Dr Alan Forghani
 Dr Alan Forghani |
Fulbright Professional Scholarship
Media Profile
“Bush fires are a part of the Australian way of life, however the economic, environmental and personal costs experienced from bush fires are astronomical. My study will examine bush fire spread risk mapping as an application and development process to establish a national bushfire risk assessment framework in Australia to ensure we have the leading technologies in national bushfire research and development activities.”
Dr Alan Forghani has received one of four Fulbright Professional Scholarships in 2006 and will conduct research at the Geographic Information Science Centre (GISC) of the University of California (UC), Berkeley. Dr Forghani is currently a remote sensing scientist in the Geospatial and Earth Monitoring Division of Geoscience Australia.
He has a Bachelor of Engineering Science, University of Mazanderan in Iran; Masters in Engineering Science, University of New South Wales; a PhD in Geographical Information Systems, University of Tasmania; and a Graduate Certificate in Management through sponsorship from Geoscience Australia, University of Western Sydney. At UC, Berkley, Alan will investigate bushfire research systems for fire forecast spread mapping using characteristics derived from satellite imagery.
Australia’s climate is susceptible to natural disasters such as flood, severe wind, coastal erosion and tsunamis. Strategies to better minimise damage from these natural hazards is essential to national prosperity and the safety of Australian society. National risk assessment methodologies play an essential role in protecting Australia.
“I will examine wind and bushfire assessment approaches used in the U.S. focusing on the integration of these models to develop a new model for the Australian environment,” said Alan. “The work being conducted at the UC Berkeley compliments the Australian research with an aim to understand how we can plan and design safer human communities.”
Through his Fulbright Scholarship, Alan will be working at GISC researching bushfire systems for fire forecast spread mapping using wind speed and direction, digital elevation models, historical local hotspots, biomass and fuel continuity, and terrain roughness derived from satellite imagery. This will include the use of U.S. fire models, such as the FARSITE two-dimensional fire simulator model of fire growth and Wind Wizard system which generates wind speed and direction scenarios across the terrain. As part of this learning and development, Alan is planning to visit the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Missoula Fire Sciences Lab in Montana which developed the Wind Wizard system to engage with eminent bushfire scientists.
At University of California, Alan will share his expertise in remote sensing and geographic information systems while gaining valuable information working with the University’s fire research team to integrate the U.S. experience into ongoing research and development in Australia.
Alan has an established reputation in the spatial information industry having published over 40 papers and technical reports. He has received several Scholarships including; the “High Performance Scholarship” from Geoscience Australia, from 2002 to 2005; AusIndustry COMET Grant for business development skills; and the Adelaide University Grant Business Enterprise Program in 2001 when he established Australian Spatial Technologies Pty Ltd. Alan has taught at universities in Tehran as Assistant Professor from 1998-2000 and at the University of South Australia when he was appointed as a Research Fellow from 2000-2001.