Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a new index called the Agricultural Reference Index for Drought or ARID. ARID is a simple and reliable index to monitor and predict agricultural drought. It is based on a reference crop (grass) and takes into account the soil-plant-atmosphere relationships.
This 5-page fact sheet describes the nuts and bolts of ARID and how to monitor the index on Agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Eduardo M. Gelcer, and Prem Woli, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae469
Tag: Decision Support Systems
Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index — LGMI (AE470)
Recently, researchers at the University of Alabama developed an index called the Lawn and Garden Moisture Index or LGMI, which monitors the capacity of current soil moisture to sustain healthy lawns and gardens. This 4-page fact sheet explains the nuts and bolds of the LGMI and how to monitor and forecast the index on agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Prem Woli, and Keith T. Ingram, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae470
Drought Decision-Support Tools: Introducing the Keetch Byram Drought Index — KBDI (AE471)
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is generally used to determine potential wildfire hazards across the southeastern United States and is calculated daily by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Forestry. KBDI is a continuous reference scale for estimating the dryness of the soil and duff layers. Forest managers have identified several uses for the KBDI in wildfire management. This 5-page fact sheet explains the nuts and bolds of the KBDI and how forecast the index on agroclimate.org. Written by Clyde W. Fraisse, Norman E. Breuer, and David Zierden and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae471
AE450 A Web-based Decision Support Tool for Timing Fungicide Applications in Strawberry
AE450, a 5-page illustrated fact sheet by Willingthon Pavan, Clyde W. Fraisse, and Natália A. Peres, describes a web-based tool for timing fungicide applications in strawberries that can reduce the number of sprays and cost of production, especially in years when the conditions for disease are not favorable. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, August 2009.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE450
FE751 A Decision-Aid Tool to Compare Costs of Mechanical Harvesting Systems
FE751, a 4-page illustrated fact sheet by Fritz Roka, provides instructions in the use of a Web-based tool to help growers and harvesting contractors organize relevant harvest cost information and then calculate and compare net harvest costs among all available harvesting options. Published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, September 2008.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FE751