AgrometShell: Software for crop yield forecasting (AMS)

AgroMetShell is a software toolbox for assessing the impact of climatic conditions on crops, analyzing climate risks and performing regional crop forecasting using statistical and crop modeling approaches. It allows an integrated analysis of ground data and low resolution satellite information under a common interface. The program includes a database that holds all the weather, climate and crop data needed to analyze the impact of weather on crops. Data can be input into the database by keyboard, from WINDISP format images or imported from ASCII files. The core of the program is the Crop Specific Soil Water Balance which can be operated in two modes: monitoring mode or “risk analysis” mode. The monitoring mode is an analysis of one growing season covering many stations in a specific area, usually a country or a province in a country. The risk analysis mode covers the same type of analysis, but for one station only, and over many years. The program requires climate, crop and soils data and produces waterbalance variables: total water requirement, water excess, water deficit, rainy season adequacy in meeting crop water requirements. It also calculates rainfall probabilities and growing season characteristics based on climatological parameters. Full documentation for AgroMetShell is contained in the Crop Monitoring Box.