Bushfire spread simulation

[changwl8888]

Anyone have idea on this...Please help and explain to me...



In this option you need to model a forest as a square point lattice in which each lattice point
represents either a tree or a treeless location. This can be done by using a two-dimensional
array in which each dimension has the same size. A tree occupies a given lattice point with
probability P. The ignition of all trees in the first row and the spread of the fire through the
remaining rows can be simulated. A tree in row R ignites if any of its neighbours in row R – 1
is already burning. A tree has at most three immediate neighbours. A neighbour is always in a
preceding row and occupies either the same column as the tree, or one column to the left of
the tree, or one column to the right of the tree. The following figure shows a tree and its
immediate neighbours.
R - 1 • • • N1 N2 N3 • • •
R • • • T • • •
Example:
Bushfire spread simulation
--------------------------
Density (range is 1 thru 100): 40
Initial state ...(see the example start up code for option 5)
Final state ... (after fire spread, state should be changed)
Actual density: 40
Trees at start: 250
Trees at end: 230
Again? (y/n):

[newb16]

As the fire is spread only forward, it's possible to do it with only two arrays - for the current and the previous row, and count the number of remaining trees in the previous row before discarding it.

[Studlyami]

This just sounds like a cellular automata program. The array of trees sounds like it is going to need to have 3 states (tree, no tree, burning tree). I would probably use a char array for this. When setting up your initial array a given point has probability of P of it being a tree. Do some sort of random function for each point to see if it should be a tree or not. Next should be the simulation part. When doing CA programs I create a second array of the same size, this array will hold your new generation. Go through your first array and check each location to see if the state needs to change or not. generation or not. Copy the results of each location to the new array. Hope that gives you a start.