressures. The hydrodynamics of these systems deeply depends on the effect of local morphology on the tidal propagation, so their permanent evolution constantly changes tidal dependent processes. For this reason, the present work aims to review the main characteristics of Ria de Aveiro hydrodynamics, a shallow lagoon located at the Atlantic Coast of Portugal, evaluating its evolution over the last 30 years (between 1987 and 2020) and investigating the main morphological changes in its origin. For this purpose, a comparative analysis is performed to determine the main process, including the observed hydrodynamic changes: Deepening of the inlet channel or of the main lagoon channels. To achieve these goals, the authors explored a remarkable database including bathymetric, tide gauge, and salinity data from 1987 until the present. This analysis is completed by the exploitation of a hydrodynamical model (Delft3D), validated against field data. Several simulations were performed to analyse changes in tidal propagation along the lagoon channels (considering the main semi-diurnal constituent M2), tidal asymmetry, tidal currents, tidal prism, and salinity patterns. The results show that the general deepening of the lagoon observed between 1987 and 2020 led to important changes in the lagoon hydrodynamics, namely the increase/decrease of the M2 constituent amplitude/phase, as well as the increase of tidal currents and salt intrusion within the entire lagoon, with the changes being amplified towards the head of the main channels. Although the inlet deepening partially contributed to the modifications found, the results revealed that the deepening of the main lagoon channels had the most significant contribution to the changes observed during the last 30 years.

Spotting is thought to increase wildfire rate of spread (ROS) and in some cases become the main mechanism for spread. The role of spotting in wildfire spread is controlled by many factors including fire intensity, number of and distance between spot fires, weather, fuel characteristics and topography. Through a set of 30 laboratory fire experiments on a 3 m x 4 m fuel bed, subject to air flow, we explored the influence of manually ignited spot fires (0, 1 or 2), the presence or absence of a model hill and their interaction on combined fire ROS (i.e. ROS incorporating main fire and merged spot fires). During experiments conducted on a flat fuel bed, spot fires (whether 1 or 2) had only a small influence on combined ROS. Slowest combined ROS was recorded when a hill was present and no spot fires were ignited, because the fires crept very slowly downslope and downwind of the hill. This was up to, depending on measurement interval, 5 times slower than ROS in the flat fuel bed experiments. However, ignition of 1 or 2 spot fires (with hill present) greatly increased combined ROS to similar levels as those recorded in the flat fuel bed experiments (depending on spread interval). The effect was strongest on the head fire, where spot fires merged directly with the main fire, but significant increases in off-centre ROS were also detected. Our findings suggest that under certain topographic conditions, spot fires can allow a fire to overcome the low spread potential of downslopes. Current models may underestimate wildfire ROS and fire arrival time in hilly terrain if the influence of spot fires on ROS is not incorporated into predictions.

Indoor swimming pools are recognised as having a high level of energy consumption and present a great potential for energy saving. The energy is spent in several ways such as evaporation heat loss from the pool, high rates of ventilation required to guarantee the indoor air quality, and ambient temperatures with expressive values (typically 28−30°C) required to maintain conditions of comfort. This paper presents an approach to optimising control of heat ventilation and air conditioning systems that could be implemented in a building energy management system. It is easily adapted to any kind of pool and results in significant energy consumption reduction. The development and validation of the control model were carried out with a building thermal simulation software. The use of this control model in the case study building could reduce the energy efficiency index by 7.14 points (7.4% of total) which adds up to an energy cost saving of 15,609€ (7.5% of total).

Wildfire Decision Support Systems are critical tools for civil protection authorities in the management of all wildfire stages, including prevention. To timely act and apply the necessary preventive measures to reduce the fire danger in wildfires, many proposed calibration studies of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System (CFFWIS) have been performed mainly based on techniques that still depend on manual and empirical analysis, being limited to exploiting a few regions. This paper proposes a methodology for automatic calibration of the CFFWIS to obtain a fire danger measurement that best suits the specific characteristics of a given region. The proposed methodology, applied to 769 regions from Europe, is based on the k-means clustering technique to automatically identify patterns in the data sets composed of elements of the CFFWIS and wildfire records. The results of the automatic calibration of the CFFWIS on each of the 769 regions reinforce the versatility of the proposed methodology, which can be adapted to different regions.

