Automated land evaluation tools and databases

• ALES
• SOTER
• ECOCROP
• ISIS
• CLIMWAT
• CROPWAT
• WEBLE
• AQUACROP
• WOFOST
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 ALES

• The ALES (the Automated Land Evaluation System)

developed at Cornell University follow the principles
of the 1976 Framework.
• In ALES, expert users can describe proposed land
uses as well as the geographical areas to be
evaluated, using their own set of criteria based on
their local knowledge, and subsequently allow the
program to automatically do the matching.
• http://www.css.cornell.edu/landeval/ales/ales
.htm
2
 ALES
ALES
What? (Rossiter, Cornell University)

ALES - Automated Land Evaluation System

computer program that allows land evaluators to build expert systems

that evaluate land according to the method presented in the FAO
framework on land evaluation

ales = shell, gives the framework

user = model builder

input (crop, climate, soil) is user-defined

land use requirements land qualities

for different land mapping units, land uses

Overview

http://www.css.cornell.edu/landeval/ales/ales.htm
Use

ales = the framework, provides the reasoning mechanism :

* description of the LUT

* determination of the LURs

* description of the land units and LCs

* design of decision trees that relate LCs to LQs

* definition of the severity level of each LQ

* calculation of the final land suitability :

- maximum limitation method

- yield decrease based on :

(1) limiting factors

(2) multiplicative factors

(3) proportional effect of interacting factors (decision

trees)

* physical & economical land evaluation

* rotation, management cycles, delay in harvest

* link GIS
Demonstration
 SOTER

• Since 1986, FAO in collaboration with external

partners has also been spearheading an international
effort aimed at creating, using a standardized
methodology, national to regional databases on soil
and terrain (SOTER).
• These databases contain information, among others,
on landform, morphology, slope, parent material and
soils. They are thus useful for the purposes of land
evaluation.
http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/soter.stm
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 ISIS Soil Information System

ISIS holds data on the World Soil Reference Collection

some 950 monoliths from over 70 countries with

detailed soil profile and environmental data

• Site data:
location, geology, landform, soil surface properties,
hydrology, land-use, vegetation and climate

• Soil profile description (FAO Guidelines) (also photo)

• Soil analytical data

physical, chemical and mineralogical
attributes

• Soil classification
 ISRIC online soil data

http://www.isric.org/
soil profile database

At the global level, the most comprehensive one.

It contains now more than 6,000 soil profiles

 ECOCROP

• FAO has also developed a software/ database

package, ECOCROP, that entered by the user.
allows users to identify plant species whose
most important climate and soil requirements
match the information on climate and soil
• http://www.fao.org/catalog/book_review/giii/w
9692-e.htm

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Ecocrop
2 FAO databases
What? (FAO)

ecocrop I : crop environmental requirements

= tool for identifying plant species appropriate for

- given environments (climate - soil)

- given uses (food, green manure, timber,... )

contains this information on > 2300 plant species

valid for online version (up to date)

ecocrop II : crop environment response

= tool for - recording studies on crop response to :

- organizing
- environment
- comparing
- management
- using

contains this information on varieties of 20 crops of worldwide

economic importance
Overview

http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home
Use?

ecocrop I

* identification of crops suited to a specific environment

* identification of crops suited to a specific use

* library of environmental requirements for specific crops

can be exported - to AEZ databases

- to GIS applications
ecocrop II

* find environmental/management response of a crop

* crop modelling

* store and retrieve your data

Examples :

yield, LAI, crop development

time, water stress, N fertilisation
for 20 crops
* identification of crops suited to a specific environment
 AEZ

• The AEZ methodology and models have been

applied to global data sets in order to determine
land suitability and productivity for about 154
different crop types. Results can be viewed on-
line via the Internet
http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/gaez/index.htm

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 AEZ
• Automated AEZ (agro-ecological zoning) methodologies for
land evaluation were initially developed by FAO in 1978 using
main-frame computers, in response to widespread interest in
assessing global human carrying capacity (FAO, 1978-81).
• AEZ is based directly on the 1976 Land Evaluation Framework
(FAO, 1996). The latest implementations of AEZ take notable
advantage of GIS databases and models for assessing land
suitability.
• A PC-based AEZ software program is available at no cost from
FAO. Models included in AEZ allow the calculation of length of
growing period, irrigation requirements, crop biomass, land
suitability, and land productivity.
http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/aez.htm
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Climwat (FAO)

= climatic database
offers observed agro-climatic data of over 5000 stations
worldwide
Datasets can be

