| An object oriented model for simulating crop and weed phenology under field conditions has been developed for educational and research purposes. The model can be used to study seasonal dynamics of crop and weed canopies which are important in controlling crop photosynthesis, evapotranspiration, rainfall interception, soil erosion and crop-weed competition. The software was developed based on the field experimental data taken at Urbana, IL, USA. The software runs with a user-friendly interface in Windows 95 and Windows NT (The version for Windows 3.1 is also available). The model simulates field physical and hydrological processes, and predicts crop and weed phenological events according to temperature, photoperiod, water moisture and other field conditions. The main topics covered in the software include field energy balance, evapotranspiration, soil water content, crop or weed leaf expansion, internode development, crop flowering, and other vegetative and reproductive growth processes. Water stress effects are simulated using different irrigation schedules. The model serves as a generic crop and weed phenology model via its user-friendly interface. The user can input parameters required by the model for simulating user-specified crops or weeds. Examples are given for soybean, velvet leaf, and corn phenology. The software can display or print input data and simulated results using both data tables and graphic windows. Functions for data comparisons, X-Y plots, regressions and curve fits are available for data analysis. ASCII files containing the project information and simulation results are generated for further uses. |
