When running a simulation Phoenix obtains input data from 3 sources.

1. Data entered into the application directly, and saved in the project file,

2. Files in the Gridded_Weather directory, and

3. Files in the Data directory.

Input data to the model must be prepared in a GIS such as ESRI's ArcGIS or MapInfo. This base data is then converted into a format read by PHOENIX which is an ASCII grid broken into data "tiles", 30 x 30 cells wide. This tiling can be easily done in ArcGIS using a specially developed "Toolbox". The base input data is usually at 20 or 30m resolution, but when it is read into PHOENIX it is averaged into larger cells to speed computations. Typically the grid cell size for PHOENIX computation is 100 or 200m, but could range from 50 to 500m depending on the nature of the terrain and the level of detail required.

This document describes the data files that are obtained from the Gridded_Weather and Data directories. 

The actual location of these directories is specified in the project file, and usually defaults to subdirectories of C:\Phoenix

Sub directories :-

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The Data directory normally contains input layers that have been created by hand.

1. All data layers must be in the same coordinate system, and this must be a map grid projection (grid reference in metres) not a geographic one (latitude and longitude in degrees).
   In Victoria, we suggest using "VicGrid 94" which is a Lambert Conformal Conic Projection with a GDA 94 reference Datum.
   Across Australia, we suggest "Geoscience Australia Lambert 94" projection which is a Lambert Conformal Conic Projection with a GDA 94 reference Datum.
   
   

2. The only data layer that MUST be provided is the Fuel Layer.
   However, other layers make the simulation much more realistic. If there is no data file location specified, then the input value will be zero.
   
   

3. As all data layers must be in the same coordinate system only one projection file is required.  The default name of this file is data.prj and is best located in the root of the Data directory.
   The format of the projection file conforms to the requirements of ESRI ArcGIS 9.
   
   

4. Layers can be provided as zip files, to decrease the size of data that has to be copied around.

The actual layers that Phoenix will use in a simulation are configured in the Project window, on the Data tab. The list below is the complete set of possible layers:

Mandatory

• Fuel Layer - developed from a vegetation layer

Optional

• Digital Elevation Model (DEM) - from which to calculate slope, aspect and elevation

• Fire History Layer, with an optional Supplementary Fire History Layer - from which to calculate the current level of fuels across the landscape

• Road Proximity Layer - from which to determine the level of assistance given to suppression

• Disruption Layer - from which to determine the effect of linear features such as roads, rivers, railway lines and fire breaks, on fire behaviour and spread

• Assets Layer - assists in assessing asset impact during the fire simulation.  Assets include Housing, Infrastructure, Plantation and Rainforest

• Wind Modifiers Layer - assists in making changes to local wind speed and direction

• Curing Layer

• Drought Factor Layer

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In addition to the source data for running the PHOENIX model, it is also necessary to have a visual reference layer such as a satellite image or topographic map on which to set up the simulation area and to overlay the results of the simulation.  More on this below.

This geographic reference layer(s) is encapsulated in an ArcGIS project. Apart from the basic visual reference layer, other GIS information may also be included in this project for display in PHOENIX. However, within PHOENIX, these layers can only be turned on or off for display, no other manipulation of these layers is possible in the PHOENIX environment.

Below are some examples of geographic reference layers.  The top image shows a satellite image overlaid with major rivers, roads and town names.  The bottom image shows a section of a 1:250,000 topographic map.

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The Gridded_Weather directory is expected to contain gridded forecast weather data in the form of NetCDF files normally obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology.  This data is produced twice a day by the BOM. A downloading process has to be put in place to get this data, but it is restricted to registered users. PHOENIX will also run on a single stream of weather data 

TBD - Info about the weather downloader required.

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The Tools dropdown menu provides the options to

• Download Gridded Weather - get the latest gridded weather from the Bureau of Meteorology ftp server (only available to registered users)

• Shut Down Phoenix Workers - a facility to run separate simulations, in a parallel process, on a cluster of computers or on different processors for multi-core processors such as Quad-cores. This is a function set up for large simulations.

• Unpack Phoenix Datafile - unpack the zipped input data tiles to compile a single ASCII file

• Edit Fuel Types

• Edit Suppression Rates

• Push data to nodes - such as write the simulation inputs and outputs to the ignition points

TBD - populate this section with a description of how to use the weather downloader

Refer to the manual for how to use weather entered directly into the UI/project file

This is where you'll find Phoenix.exe which you can use to run the application.

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This will ultimately contain the range of files produced from the simulations.

This will store the .xml files containing the settings for each simulation created.

All data needs to be prepared in a consistent projection that has a scale in metres. You cannot use a geographic coordinate system using measurement in degrees. For consistency across Australia, we recommend using the GDA_1994_Geoscience_Australia_Lambert projection.

GIS software is an ongoing problem. We have decided to write PHOENIX to use ESRI ArcGIS 9.2, sp4. You need a licence to operate ArcGIS 9.2 ArcView (or similar Arc product such as ArcEditor, ArcInfo). It is our intention to keep the PHOENIX software compatible with the most recent version of ESRI ArcGIS. 

The Fuel layer is used in conjunction with the fire history layer to create the fuel attributes used in PHOENIX. It has been assumed that the vegetation layer is the layer most likely to be kept up-to-date and more readily available than a purpose built fuel type layer. However, it is also acknowledged that there are several vegetation type classifications and a range of mapping detail and quality within some states and between states. Therefore, the approach taken in PHOENIX has been to convert various vegetation classifications into a standard set of fuel types, e.g. there are about 700 vegetation types mapped in Victoria and these are classified into about 40 different fuel types.

The user needs to assign a fuel type to every vegetation type in the area of interest. To enable this, a code for each vegetation type is needed, e.g. 97 – Semi-arid Woodland. This code is used in a lookup table and joined to a fuel-type code. This fuel type code must then be added to the attribute table for the vegetation map in a GIS. The setting up of the conversion process is beyond the scope of these notes, but
it can be done by “Joining” the lookup table to the vegetation attribute table in the GIS.

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