BehavePlus fire modeling system

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Patricia L. Andrews, Research Physical Scientist

Staff

Patricia L. Andrews (RMRS fire lab)
Collin Bevins (Systems for Environmental Management)
Faith Ann Heinsch (SEM)

INTRODUCTION

The BehavePlus fire modeling system is a computer program for personal computers. It is based on mathematical models that predict fire behavior (such as flame length and transition to crown fire), fire effects (such as scorch height and tree mortality), and the fire environment (such as fuel moisture and wind adjustment factor). BehavePlus asks for user input to produce tables, graphs, and simple diagrams. Modeling results can be used for a multitude of fire management applications including prescribed fire planning, fuel hazard assessment, and predicting wildfire behavior. Complete information about BehavePlus is available on http://firemodels.org.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal is to make research results available for easy application by fire and land managers. The BehavePlus system is fully documented and supported.

PROJECT STATUS

BehavePlus replaces the BEHAVE fire behavior prediction and fuel modeling system, which was first available for field application in 1984. BehavePlus version 1.0 was released in 2002. Version 4.0 was released September 2008. A list of features and modeling capabilities that were added in each version is available on firemodels.org.

Lessons and supporting material continue to be developed and are available on the BehavePlus Training page of firemodels.org.

BehavePlus is officially a National system and is supported by the Forest Service Fire Applications Support desk in Boise.

FUNDING ORGANIZATION

Funding for development of BehavePlus and supporting material is from Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and Fire and Aviation Management and from the Joint Fire Science Program.

PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS

The BehavePlus program, publications, training documents, and other supporting material are available on http://firemodels.org. The BehavePlus Publications page includes papers that describe the BehavePlus fire modeling system, the fire models that are included in BehavePlus, and related historical documents.

Andrews, P. L. (2007) BehavePlus fire modeling system: Past, present, and future. In ‘Proceedings of 7th Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorological Society’. 23-25 October 2007, Bar Harbor, Maine.

Andrews, P. L., C. D. Bevins, and R. C. Seli. (2008) BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 4.0: User's Guide. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-106 WWW Revised. Ogden, UT: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Andrews, P. L. (2008) BehavePlus fire modeling system, version 4.0: Variables. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-213WWW. Fort Collins, CO: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station.