Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #350382
Research Project: Response of Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Watersheds to Changes in Water Availability, Land Use, Management, and Climate

Location: Water Management and Systems Research

Title: Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM). 1. Background, objectives, and vision.

Author
item McMaster, Gregory
item Edmunds, Debora
item Marquez, Roger
item Fox, Jr, Fred
item Wagner, Larry
item Tatarko, John
item LIGHTHART, NATHAN - Colorado State University
item KIPKA, HOLM - Colorado State University
item Erskine, Robert - Rob
item Green, Timothy
item Ascough Ii, James

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2018
Publication Date: 6/24/2018
Citation: Mcmaster, G.S., Edmunds, D.A., Marquez, R.D., Fox, F.A., Wagner, L.E., Tatarko, J., Lighthart, N., Kipka, H., Erskine, R.H., Green, T.R., Ascough Ii, J.C. 2018. Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM). 1. Background, objectives, and vision.. Meeting Proceedings. 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software.

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Since the development of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model in 1988, the EPIC-based plant growth code has been incorporated and modified into many agro-ecosystem models. The goals of the Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM) project are: 1) integrating into one platform the enhancements from the multiple EPIC-based plant growth models, 2) further enhance the integrated UPGM model, and 3) develop a component that can be more easily linked into other agroecosystem models such as the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) and Agricultural Ecosystem Services Model (AgES). This talk discusses Objectives 1 and 2; Objective 3 is covered in Part 2. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) model was chosen as the base platform for UPGM for many reasons including it was the most extensively modified of the EPIC-based plant code. Once the standalone UPGM component was created in Fortran 90/95, the phenology, seedling emergence, and plant height algorithms from the Phenology Modular Modeling System (PhenologyMMS) were added and tested for unstressed conditions. The UPGM component was also incorporated into the Java-based AgES model and has been tested for a range of environments. A number of issues were identified including: 1) much better linkage between the PhenologyMMS and WEPS algorithms (e.g., improving the partitioning among plant fractions) was needed, and 2) a redesign of the UPGM component was needed for easier incorporation into other agro-ecosystem models. Development of the standalone UPGM component prototype shows promise for incorporation into other agroecosystem models, and provides greater opportunity for scientists to improve or add specific algorithms in their areas of interest.