In this paper, a methodology to perform thermal and acoustic characterization of a forest fire event is reported. The analysis of fire emission properties has been carried out through laboratory and field testing, consisted in the burning of different fuels placed on tables or on field plots. The objectives of the trials have been the evaluation of fire radiated heat to fiber optic sensors with cables in open air, buried or inside the flames, and the evaluation of fire acoustic spectra, with respect to the different fuel types and fire conditions. Post processing algorithms on acquired acoustic signals have been developed to evaluate the fire frequency content, which defines the signature of the fire noise; the results obtained have confirmed the main spectrum features reported in literature. The measurement of temperature variations by fiber optic sensors has been useful to characterize sensors behavior with respect to fire, wind and smoke. The results of the tests have been used in the design phase of a new fire monitoring system made up of acoustic sensors, able to detect and track fires from the beginning, and fiber optic sensors, for a capillary monitoring of temperature in forest areas.

In this article, we describe a performance comparison conducted between several digital filters intended to mitigate the intrinsic noise observed in magnetometers. The considered filters were used to smooth the control signals derived from the magnetometers, which were present in an autonomous forestry machine. Three moving average FIR filters, based on rectangular Bartlett and Hanning windows, and an exponential moving average IIR filter were selected and analyzed. The trade-off between the noise reduction factor and the latency of the proposed filters was also investigated, taking into account the crucial importance of latency on real-time applications and control algorithms. Thus, a maximum latency value was used in the filter design procedure instead of the usual filter order. The experimental results and simulations show that the linear decay moving average (LDMA) and the raised cosine moving average (RCMA) filters outperformed the simple moving average (SMA) and the exponential moving average (EMA) in terms of noise reduction, for a fixed latency value, allowing a more accurate heading angle calculation and position control mechanism for autonomous and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

The interaction of rugged terrain and extreme fire weather can have a variety of influences on bushfire propagation. These influences can sometimes result in highly atypical modes of fire propagation that can cause rapid escalation of bushfires to their most catastrophic state, thereby subjecting communities and assets to the highest levels of risk. In one such example, referred to as fire channelling, the interaction results in rapid lateral development of a fire (in a direction transverse to the synoptic winds) in addition to enhanced downwind fire development and the production of expansive flaming zones, which may occur as a precursor to the formation of pyrocumulus, or even pyrocumulonimbi. In this paper, we give an overview of the fire channelling phenomenon and report on some of the recent modelling and simulation efforts directed at providing a more formal understanding of it.

Sustainable agriculture practices within the guidelines of nutrient recycling and the circular economy must be increasingly promoted. This work aims to evaluate the performance of dried sewage sludge (DSS), green liquor dregs mixed with sewage sludge (DSSA), raw sewage sludge, and commercial organic fertilizer control, using a short-term agronomic assessment with lettuce crop (Lactuca sativa) in greenhouse conditions. Different application rates based on the nitrogen content were tested for each soil amendment: 0, 85, 170, and 225 kg N/ha (treatments T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively). DSS and DSSA resulted in fresh lettuce productivities 1.3 and 3.2 times higher in T3 than in T0, respectively. The ideal N content in lettuce leaves was reached for all materials and treatments, with the highest values obtained for DSS (2.88–3.33% from T1 to T3). Lettuce produced in soils amended with DSS and DSSA showed also ideal levels of Ca. Overall, the performance of sludge-based products was similar to commercial fertilizer, without impairing the nutritional balance of the crop and the soil.

