Complex Three-Dimensional Mathematical Model of the Ignition of a Coniferous Tree via a Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Discharge: Electrophysical, Thermophysical and Physico-Chemical Processes

Abstract

Thunderstorms are the main natural source of forest fires. The ignition mechanism of trees begins with the impact of cloud-to-ground lightning discharge. A common drawback of all predicting systems is that they ignore the physical mechanism of forest fire as a result of thunderstorm activity. The purpose of this article is to develop a physically based mathematical model for the ignition of a coniferous tree via cloud-to-ground lightning discharge, taking into account thermophysical, electrophysical, and physicochemical processes. The novelty of the article is explained by the development of an improved mathematical model for the ignition of coniferous trees via cloud-to-ground lightning discharge, taking into account the processes of soot formation caused by the thermal decomposition phase of dry organic matter. Mathematically, the process of tree ignition is described by a system of non-stationary nonlinear differential equations of heat conduction and diffusion. In this research, a locally one-dimensional method is used to solve three-dimensional partial differential equations. The finite difference method is used to solve one-dimensional heat conduction and diffusion equations. Difference analogues of the equations are solved using the marching method. To resolve nonlinearity, a simple iteration method is used. Temperature distributions in a structurally inhomogeneous trunk of a coniferous tree, as well as distributions of volume fractions of phases and concentrations of gas mixture components, are obtained. The conditions for tree trunk ignition under conditions of thunderstorm activity are determined. As a result, a complex three-dimensional mathematical model is developed, which makes it possible to identify the conditions for the ignition of a coniferous tree trunk via cloud-to-ground lightning discharge.