Agronomie 24 (2004) 205-217
DOI: 10.1051/agro:2004016

Spatialising crop models

Robert Faivre^a, Delphine Leenhardt^b, Marc Voltz^c, Marc Benoît^d, François Papy^e, Gérard Dedieu^f and Daniel Wallach<sup>b

a</sup>  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité BIA, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France
^b  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UMR ARCHE, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France
^c  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UMR LISAH, Bât. 24, place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
^d  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UR SAD, BP 29, 88501 Mirecourt, France
^e  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UR SAD, BP 01, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France
^f  Centre National d'Études Spatiales, CESBIO UMR 5126, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France

(Received 12 June 2003; accepted 26 March 2004)

Abstract - There are many incentives for applying a crop model on a regional scale, i.e. over an area larger than that for which it has been developed. This is what we call "spatialising" a crop model. These large areas can have very heterogeneous soil, climate and management practices. Consequently, spatialising a crop model can raise serious problems. One set arises from the fact that the basic concepts, hypotheses and validity domains of crop models are derived on the plot scale and may not apply on a larger scale. Another set arises from the lack of adequate and sufficient data to run the model on a regional scale. The workshop held in Toulouse (France) on 14-15 January 2002 dealt with the topic of spatialising crop models. The present paper is a comprehensive summary of the thoughts we had before, during and after the workshop.

Key words: crop modelling / scale change / spatial variability

Corresponding author: Delphine Leenhardt dleenh@toulouse.inra.fr

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2004