NIFoS Korea and IIASA explore collaboration on wildfire modelling and megafire response

© Eunbeen Park

The NIFoS delegation was led by Dr. Chungeun Kwon and Dr. Sungeun Cha, whose work focuses on wildfire spread prediction systems and field support for fire suppression. The visit brought together NIFoS, IIASA researchers, and local wildfire response authorities in Styria, Austria, with the aim of linking Korea’s operational wildfire response experience with IIASA’s modelling expertise, particularly through the FLAM wildfire model.

At the seminar, the FLAM team introduced the Wildfire Climate Impacts and Adaptation Model (FLAM), and NIFoS presented Korea’s ICT-based wildfire management system. The discussion highlighted the potential of FLAM not as a replacement, but as a complementary system-level model for Korea’s existing prediction system for broader risk assessment, and climate change impact analysis as well as linking operational data with process-based modelling approaches to improve both prediction accuracy and practical field applicability.  

Key potential collaborations were identified. The first one is an AI–process-based wildfire spread prediction framework that would help improve short-term operational prediction while also supporting long-term risk assessment under changing climate conditions. The second is the analysis of aerial firefighting effectiveness and operational strategies. Korea operates a large fleet of aerial firefighting resources, and the meeting explored how aircraft deployment data, water drop volumes, weather conditions, terrain, fuel characteristics, and final burned area could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of aerial suppression. IIASA’s suppression efficiency framework and cost-effectiveness analysis could provide a useful basis for assessing how different aerial firefighting strategies reduce wildfire damage under various conditions.

© Eunbeen Park

On 9 July, the delegation visited a wildfire-affected site and the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Eisbach-Rein, Styria, meeting Ing. Peter Ondrich, Officer for Environmental Monitoring, Disaster Damage Assessment and Forestry Statistics at the Provincial Forestry Directorate of Styria, and ABI Johannes Koch, Head of Operations of the local fire brigade, together with their colleagues. 

The Eisbach-Rein wildfire case demonstrated that aerial suppression alone is not sufficient for complete wildfire control. Helicopters played an important role in suppressing active fire fronts, but long-term control depended on coordinated ground operations, detection of hidden hot spots, access through forest roads, water supply systems, and repeated mop-up work, with drones and thermal imaging are important for identifying hidden embers and supporting field crews in difficult terrain.