In this paper, a methodology to perform the acoustic characterization of a forest fire event is reported. A review of the influence of fuel type (litter, grass, shrubs, slash), fuel moisture, and weather factors on fire behaviour and on the relative acoustic spectrum has been carried out. Fire produced noise is basically due to periodic fluctuations of whirling structures at the fire's basis; these structures have natural low frequencies and are inversely proportional to fuel surface. The analysis of fire emission properties has been based upon laboratory and field testing, consisted of the burning of different fuels placed on tables or on field plots. The objectives of the trials have been the evaluation of fire acoustic spectra, with respect to the different fuel types and fire conditions. The frequency content of the acoustic signals has been evaluated; the results obtained have confirmed the main spectrum features reported in literature. Tests have also been made to evaluate the fire radiated heat to fibre optic sensors with cables in open air, buried or inside the flames, in order to characterise sensors behaviour with respect to fire, wind and smoke. The results of the tests have been used in the design phase of a new fire monitoring system made up of acoustic sensors, which is able to detect and track fires from the beginning, and fibre optic sensors, for a capillary monitoring of temperature in forest areas.

The EU-FIRE project has the objective of designing a new forest fire monitoring system able to guarantee accurate and continuous surveillance and forecasting, immediate detection of fire beginnings, monitoring of the fire’s evolution, and timely exchange of information from fire fronts. The main technological gaps are filled by the integration of optoelectronic and acoustic technologies. The EU-FIRE integrated prototype is based on: (a) A completely new acoustic system for volumetric scanning, based on high directional arrays of microphones, contributing to give a deeper monitoring of forest safety through the possibility of detecting and tracking fires from the beginning by the recognition of their acoustic emission spectrum (i.e. their “sound/noise”). (b) A completely new design of fibre optic sensor networks for temperature and gaseous emissions monitoring installed in grids around sensible infrastructures to provide information on fire movements. Data from fibre optic sensors is collected through new optoelectronic reading units. (c) A completely new acquisition unit for data fusion from both innovative and traditional systems. The project activities covered the characterization of fires’ acoustic signature and heat transfer related to fire spread and environmental conditions, type and quantity of material in combustion, background noise, topography, and distance from the source. To achieve these goals, several field tests were performed in 2007 and 2008 – indoor tables and outdoor plots have been burned with different fuels (straw, shrubs, login slash, and pine needles) and environmental conditions. Data have been collected using standard instrumentation consisting of microphones, 2-D and 3-D microphone arrays and fibre optic temperature sensors. Data post processing drove the design of the system in terms of microphones and arrays of numbers and positions, temperature fibre optic sensor installation constraints, etc.

Every year, wildfires cause significant losses and destruction around the globe. In order to attempt to reduce their damages, resources have been put into developing fire propagation prediction systems. In a real wildfire event, these systems provide the authorities with information about the fire propagation in the near future, thus allowing them to make better decisions. Wildfire spread prediction systems are based on fire propagation models, from which the most used and accepted model is the Rothermel model. However, given the complexity of the wildfire phenomena and the uncertainty of some of its input parameter values, the Rothermel model can produce misleading results of fire propagation. This paper uses 3 metaheuristic algorithms, genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE) and simulated annealing (SA), for calibration of input parameters from the Rothermel model. These algorithms were validated using 37 datasets containing data from controlled experimental fires. Results have shown that these algorithms provide a precise wildfire spread prediction accounting for the uncertainties in the model’s selected parameters.

. This paper aims at presenting the main results of an energy audit performed to a gypsum production plant, in Portugal, which due to the amount of energy consumed must comply with the Portuguese program SGCIE (Intensive Energy Consumption Management System). The program was created in 2008 to promote energy efficiency and energy consumption monitoring in intensive energy consuming facilities (energy consumption higher than 500 toe per year). Facilities operators are required to perform energy audits and take actions to draw up an action plan for energy efficiency, establishing targets for energy consumption reduction and greenhouse gases emissions indexes. An energy audit was carried out to identify potential energy conservation measures for improving energy efficiency, and also typical energy consumption patterns, sector/equipment load profiles and thermal equipment performance. This tool gives managers the information to support decision making on improving energy performance and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A number of tangible targets and measures were devised and set to be implemented in the next few years. Results show that there is a considerable potential for reduction in the energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions of gypsum manufacturing plants. Here, as elsewhere in the industrial sector, energy efficiency can only be achieved through a continuous energy monitoring and management system.

