Copernicus Service catalogue
app-agriculture-crop-development-explorer
The Crop Development Explorer provides an interface to explore changes in crop development/phenology between historic and future periods as estimated using outout from the selected climate model. Estimates are available for four pre-defined crops (wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) and it is possible to define any other crop by specifying the relevant parameters. The Crop Development Explorer allows users to explore the future climatic suitability for different crops and varieties worldwide.
Climate change and climate variability can affect crop production in multiple ways: Rain and sunshine determines the amount of biomass plants can produce (i.e. how large the plant is, how many leaves etc.); Temperature determines how fast a crop develops (i.e. when it will bloom, when seeds will be ripe). The statistics presented in this application were derived from the Agroclimatic indicators from 1951 to 2099 derived from climate projections, for further details on how these statistics were derived please refer to the documentation provided on the dataset entry. Additional crop specific spatial masks, crop calendars and other parameters are also used in the Crop Development Explorer but these are not available for download on the dataset entry.
The main application provides an interactive map with three selectable layers: 10-day averages (dekads) of sowing, flowering and harvesting. Zooming in on the map will make national and administrative borders visible. Users can either select one of the predefined crops, or parameterise their own using the 4 defining variables. Similarly, the climate options can be selected from a range of climate/weather models and time periods.
Clicking a point on the map opens a detailed view of the location which contains two time-series plots. One time-series displays the timing of the different crop stages and the second time-series displays the climate characteristics (incl extremes) during successive crop stages. A range of (bias corrected) climate projections and scenarios can be accessed. The data used in the time series can be download in a .csv format.
User-selectable parameters
- Crop:
- Winter wheat
- Spring wheat
- Soybean
- Maize
- 1st rice
- 2nd rice
- User defined (with crop parameters set by user)
- Crop parameters (if Crop = user defined, please refer to user documentation for further details):
- Degree-days for sowing till flowering
- Degree-days for sowing till harvest
- Temperature threshold (T-threshold) for degree-days for degree-day accumulation
- Dekad of sowing/planting
- Scenario:
- Historical
- RCP 2.6
- RCP 4.5
- RCP 6.0
- RCP 8.5
- Climate Period:
- 1981-2010
- 2011-2040
- 2041-2070
- 2071-2099
- Climate Models:
- WFDEI
- GFDL-esm2
- HadGEM2-es
- IPSL-CM5a
- MIROC-esm
- NorESM-m
- Agro-climatic indicator:
- Frost days
- Ice days
- Summer days
- Tropical nights
- Mean diurnal temperature range
- Mean daily mean temperature
- Mean daily max temperature
- Max daily max temperature
- Mean daily min temperature
- Min daily min temperature
- Precipitation total
- Wet days
- Heavy rain days
- Very heavy rain days
- Temperature threshold (T-threshold) for summer days counts (the temperature to reach for a day to be classified as a summer day)
| INPUT VARIABLES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Units | Description | Source |
| Biologically effective degree days | °C | Sum of daily mean temperatures (TG) above 10°C and less than 30°C, over 10 days. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Crop calendars and thermal time requirements | Crop parameters derived from the FAO-GAEZ dataset, please refer to documentation for further details | Brokered externally | |
| Frost days | day | Number of days per 10 days when TN < 0°C, where TN is the daily minimum temperature. This indicator provides information on frost damage. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Heavy precipitation days | day | Number of days per 10 days when RR > 10mm, where RR is the daily precipitation sum. This indicator provides information on crop damage and runoff losses. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Ice days | day | Number of days per 10 days when TX < 0°C, where TX is the daily maximum temperature. This indicator provides information on frost damage. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Maximum of daily maximum temperature | K | Maximum value of TX over 10 days, where TX is the daily maximum temperature. This indicator provides information on long-term climate variability and change. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Mean of daily maximum temperature | K | Mean value of TX over 10 days, where TX is the daily maximum temperature. This indicator provides information on long-term climate variability and change. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Mean of daily mean temperature | K | Mean value of TG over 10 days, where TG is the daily mean temperature. This indicator provides information on long-term climate variability and change. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Mean of daily minimum temperature | K | Mean value of TN over 10 days, where TN is the daily minimum temperature. This indicator provides information on long-term climate variability and change. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Mean of diurnal temperature range | °C | Mean value of the daily difference between TX and TN (TX-TN) over 10 days, where TX and TN are daily maximum and minimum temperature respectively. This indicator provides information on climate variability and change. It also serves as a proxy for information on the clarity (transmittance) of the atmosphere. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Minimum of daily minimum temperature | K | Minimum value of TN over 10 days, where TN is the daily minimum temperature. This indicator provides information on long-term climate variability and change. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Precipitation sum | mm | Sum of RR over 10 days, where RR is the daily precipitation sum. This indicator provides information on possible water shortage or excess. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Spatial crop mask | Mask derived from the SPAM 2005 dataset, please refer to documentation for further details | Brokered externally | |
| Summer days | day | Number of days per 10 days when TX > 25°C, where TX is the daily maximum temperature. This indicator provides an indication of the occurrence of heat stress. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Tropical nights | day | Number of days per 10 days when TN > 20°C, where TN is the daily minimum temperature. This indicator provides an indication of occurrence of various pests. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Very heavy precipitation days | day | Number of days per 10 days when RR > 20mm, where RR is the daily precipitation sum. This indicator provides information on crop damage and runoff losses. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| Wet days | day | Number of days per 10 days when RR > 1mm, where RR is the daily precipitation sum. This indicator provides information on intercepted reduction. | Agroclimatic indicators |
| OUTPUT VARIABLES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Units | Description |
| Accumulated climate indicators | As indicator input | Calculated climate indicators for the four successive crop stages: vegetative, around flowering, reproductive, before maturity |
| Flowering date | dekad | Calculated dekad to reach flowering (anthesis), starting from sowing date |
| Harvest date | dekad | Calculated dekad to reach harvest (maturity), starting from sowing date |
| Sow date | dekad | Prescribed average sowing dekad, read from respective hidden crop files |
