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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pendleton, Oregon » Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #68951
Title: PREDICTING GREEN CANOPY COVER OF CEREAL GRASSES FOR A RUSLE CROP DATABASE.

Author
item Rickman, Ronald
item Klepper, Elizabeth
item Waldman, Sue
item McCool, Donald

Submitted to: International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/4/1994
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Conservation of agricultural soil resources depends upon our ability to anticipate effects of various cropping and management practices on loss of soil to erosion by water. Predictive models for evaluating management practices began in the United States in the 1930's. One of the most recent predictive models for erosion control is the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). Weather, soil and crop data that are characteristic of each local environment must be available to use the model for evaluating alternative management choices. Weather and soil information can usually be obtained from government or university sources but crop information must be obtained locally. The program CRP4RUSL that is described in this manuscript simplifies the collection and organization of required crop growth information. It provides crop development and growth data in tabular form required by RUSLE so that appropriate locally based crop files can be used for evaluation of local management practices.

Technical Abstract: The RUSLE erosion prediction program requires data bases for local weather, soils and crops. While historic weather and local soils data can usually be obtained from local government or university sources, detailed crop development observations are often not available for constructing the required crop data files. The program CRP4RUSL provides a rapid method for estimating the seasonal change of canopy cover, drip height, and root mass in intervals required to expand a RUSLE crop database. It also provides seeding parameters in the required units. Only a few commonly available local crop observations are required by CRP4RUSL. Representative daily maximum and minimum temperature for the interval from seeding to harvest must be available. The program provides maximum flexibility for adopting to local conditions without recompilation. Initial values of all parameters are read into the program from an input data file that can be modified interactively or with a text editor. CRP4RUSL is provided as an executable file that runs under DOS on an IBM type PC with 640k RAM and at least a floppy drive.