A wide variety of advanced technology is available to agricultural managers today: yield monitors, variable rate machinery, mapping programs, etc. Making sense of all this technology and using it in the most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly manner is a great challenge.

We are designing a Decision Support System (DSS) for agricultural managers that combines what scientists know about the physical behavior of the agricultural landscape with the effects of management available to growers. The end result is a software package called the Precision Agricultural-Landscape Modeling System (PALMS). PALMS is a combination of several models that simulate the flow of energy, water, and some chemicals in the air-plant-soil system. Each model is directly linked to the input and output of the others, so that the variability in soil moisture, for example, has an effect on runoff, which in turn affects plant growth and water uptake, which affects soil moisture.

One of the key innovations is PALMS' ability to represent the variability of key landscape parameters within a single field (topography, soil texture-horizonation-hydraulic properties). This results in the ability of PALMS to simulate variability in soil moisture, runoff, nutrient uptake, yield, etc. on the same scale - anywhere from 20x20 meters down to 5x5m or smaller. Results from one or more PALMS simulations could be used to predict yield, time planting or harvest, estimate runoff or leaching, and estimate soil nutrient removal for the field as a whole and for individual locations.

We are currently seeking to develop PALMS with a corporate partner in order to provide a robust product to agricultural consultants, farmers, researchers, and regulators.