Zhao Yibin. / Thesis submitted in: November 2001. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-111). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.I / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.V / Table of Contents --- p.VIII / List of Tables --- p.IX / List of Figures --- p.X / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Research background and problem statement --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Research objectives --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- Methodology --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of this study --- p.9 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Literature review: wildfire behavior simulation, Web GIS and public participation GIS" --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Investigating wildfire behavior --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- Modeling wildfire with GIS --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- Emergence of the Web GIS --- p.27 / Chapter 2.5 --- New agenda from public participation --- p.28 / Chapter 2.6 --- Summary --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- System design: requirements analysis and feasibility analysis --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2 --- Analysis of functions requirement --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3 --- A host of solutions --- p.41 / Chapter 3.4 --- Summary --- p.52 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Simulating the wildfire --- p.53 / Chapter 4.1 --- Physical Setting of experiment area and data preparation --- p.53 / Chapter 4.2 --- Adaptation and formularization of the Rothermel's fire behavior model --- p.60 / Chapter 4.3 --- Fire spreading algorithm --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4 --- Defining wildfire with Object Oriented Design (OOD) method --- p.71 / Chapter 4.5 --- Summary --- p.74 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Participation process with interactive tools empowered by IT technologies --- p.76 / Chapter 5.1 --- Comprehending the problem in an interactive way --- p.76 / Chapter 5.2 --- Performing wildfire simulation --- p.81 / Chapter 5.3 --- Submitting of end users comments --- p.84 / Chapter 5.4 --- Discussion bulletin board --- p.94 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.96 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Discussions and conclusions --- p.98 / Chapter 6.1 --- Research limitations and discussions --- p.98 / Chapter 6.2 --- Conclusions --- p.99 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.103 / Appendix 1 .Defining MapService with ArcXML --- p.112 / Appendix 2.Defining MapNotes with ArcXML --- p.112