Data-Driven Modeling to predict forest fire spread in the Patagonian region in Argentina

• Autores: Becerra, Lucas; Denham, Mónica Malen; Kolton, Alejandro B.; Laneri, Karina
• Año de publicación: 2026
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Ingeniería, Ciencia y Tecnología; Forest fire modeling; Genetic algorithm; Reaction–diffusion–convection model; Wildfire simulation; Parameter optimization; Patagonian region; Ingeniería, Ciencia y Tecnología
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Río Negro

Fil: Becerra, Lucas. Instituto Balseiro. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Denham, Mónica Malen. Centro Interdisciplinario de Telecomunicaciones, Electrónica, Computación y Ciencia Aplicada (CITECCA). Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Kolton, Alejandro B. Instituto Balseiro. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Laneri, Karina. Instituto Balseiro. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Becerra, Lucas. Centro Atómico Bariloche. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Denham, Mónica Malen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fil: Kolton, Alejandro B. Centro Atómico Bariloche. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Kolton, Alejandro B. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fil: Laneri, Karina. Centro Atómico Bariloche. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Laneri, Karina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Wildfires are among the most severe disturbances affecting forest ecosystems, with over 50,000 hectares burned in Patagonia, Argentina, during 2025 alone. This study implements a Reaction–Diffusion–Convection (RDC) model to simulate wildfire spread in the Steffen and Martín Lakes area, a region severely impacted by fires. By integrating high-resolution maps of slope, wind velocity, and vegetation, we conducted three computational experiments of increasing complexity to simulate fire propagation across heterogeneous landscapes. We employed a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to recover reference model parameters by maximizing the spatial overlap between simulated and reference burned areas. Subsequently, parameter estimates were refined using XGBoost to improve accuracy. Results demonstrate that the GA accurately recovers reference parameters across all scenarios, while the XGBoost fine-tuning significantly enhances accuracy in simpler cases. This integrated framework offers a systematic approach for estimating difficult-to-measure wildfire parameters, demonstrating the potential of hybrid computational methods for wildfire modeling and forest management.
Wildfires are among the most severe disturbances affecting forest ecosystems, with over 50,000 hectares burned in Patagonia, Argentina, during 2025 alone. This study implements a Reaction–Diffusion–Convection (RDC) model to simulate wildfire spread in the Steffen and Martín Lakes area, a region severely impacted by fires. By integrating high-resolution maps of slope, wind velocity, and vegetation, we conducted three computational experiments of increasing complexity to simulate fire propagation across heterogeneous landscapes. We employed a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to recover reference model parameters by maximizing the spatial overlap between simulated and reference burned areas. Subsequently, parameter estimates were refined using XGBoost to improve accuracy. Results demonstrate that the GA accurately recovers reference parameters across all scenarios, while the XGBoost fine-tuning significantly enhances accuracy in simpler cases. This integrated framework offers a systematic approach for estimating difficult-to-measure wildfire parameters, demonstrating the potential of hybrid computational methods for wildfire modeling and forest management.