Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #93789
Title: GIS-BASED INTEGRATED MODELING FOR SITE-SPECIFIC CROP MANAGEMENT

Author
item Fraisse, Clyde
item Sudduth, Kenneth - Ken
item Kitchen, Newell

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers Meetings Papers
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/13/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Precision agriculture or site-specific crop management is a new management strategy in which cropping inputs such as fertilizers are applied at varying rates across a field in accordance with local crop needs. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools to capture, manipulate, process and display spatial information, such as soil type and topography. The use of crop simulation models integrated with GIS allows the user to evaluate the effect of alternative scenarios in crop development and yield at different areas of a field. We evaluated and discussed the current approach for integrating crop models and GIS, and their limitations as decision aid tools under a site-specific management approach. In addition, the effects of topography on crop development and the use of computer models to calculate topographic attributes were discussed. The use of crop models and topographic models integrated in a GIS environment could be a better alternative to investigate crop development and yield. The results of this work will benefit scientists developing decision aid tools for site-specific management. Producers and crop consultants will also benefit by having additional tools to analyze management practices and improve decision making.

Technical Abstract: Several decision support systems have been developed recently integrating crop models and GIS software. However, the common methods used to integrate crop models and GIS do not consider the spatial interactions between adjacent areas of the field. GIS-based crop modeling under a site specific crop management approach requires a better understanding of within nfield surface and subsurface flows for adequate modeling of measured variability. This paper examines some of the issues related to the integration of crop models and terrain analysis tools with GIS and its use as decision aid tools under a site-specific management approach.