AgMIP Regional Integrated Assessment of Agricultural Systems in Nioro, Senegal

The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) developed protocol-based methods for Regional Integrated Assessment (RIA) of agricultural systems. These methods have been applied by teams of scientists working with regional and national stakeholders across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This paper describes the data sets that were used to implement the AgMIP RIA methods for the Nioro region of Senegal. The goal of the RIA is to assess the potential impacts of climate change on the principal agricultural system in the Senegal peanut basin comprised of peanut, millet, maize and other minor crops and livestock, and to assess adaptations of that system to climate change, under current as well as future climate and socio-economic conditions. The data sets include: the Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) developed for Nioro from 2000-2050; climate data used to implement crop yield simulations; the data used to parameterize the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) and the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) crop models, which include historical climate data and future climate scenarios; and the data used to parameterize the Tradeoff Analysis Model for Multi-dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) economic simulation model. The analysis is structured around four AgMIP “core questions'' of climate impact assessment.

Landscape diagnostic survey data of wheat production practices and yield in eastern India

Approximately 7,600 wheat plots were surveyed and geo-tagged in the 2017-18 winter or rabi season in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India to capture farmers’ wheat production practices at the landscape level. A two-stage cluster sampling method, based on Census data and electoral rolls, was used to identify 210 wheat farmers in each of 40 districts. The survey, implemented in Open Data Kit (ODK), recorded 226 variables covering major crop production factors such as previous crop, residue management, crop establishment method, variety and seed sources, nutrient management, irrigation management, weed flora and their management, harvesting method and farmer reported yield. Crop cuts were also made in 10% of fields. Data were very carefully checked with enumerators. These data should be very useful for technology targeting, yield prediction and other spatial analyses.

Multi-variable experimental data set of agronomic data and gaseous soil emissions from maize, oilseed rape and other energy crops at eight sites in Germany

Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), as well as other gaseous emissions and agronomic variables were continuously measured for three years (2011/2012 – 2014/2015) at eight experimental field sites in Germany. All management activities were consistently documented. The GHG-DB-Thuenen stores these multi-variable data sets of gas fluxes (CO2, N2O, CH4 and NH3), crop parameters (ontogenesis, aboveground biomass, grain and straw yield, N and C content, etc.), soil characteristics (nitrogen content, NH4-N, NO3-N, bulk density etc.), continuously recorded meteorological variables (air and soil temperatures, radiation, precipitation, etc.), management activities (sowing, harvest, soil tillage, fertilization, etc.), and its metadata (methods, further information about variables, etc.). In addition, NOx data were measured and analyzed. Also available are site-specific calculated C and N balances for the respective crops and crop rotations.

Pan-European multi-crop model ensemble simulations of wheat and grain maize under climate change scenarios

The simulated data set described in this paper was created by an ensemble of nine different crop models: HERMES (HE), Simplace<Lintul5,Slim3, FAO-56 ET0> (L5), SiriusQuality (SQ), MONICA (MO), Sirius2014 (S2), FASSET (FA), 4M (4M), SSM (SS), DSSAT-CSM IXIM (IX). Simulations were performed for grain maize (six models) and winter wheat (eight models) under diverse conditions over agriculturally relevant areas in the EU-27 at a 25 x 25 km spatial resolution. Simulations were drawn from combinations of three representative concentration pathways and climate outputs from five general circulation models for time periods 2040-2069 and 2070-2099. Historical climate data was the basis for simulation years 1980-2010 and considered as a baseline. Simulation results from 1980-2010 and 2040-2069 were used to analyze crop responses to changing climatic variables and their diverging sensitivities to these variables. This data paper describes the creation, motivation and format of the simulation results to enable others to use the data set.

Maize response to free air CO2 enrichment under ample and restricted water supply: field experimental data and output of a process-based hydrological plant growth model

This paper contains data from a two year FACE experiment with maize (Zea mays L., cv. ‘Romario’) investigating the interaction of two CO2 concentrations (378, 550 ppm) and two levels of water supply (sufficient: wet, limited: dry) on crop growth and plant composition. In the second year soil cover was also varied to test whether mitigation of evaporation by straw mulch increases the CO2 effect on water use efficiency. The datasets assembled herein contain data on weather, management, soil condition, soil moisture, phenology, dry weights and N concentrations of the plant (leaves, stems, cobs), green leaf area index, stem reserves, final yield and quality-related traits in the total plant and grains. Most of the experimental findings have already been published in scientific journals. Moreover, the data have been used in two crop modeling studies, and simulation results (on soil moisture, transpiration, evaporation and biomass) of one of these studies are also shown here.

Experimental data from the Braunschweig FACE studies on wheat growth responses to elevated CO2 in combination with nitrogen supply or infrared warming during grain filling.

