Thirty Years of Wildfire Research

For more than 30 years, our Fire and Atmospheric Sciences team has supported better wildfire management in New Zealand through research, practical tools, and national and international collaboration. Early work began with adapting fire danger rating methods to New Zealand conditions and fire behaviour and has grown to include research burns, smoke and weather updates, community resilience, tool development, firefighter safety and Kaupapa Māori research. This work has helped build New Zealand’s fire science capability and continues to inform how we prepare for and respond to wildfire.

Current Research

Are we ready for extreme wildfire 2021- 2027

Our current MBIE Endeavour Research Programme began in October 2021 and brings together international and local experts to help better understand how extreme wildfires spread and behave in New Zealand's unique ecological and social environment.

The research programme has 5 workstreams:

• Experimental burns to understand extreme fires and convective spread
• Using field data and models to understand how fire moves between urban fuels (such as houses and vegetation)
• Assessing national and local level fire planning
• Utilising personal experience, including Mātauranga Māori and laboratory experiments to better understand how native forests burn
• Developing a roadmap for smart firefighting

Partners/Collaboraters

Fire and Emergency NZ, US Forest Service,  San Jose State University, University of Canterbury, Lincoln University

This programme is supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. In addition to direct funding, we receive considerable “in-kind” support for research activities from rural fire authorities throughout the country.

Read more

• Information sheet: Are we ready for extreme wildfire?
• Research helping New Zealand prepare for the new reality of extreme wildfires | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

Near real time fuel moisture and fuel type system for wildfire and drought  (2024 - 2029)

In collaboration with NASA, Australian National University, the US forest Service and Fire and Emergency NZ, we are developing near real-time tools to predict fuel moisture conditions across Aotearoa New Zealand, helping improve understanding of when vegetation may be more susceptible to wildfire. The work combines satellite observations with field-based fuel moisture measurements, building on earlier research to develop and test models across a range of vegetation types and environments.

Read more

• Near real time fuel moisture and fuel type system for wildfire and drought

Previous and Related Research

Preparing New Zealand for extreme fire (2016-2021)

This MBIE and industry-funded programme brought together an international team of fire experts. It advanced understanding of extreme fire behaviour and developed fire spread modelling, decision-support tools, prevention and suppression methods, strategies to protect ecosystems, assets and communities, and a Prescribed Burn training resource.

RNC-NSC resilience to wildfires (2016-2019)

This project focused on community resilience and future planning, the involvement of traditional and informal volunteers in wildfire management, work with a Māori community in Northland incorporating indigenous knowledge, wildfire hazard indices and infrastructure vulnerability.