Crop Database

In the WEPS plant growth submodel biomass is converted from solar radiation and partitioned to root and ‘shoot' parts. The shoot mass is partitioned into leaf, stem, and reproductive masses. Finally the reproductive mass is partitioned into grain and chaff parts. Development of the crop in WEPS is a function of the heat unit index, which is the ratio of the cumulated growing degree days at any time to the seasonal growing degree days. The crop reaches maturity when the heat unit index is 1. To perform these and other operations the WEPS plant growth model uses crop parameters. The parameters consist of a mixture of plant growth, decomposition, and other related information used to simulate plant growth and decomposition in the WEPS model.

See the WEPS User Manual or contact WERU for more information.