Change Log

FireFamilyPlus Version 4.1 Beta Release, April 16, 2010

• Added Features
  • A TERM module (Weather > Term) has been added.
    • The "Term" module duplicates the functionality of the Waiting Time functions in the RERAP program.
    • Existing Term Files may be imported and any number of Term Files can be stored in the database. Term files are associated with the Active Working Set (Station/Sig) when the file was created.
    • There is capability for extensive commenting in the term file. Term files in the database can be edited or deleted.
    • Finally, results from the Event Locator can be used to provide initial dates for a term file. See the Help Topic entitled "Term."
• Fixes and Enhancements
  • Interactive Batch:
    • User Variables are available.
    • Overlay Years are available.
    • Existing Dates in the Working Set are used instead of all available data; changes made to working sets in Interactive Batch are saved in the active working set.
  • Importing Multiple FW9 Files: The "Operation Failed, No Current Record" Error has been fixed.
  • Exporting Fires to Shapefiles: Fire Number not truncated in length; State Fire Cause Codes are now correct. (They were being remapped to DOI codes).
  • Live Fuel Moisture Calculations: Certain warm climate stations would not properly green up every year because X1000 not reset to FM1000. This has been corrected in CFNDRS.dll.

FireFamilyPlus Version 4.0.2 Beta Release, December 1, 2008

• Added Features
  • Files can now be run in "Batch Mode."
    • To facilitate building batch jobs, FFP "Runs" can be saved in the active database.
    • Runs are numbered sequentially, and all the parameters within a run (station, SIG, data years, seasonal filters, overlay years, etc.) are saved.
    • Once in a database, these Runs can be used to:
      1. build batch jobs consisting of one or more saved runs, or
      2. reload identical settings and Run FFP in the "classic" mode.
    • When running a batch job, output can be to the screen (flying windows) or auto-saved to disk.
  • Files can also be run in "Interactive Batch Mode."
    • The interactive batch function allows you to "Run" any number of stations or SIG's at one time.
    • Every report for every variable in the database is generated for all years of data for each station.
    • Reports are tabs across the page top, stations and variables are expansion lists on the left side of the screen.
    • Icons allow you to change graph options, working set dates, overlay years, and fire-type selections to view. Changes are made to all reports and variables at once and redisplayed.
      
      
• Fixes and Enhancements
  • Fire Occurrence Data:
    • The new BLM WFMI Fire Occurrence Export format (pchaffp) is supported along with the new NWCG Unit Identifiers for BLM, NPS, and BIA fire associations. More DOI "fire types" can now be imported.
    • A Generic Fire Import module supports Comma Separated Value (CSV) files for importing Custom agency fire data. More fields (e.g. county, latitude, longitude, etc.) can be included. The FPL format is no longer supported, but existing FPL files should be easily converted to CSV files.
    • Fires from the Working Set Fire Associations can be exported to an ESRI shape file.
  • Weather Data:
    • ALL Station information from WIMS as of April 2007 is in the default FFP database structure. Therefore, if you create a new database or upgrade from a Version 3.0.5 FFP database you do not need to import catalogs. You may still wish to import a catalog to update information or when a new station has been added to WIMS.
    • Generic weather import functionality allows flexibility to import data from alternate sources. It displays all of the weather observation elements from the FireFamilyPlus WXOBS data table and allows you to select columns that match elements in your alternate weather file. You can select the field delimiter and date/time formats.
    • WRCC RAWS: This functionality allows flexibility in importing hourly RAWS data from the Western Region Climate Center's (WRCC) Data Lister ( http://www.raws.dri.edu/index.html ). You can include wind gust and solar radiation information to the FFP database.
      • Note: Data imported in any manner from the WRCC will not have a STATE OF WEATHER (SOW) code.
  • Station Information and NFDRS:
    • The latitude and longitude are now GIS friendly.
    • When importing weather data, the WET FLAG data is now used and the WIMS snow cover logic has been implemented in FFP 4.
    • Custom Yearly Initialization:
      • To account for variable greenup dates and to better support the Canadian system, a Custom Yearly Initialization feature has been added to FFP. See Weather->Custom Yearly Init.
    • Brush Dormant Date:
      • To support areas where freezes do not generally occur, the capacity to allow shrubs to go into dormancy is supported by a new dormant flag and date.
      • If the flag is set, a valid date is entered in the live fuel moisture model (78 models only), the vegetation state has cured, the observation date is greater than the dormant date, and the live fuel moisture model has dried the woody fuel moisture to its dormant value, the live vegetation state is put into a dormant state so that woody fuel moistures do not increase late in the fall with fall rains. This change was requested by Russ Gripp and allows FFP to better emulate user control in WIMS.
      • The default value for this field is unchecked.
    • A "use weighed 10-hr sticks" flag tells FFP to ignore weighed sticks and compute the 1- and 10-hour moisture by algorithm for the period of record. This allows for a consistent climatology for stations that may have 15 years of weighed sticks and 15 years without.
  • Reports:
    • Expanded report headers include all current settings and station metadata. The ability to control report header information is included under the Options > Report Options menu item. You can select a delimiter (e.g. comma) for some reports to facilitate importing into other applications such as spread sheets or statistical analysis programs.
    • There is a FlamMap Fire Risk Export function.
    • Wind roses are available for hourly data (FW9 or WRCC).