Summary
Get an overview of the CPS software on the Documentation page.
Access the downloads from Software page.
Stay in touch with announcements and developments via the News page.
Check out the Wiki for more information about the software development effort.
The software project itself is hosted on Project Kenai. This website is hosted at SourceForge.net.
Introduction
Emxsys is an acronym for Emergency Management Expert Systems. Emxsys provides a software implementation of the Campbell Prediction System (CPS) which predicts the potential fire behavior of a wildland fire so that firefighting strategies can be adjusted to ensure the safety of firefighters and the effective use of suppression resources.
Emxsys merges the art of wildland firefighting and the science of fire behavior. It couples the language and logic of the Campbell Prediction System with the fire behavior algorithms embodied in USFS BEHAVE formulas.
This effort produced the CPS software, which is a free open-source Java project built by Bruce Schubert for the wildland firefighting community.
Campbell Prediction System (CPS)
The Campbell Prediction System book, written by Doug Campbell, teaches how to determine where the potential fire behavior will likely exceed the suppression resources' threshold of control. This determination is made by analyzing the observed fire signatures in conjunction with the alignment of forces within the fire behavior. Understanding where the thresholds are enables strategists to:
- Apply firefighting resources into areas where they will be most effective
- Avoid areas where there is a potential that firefighters will be harmed