The merging of two linear forest fire fronts that intersect at a small angle creates an accelerating fire in a relatively short time. In the majority of cases during the interaction, the fire fronts are non-symmetric. In Pedrogão Grande on the 17th June 2017, two-fire front merged and the propagation of the fire was influenced by the interaction of these two non-symmetric fire fronts. This forest fire motivates us to study the Junction Fire with two non-symmetrical fire fronts. The analysis of the interaction of point A and the angle between the bisector of the fire lines and the maximum ROS () is of particular relevance. It is found that with these preliminary laboratory tests, the non-ROS of point A for small rotation angles () depends on the slope angle () and the initial angle between fire fronts. For the highest slope angles, the non-ROS is the highest influence by the convection process, and the angle  where the maximum ROS occurred, increases when  increases. However, for the lowest slope angles, the radiation process is dominant and influences the non-ROS. For these cases, the angle ï§ï€ is near to the bisector of the fire lines.

It is a well-observed phenomenon in developed societies that, in order to return to nature, a part of the society seeks to settle near forests or in the forest creating wildland – urban interface (WUI) areas. It has special features and generates significant risk of fire on the experts try to find responds. In the present study, the authors intend to explore the theoretical foundations of the application of the sprinkler system in forest protecting built environment from fires. Understanding and finding basic rules for the effective sprinkler system application can contribute to reduce the impacts caused by fire. Authors found geometry of circle overlapping generates always problems regarding the effectiveness of sprinkler systems. 50% overlapping in longitudinal axis seems to be acceptable solution. In this case overlapping rate is 78% per circle with 1.6 kg.m-2 water coverage levels and 22% of the circles have 0.8 kg.m-2 water coverage level. Sequentially used system seems good solution for replacing the evaporated water, where 75% of the coverage level is accepted as lowest threshold of the effective rate. As an example, 300 m long protection zone requires 120 sprinkler heads. Building up this zone it requires 1,920 kg of water for wetting up, and then keeping it in service, it requires 7,200 kg.h-1 water. 39% of the service water is lost because it is above the upper limit of effectiveness.

O transporte rodoviário de mercadorias perigosas em Portugal representa cerca de 10% do total de todas as mercadorias transportadas por estrada; destas, 70% dizem respeito a combustíveis líquidos e gasosos. Neste trabalho, identificam-se os perigos e analisa-se a sinistralidade no transporte de combustíveis nos últimos seis anos, tendo em conta a evolução do número de vítimas e a sua gravidade. São identificados os locais onde se registaram maior número de acidentes e procura-se estabelecer uma correlação entre a sinistralidade e os dados de tráfego nessas estradas.

Resumo Os revestimentos de paredes mais usados em Portugal, e mesmo ano âmbito europeu e mundial, continuam sendo as argamassas de revestimento, quer sejam à base de cal ou de cimento, quer sejam tradicionais, feitas em obra ou pré-doseadas. De acordo com a normalização disponível, o estudo de desempenho dessas argamassas é realizado sobre provetes produzidos em laboratório, com medidas normalizadas e em condições de cura e de ensaio pré-estabelecidas. No entanto, quando as argamassas são aplicadas sobre os suportes reais o seu comportamento final não será exatamente o mesmo. As dimensões, as condições de aplicação e as condições de cura são distintas. Assim, é consensual dizer que as características finais dos rebocos aplicados em condições reais de exposição serão distintas das obtidas em laboratório. O estudo que se pretende apresentar faz parte de uma investigação mais alargada no âmbito do projeto IF Mortar, em que se pretende analisar a influência das características de diversos suportes nas características de diferentes tipos de argamassa, para se prever, de forma mais rigorosa, qual o comportamento final das argamassas após sua aplicação. Neste artigo são apresentados alguns dos resultados já obtidos em campanhas experimentais, relativos às características físicas de diversas argamassas aplicadas sobre distintos suportes.