• Consulted & used in Cropwat

• Exported and converted to excel format

Free download:

http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_databases_climwat.html

Demonstration
MicroLEIS
ET0 calculator (FAO)

assesses ETo (Penman-Monteith) from meteorological

data

• closely approximates grass ET0

• physically based
• explicitly incorporates both physiological &
aerodynamic parameters

can handle daily, ten-day and monthly climatic data

procedures are used for estimating missing climatic

data from temperature data or from specific climatic
conditions
Cropwat (FAO)
What?

calculation of crop water & irrigation requirements based on

soil, climate and crop data

allows to:

• estimate crop performance under rainfed & irrigated

conditions
• calculate scheme water supply for varying crop patterns
• develop irrigation schedules for ≠ management conditions
• evaluate farmers’ irrigation practices
Specific characteristics

• monthly, decade and daily input of climatic data for

calculation of ETo

• possibility to estimate climatic data in the absence of

measured values

• decade and daily calculation of crop water requirements

based on Kc-values

• based on a daily soil-water balance (1 layer)

• calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation

scheduling for paddy & upland rice
Demonstration
WEBLE http://weble.ugent.be/WLES
AQUACROP
What?

simulates attainable yields of the major herbaceous crops

balance between simplicity, accuracy & robustness

Water balance:

track of incoming & outgoing water fluxes

daily
soil = storage reservoir with different layers
distinction between E and T

Crop growth & development:

based on canopy cover (not LAI)

uses biomass water productivity to calculate growth
What?
FAO crop model to simulate yield response to water

UPDATE!
What?

Crop growth & development:

physiological responses to water stress

- canopy development
- stomatal conductance
- canopy senescence
- harvest index

physiological responses to CO2

Wofost – World Food Studies

crop growth simulation model

What?
simulates the daily growth of a specific crop, given the selected weather
and soil data

takes into account :

- crop calendar

- soil water status

- soil nutrient status

hierarchical distinction between

- potential production

- limited production

* water & *nutrients

 growth driving forces : - light interception

- CO2 assimilation

growth controlling force :

- phenological development

Wofost helps you to :

- estimate production

- indicate yield variability

- evaluate effects of * climatic changes

* soil fertility changes

- determine limiting biophysical factors

Overview

Alterra, Wageningen, NL

reimund.roetter@wur.nl
Use?
tool for quantitative analysis of the growth and production of annual
field crops

model : - mechanistic

explains growth on the basis of the underlying

processes

- photosynthesis

- respiration

+ how they are influenced by the environmental

conditions
in practice :

crop yield is the result of interacting

- ecological

- technological conditions

- socio-economic

in Wofost :

- only ecological conditions taken into account

- optimum management practices assumed

input: crop, climate, soil (hydrology)

scale: 1 m², 1 day

3 levels: potential, water-limited, nutrient-limited

How?
potential production

depends on → variety
→ sowing date
→ climate

based on → SUCROS

how? adsorbed radiation: light extinction through canopy

photosynthesis-light-response curve
f(temperature, leaf age)
transpiration rate (leaf canopy)
optimal sowing date: water status surface
crop development: determined by environment
affects partitioning
 water-limited production

depends on the effect of periods of soil moisture deficit or excess

on crop growth
→ yield under rainfed cropping

based on daily water balance

how? 3 different soil water sub models are distinguished:

- continuously moist soil

- without ground water in the root zone

- with ground water in the root zone

(capillary rise, artificial drainage)
 nutrient-limited production

corresponds to a situation that no manure or fertilisers are added

to the soil

based on QUEFTS, nutrient requirements during crop cycle

how? simulated over crop cycle

only macro-nutrients (N,P,K) are taken into consideration

- natural supply of nutrients

- yield effect of fertiliser applications

uptake efficiency

requirements for water-limited or potential production

Limitations?
a model → simplification of reality
in practice → crop yield is a result of the interaction of ecological,
technological and socio-economic factors

management

WOFOST considers only ecological impacts, management is

assumed optimal
temporal scale

nutrient supply → aggregated over crop cycle, no evolution

spatial scale

1 dimensional model
multiple cropping

for mixed cropping or crop rotations involving more than one

crop/growing season in one year, no options have been
implemented

parameters

some parameters are fixed whereas in reality they are known

to vary

input

demands a lot of data

good understanding of the crop growth and its parameters
daily climatic data, soil water retention properties

experimentation is needed to obtain parameters and to

calibrate and verify the model results