| Autor: |
Gerik, Thomas J., Williams, Jimmy, Fromme, Danny D., Harman, Wyatte L., Stuth, Jerry W., Steglich, Evelyn M. |
| Zdroj: |
Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conferences; 2005, p1997-2001, 5p, 3 Charts, 4 Graphs |
| Abstrakt: |
Growing degree units are commonly used to predict cotton growth stages, pesticide treatment thresholds, and timing of cotton harvest aids. Yet, access to reliable weather data can be a problem. Often weather stations are not located in close proximity to a field leaving a producer without a reliable source of data. We conducted this study to determine if interpolated, geo-referenced weather can accurately predict growth stages in cotton and reduce the reliance on nearest site National Weather Service or in-field weather station equipment. Fifteen locations across the U.S. Cotton Belt region in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas were chosen. We compared daily air temperatures distributed by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and the Agricultural Experiment Stations with the interpolated and geo-referenced weather data found on the U.S. Epic/CroPMan Weather Data System website. Growing season periods were established for each site in which mean interpolated, geo-referenced (Geo-interp) monthly air temperatures were compared to the NCDC and Ag Experiment Station (AES) data. Cumulative growing degree units (GDUs) were calculated for the growing season at each location. Comparison of monthly mean air temperatures showed that a difference of 2.0 °F often occurred between the Interpolated-Geo-referenced (Geointerp) and the NCDC and AES sources. However, comparison of the cumulative growing season GDUs showed few differences, indicating that despite monthly temperature differences the Geo-interp weather data reliably predicted cotton development. Being that GDUs as well as errors or biases are cumulative, prediction of individual growth stages would show even less differences between the Geo-interp source and the NCDC/Ag Experiment Station sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Supplemental Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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