<p>The last years have demonstrated the complex interplay and impacts that hazards can have on people’s lives, livelihoods and health, especially when multiple adverse events occur at the same time. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 provides a solid foundation for disaster risk management (DRM) by specifically calling for multi-hazard and solution-driven research to address gaps, obstacles and interdependencies of disaster risks. However, most of the practices in DRM still adopt a single-hazard approach, which may not be sufficient for addressing the social, economic, educational, and environmental challenges of multi-hazard risk scenarios. Besides, questions remain about whether disaster risk is actually treated in a science-policy context, as demanded in the Sendai Framework, thus operating in the overlapping space of scientific research, political decision-making and public action. The large number of actors involved in, and affected by, multi-risk disasters make it harder to transfer knowledge into risk management decisions and set a two-way process for communicating such decisions and for collecting feedback from stakeholders. To face these challenges, the project ROADMAP (European observatory on disaster risk and crisis management best practices) aims to establish a European “Doctrine on disaster risk and crisis management”, funded on the cooperation among the scientific community and the DRM authorities. The project is developed by diverse specialized institutions from Italy (The Consortium Italian Centre for Risk Reduction “CI3R” and the Italian Civil Protection Department “ICPD”), Portugal (Association for the Development of Industrial Aerodynamics “ADAI”) and Norway (University of Stavanger). To achieve its goal, the project is identifying good practices in multi-hazard risk scenarios, by singling out the experiences in EU Member States and beyond the EU borders. Emphasis is given to the cumulative hazards that countries have had to face over the past two years, characterized by the spread of a global health emergency induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Good practices are selected accounting for their capacity to produce results in the diverse DRM phases, as they stand out in terms of effectiveness, reach, feasibility, sustainability, and transferability. Such practices are not intended as static instruments, but rather as a guidance to be adapted if the needs of the users change and/or conditions in the application field evolve. This contribution will present the preliminary results of the research project and discuss how to create an efficient multi-hazard disaster management, focusing on a solution explorer platform collecting the good practices. When analysed closely it becomes apparent that there is a need for reinforcing actions dealing with multi-hazard disasters and for documenting successful stories and lessons learned within a bottom-up approach. By and large, it is envisaged that ROADMAP will contribute to increase access to information on DRM and disaster risk reduction (DRR) by systematically collecting, reviewing and analysing past and ongoing experiences and making them readily available and usable to communities and practitioners. The provision of good-practice guidance about a broad range of structural and non-structural risk management measures enables sharing information on how to overcome the obstacles and increasing the understanding of DRM solutions.</p>

Forest fuel moisture content is an important parameter that determines fire risk and fire behaviour. An accurate prediction of moisture content is therefore of great importance in fire management. In the fire risk period, dead forest fuel moisture content changes mainly by water vapour sorption processes so its knowledge enables the development of predictive fire risk models. In the present work, the adsorption and desorption processes and equilibrium moisture content of 10-hour dead Pinus pinaster branches (diameter between 0.6 cm and 2.5 cm) were described in order to develop a moisture content prediction model for this type of fuels. Laboratorial tests were used to determine sorption curves, timelag and equilibrium moisture content for different sets of air temperature (range between 20°C and 40°C) and relative humidity (range between 10% and 90%). The sorption curves and equilibrium moisture were also modelled with forest fuels and agricultural and food products existing models. Field tests were used to evaluate the sorption and equilibrium moisture content models performance. Dead Pinus pinaster branches were collected in central Portugal through the year 2020 and 2021 on the Portuguese fire risk period (15th May to 15th October) between 12:00h and 13:00h LST. Samples with 0.6 cm to 2.5 cm diameter were collected and transported to laboratory to determine moisture content. The laboratorial drying and wetting curves of dead Pinus pinaster branches (0.6 cm to 2.5 cm diameter) show that they are not pure exponential functions, but with different timelag values until equilibrium is reached. Additionally, the results suggest no significant relationship of the timelag periods with air relative humidity but a dependence with air temperature, showing an increase in the sorption rates with temperature. In terms of sorption curves, Modified Henderson and Pabis model provide the best fitting. For this type of fuels, the representation of EMC values as a function of air relative humidity at constant temperature allowed to obtain a typical sigmoid curve. The EMC values obtained were higher for desorption process than for adsorption process, indicated the typical hysteresis effect in these processes. It was found that, besides the models used in forest fires, other EMC models are also suitable to predict fuel moisture content of dead Pinus pinaster branches, as the ones used in agricultural and food analysis.