A major is an organized curriculum that is part of an existing degree program. A major must be associated with the degree program under which it is offered and must share common core courses and usually shares prerequisite courses with all other majors in the same degree program.
This major involves mathematical modeling, fluid dynamics, and environmental factors dealing with wildland and prescribed fires. No other such major exists in Computational Sciences or the SUS.
Common Core Courses:
Scientific Programming (ISC 5305) and Applied Computational Science-1, ACS-1 (ISC 5315) is the core set.
Physical science and mathematically prepared students who are interested in the environment and natural systems; meteorology students interested in the role of aerosols, particulates, and gases emitted by forest fires and prescribed burning; physics or engineering students desiring to apply their knowledge to combustion in a natural environment, wildland fire experts who desire to further their academic career, computationally oriented students who desire a problem of direct importance to society, management and agency personnel who deal with the impact of wildland fires.
There is a long history of studies on the ecological effects of fire, and some work in engineering setting on the mechanisms of fire generation and propagation. However, to our knowledge there is no other formal PhD framework for the study of fire in a degree program as a fluid dynamical phenomenon, with complex physical, chemical, and turbulent interactions with the environment.
Major requirements will be ISC5305, ISC5315, Fire Dynamics core courses plus 12 credit hours from the elective courses.
Fire Dynamics core courses:
GFD 5XXX Intra to Fire Operations (NWCG S-130/S-190) with written project. Special topics courses
In collaboration with Tall Timbers Research Station (TTRS), The Jones Ecological Research Center,
Apalachicola National Forest, Florida Forest Service, and the US Forest Service (USFS) Athens, GA. Certification to work in active fireline operations. These will be developed as real classroom courses with letter grades.
GFD 5XXX Fire Behavior and Ecology (TTRS, USFS)
GFD 5XXX Fire Dynamics Laboratory (TTRS) GFD 6925 GFD Colloquium
GFD 6935r Seminar
Graduate Courses
GFD 6905r Directed Individual Study (3). (S/U grade only.) May be repeated to a maximum of (48) semester hours.
GFD 6915r Supervised Research (1-5). (S/U grade only.) May be repeated to a maximum of five semester hours.
GFD 6925 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Colloquium (1). (S/U grade only.)
GFD 6935r Seminar (1-2). (S/U grade only.) May be repeated to a maximum of two (2) semester hours.
GFD 6980r Dissertation (1-12). A student may not enroll for GFD 6980r prior to passing the
preliminary (comprehensive) examination. Students must establish their ability to handle modern computer techniques applicable to their research.
GFD 8964r Doctoral Preliminary Examination (0). (P/F grade only)
GFD 8985r Dissertation Defense (0). (P/F grade only)
(Existing applied math, fluid dynamics, meteorology, engineering, and chemistry courses.)
Elective Courses:
Engineering
Viscous fluid flows, turbulent flows, introduction to computational mechanics, water resources and environmental engineering, hydraulics, hydrology, ground water, and Combustion.
Courses: CEG 5125,5415, 5515, 5635; ECH 5934r, EGM 5456,5810, 6845; EML 5422, ENV 5045.
Geological Sciences
Geophysics, geomechanics, geophysical methods, seismology, modeling of groundwater flow, hydrology.
Courses: GLY 5425, 5455, 5465, 5556, 5573, 5575, 5825, 5826, 5827, 5868r.
Mathematics
Numerical analysis, vector and tensor analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations, matrix algebra, integral transforms and asymptotics, perturbation theory, hydrodynamic stability, wave propagation theory.
Courses: MAD 5708, 5738, 5739, 6408r; MAP 5207, 5217, 5345, 5346, 5423, 5431, 5441, 5512,
5513, 6434r, 6437r, 6939r.
Meteorology
Atmospheric thermodynamics, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric circulation, weather prediction, satellite observations and remote sensing.
Courses: MET 5311,5312, 5340r, 5471, 5541r, 6308r, 6561r.
Oceanography
Stability of geophysical fluid flows, turbulence.
Courses: OCP 5056, 5253, 5256, 5271, 5285, 5551, 5930r, OCE 5009L.
Physics
Magnetohydrodynamics, principles of thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, theoretical dynamics, electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, astrophysics/combustion.
Courses: PHY 5246, 5346, 5347, 5524.
Statistics
Computational methods in statistics, statistical procedures for the natural sciences, statistical inference, probability, multivariate analysis, stochastic processes, applied time series analysis. Courses: STA 5106, 5206, 5326, 5327, 5440, 5447, 5807r.
Scientific Computing
Numerical methods, scientific visualization, scientific computing, Applied Computational Science II. Courses: ISC 5226, 5227, 5228, 5307, 5316