This data paper contains data from a FACE experiment with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, c.v. Batis) carried out over two years at Braunschweig, Germany. The experimental variants included firstly a study on the interaction of two levels of CO2 (393, 600 ppm) and three levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization (ca. 40, 190 and 320 kg N ha-1) and secondly a study on the interaction of these CO2 treatments and three levels of infrared warming during grain filling (ambient, ca. +1.5°C and +3°C). In the second study N supply was only ca. 190 kg N ha-1. The datasets of the two studies assembled herein contain data on weather, management, soil condition, soil moisture, phenology, dry weights and N concentrations of the plant (leaves, stems ears), green area index, stem reserves, final grain yield and yield components as well as canopy temperatures (this only applies to the second study). Most of the experimental findings have already been published in scientific journals. Data provided herein are suited to validate the interaction of elevated CO2 concentration and either N supply or high temperature during grain filling in wheat growth models.

Experimental and simulated wheat data from across a temperature gradient along the River Nile in Egypt

The dataset includes detailed field experiments from four locations across a temperature gradient along the River Nile. The data covering four contrasting environments from North (low temperature) to South (high temperature), includes Sakha (North delta, lower Egypt), Menofya (Middle delta), Benisuef (Middle Egypt) and Aswan (upper Egypt). Measurements included plant density, aboveground biomass, anthesis and maturity dates, grain yield, grains m-2, kernel weight and N content in grains as well as daily weather data (solar radiation, maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, surface wind, relative humidity, dew point and vapor pressure) and soil characteristics and crop management. Wheat was sown under full irrigation and fertilization with two planting dates. Simulations include three DSSAT-Wheat models (CERES, NWHEAT and CROPSIM).

ECOFI: a database of sugar and energy cane field trials

Agroecological studies on sugarcane dealing with genotype by environment by management interactions commonly generate complex datasets. To facilitate the use of these datasets, a relational database, named ECOFI, was designed from the analysis of the content and the structure datasets of multidisciplinary experiments with sugarcane and energy cane. The database described in this paper includes data from 58 trials carried out in 11 countries from 1986 to 2016, including 24 trials in Reunion Islands and 15 in Guadeloupe. Taking into account plots within the trials and crop cycle, it includes 725 crop cycles in total, with 60 different cultivars. The datasets contain data for crop observations (e.g. dry mass), soil (water contents), weather (all essential meteorological parameters) and management (sowing, cultivars and harvest). Additionally the datasets contain metadata to qualify observations. This dataset provides an adequate experimental set to calibrate or validate crop model simulations under genotype x environment interaction.

UAV-based Multispectral & Thermal dataset for exploring the diurnal variability, radiometric & geometric accuracy for precision agriculture

To explore the diurnal variations, radiometric and geometric accuracy of UAV-based data for precision agriculture, a comprehensive dataset was created in a one-day field campaign (21 June 2017). The multi-sensor data set covers wheat, barley & potato experimental fields, located in Wageningen University and Research (WUR) farm maintained by Unifarm. UAV-based images were collected with several sensors over the experimental area, starting from 7:25am and ending at 20:00pm local solar time. The dataset consists of images collected by 9 flights with senseFly MSP4C, 9 with Parrot Sequoia, 2 with Slant Range P3, 5 with DJI Zenmuse X3 NIR, 4 with the senseFly Thermo-map and 1 with the RGB Sony WX-220. Additionally, validation measurements at radiometric calibration plates and plant sample locations were taken with a Cropscan handheld spectrometer and a tec5 Handyspec spectrometer. The dataset consists of the validation measurements, the raw images and the processed orthomosaics (both with and without geometric correction).

Experimental field data for modeling the growth response of tef to nitrogen fertilizer and water stress

Field data from six experiments covering a wide range of growing conditions were organized for tef growth and cropping systems modeling. The data included (i) an irrigation experiment in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, (ii) a cultivar trial at Fallon, NV, USA, (iii) a nitrogen fertilizer experiment in the Jamma District of Ethiopia, (iv) a nitrogen fertilizer experiment in the Ofla District of Ethiopia, (v) a nitrogen fertilizer experiment in the Ada area of Ethiopia, and (vi) a nitrogen fertilizer experiment at Gare Arera, Ethiopia. The combined data set covered 40 experimental treatments and 131 observations. Time series data were limited to biomass data from two treatments from the Tigray region experiment. All other crop related data was measured at maturity. Daily weather data was taken primarily from satellite weather databases for Ethiopia, and from weather stations in the USA. These data have been used in various agronomic studies, as well as the calibration of the DSSAT Tef model. The results of this model calibration are also included in this paper. The objective of this paper was to present and preserve all of the field data used for calibrating the DSSAT Tef model, as well as the tef model’s simulations of the field data.