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Author Sanna, M.; Bellocchi, G.; Fumagalli, M.; Acutis, M.
Title A new method for analysing the interrelationship between performance indicators with an application to agrometeorological models Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Environmental Modelling & Software Abbreviated Journal Env. Model. Softw.
Volume 73 Issue Pages 286-304
Keywords model evaluation; performance indicators; stable correlation; solar-radiation; simulation-model; environmental-models; statistical-methods; crop nitrogen; validation; rice; uncertainty; calibration; software
Abstract The use of a variety of metrics is advocated to assess model performance but correlated metrics may convey the same information, thus leading to redundancy. Starting from this assumption, a method was developed for selecting, from among a collection of performance indicators, one or more subsets providing the same information as the entire set. The method, based on the definition of “stable correlation”, was applied to 23 performance indicators of agrometeorological models, calculated on large sets of simulated and observed data of four agronomic and meteorological variables: above-ground biomass, leaf area index, hourly air relative humidity and daily solar radiation. Two subsets were determined: {Squared Bias, Root Mean Squared Relative Error, Coefficient of Determination, Pattern Index, Modified Modelling Efficiency}, {Persistence Model Efficiency, Root Mean Squared Relative Error, Coefficient of Determination, Pattern Index}. The method needs corroboration but is statistically founded and can support the implementation of standardized evaluation tools. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1364-8152 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes CropM LiveM, ftnotmacsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4503
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Author Mansouri, M.; Dumont, B.; Destain, M.-F.
Title Modeling and prediction of nonlinear environmental system using Bayesian methods Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Computers and Electronics in Agriculture Abbreviated Journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Volume 92 Issue Pages 16-31
Keywords state and parameter estimation; variational filter; particle filter; extended kalman filter; nonlinear environmental system; leaf area index and soil moisture model; extended kalman filter; state-space models; parameter-estimation; particle filters; navigation; tutorial; tracking
Abstract An environmental dynamic system is usually modeled as a nonlinear system described by a set of nonlinear ODEs. A central challenge in computational modeling of environmental systems is the determination of the model parameters. In these cases, estimating these variables or parameters from other easily obtained measurements can be extremely useful. This work addresses the problem of monitoring and modeling a leaf area index and soil moisture model (LSM) using state estimation. The performances of various conventional and state-of-the-art state estimation techniques are compared when they are utilized to achieve this objective. These techniques include the extended Kalman filter (EKF), particle filter (PF), and the more recently developed technique variational filter (VF). Specifically, two comparative studies are performed. In the first comparative study, the state variables (the leaf-area index LAI, the volumetric water content of the soil layer 1, HUR1 and the volumetric water content of the soil layer 2, HUR2) are estimated from noisy measurements of these variables, and the various estimation techniques are compared by computing the estimation root mean square error (RMSE) with respect to the noise-free data. In the second comparative study, the state variables as well as the model parameters are simultaneously estimated. In this case, in addition to comparing the performances of the various state estimation techniques, the effect of number of estimated model parameters on the accuracy and convergence of these techniques are also assessed. The results of both comparative studies show that the PF provides a higher accuracy than the EKF, which is due to the limited ability of the EKF to handle highly nonlinear processes. The results also show that the VF provides a significant improvement over the PF because, unlike the PF which depends on the choice of sampling distribution used to estimate the posterior distribution, the VF yields an optimum choice of the sampling distribution, which also accounts for the observed data. The results of the second comparative study show that, for all techniques, estimating more model parameters affects the estimation accuracy as well as the convergence of the estimated states and parameters. However, the VF can still provide both convergence as well as accuracy related advantages over other estimation methods. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-1699 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4495
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Author Conradt, T.; Wechsung, F.; Bronstert, A.
Title Three perceptions of the evapotranspiration landscape: comparing spatial patterns from a distributed hydrological model, remotely sensed surface temperatures, and sub-basin water balances Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Abbreviated Journal Hydrol. Earth System Sci.
Volume 17 Issue 7 Pages 2947-2966
Keywords senegal river-basin; data assimilation; sensing data; regional evapotranspiration; intercomparison project; environmental-models; oklahoma experiments; solar-radiation; satellite data; scale
Abstract A problem encountered by many distributed hydrological modelling studies is high simulation errors at interior gauges when the model is only globally calibrated at the outlet. We simulated river runoff in the Elbe River basin in central Europe (148 268 km(2)) with the semi-distributed eco-hydrological model SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model). While global parameter optimisation led to Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies of 0.9 at the main outlet gauge, comparisons with measured runoff series at interior points revealed large deviations. Therefore, we compared three different strategies for deriving sub-basin evapotranspiration: (1) modelled by SWIM without any spatial calibration, (2) derived from remotely sensed surface temperatures, and (3) calculated from long-term precipitation and discharge data. The results show certain consistencies between the modelled and the remote sensing based evapotranspiration rates, but there seems to be no correlation between remote sensing and water balance based estimations. Subsequent analyses for single sub-basins identify amongst others input weather data and systematic error amplification in inter-gauge discharge calculations as sources of uncertainty. The results encourage careful utilisation of different data sources for enhancements in distributed hydrological modelling.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1607-7938 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4485
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Author König, H.J.; Uthes, S.; Schuler, J.; Zhen, L.; Purushothaman, S.; Suarma, U.; Sghaier, M.; Makokha, S.; Helming, K.; Sieber, S.; Chen, L.; Brouwer, F.; Morris, J.; Wiggering, H.
Title Regional impact assessment of land use scenarios in developing countries using the FoPIA approach: findings from five case studies Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Journal of Environmental Management Abbreviated Journal J. Environ. Manage.
Volume 127 Suppl Issue Pages S56-S64
Keywords Conservation of Natural Resources; Developing Countries; Environmental Monitoring/*methods; (Ex-ante) impact assessment; Indicators; Land use change; Scenario study; Stakeholder participation; Sustainable development
Abstract The impact of land use changes on sustainable development is of increasing interest in many regions of the world. This study aimed to test the transferability of the Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA), which was originally developed in the European context, to developing countries, in which lack of data often prevents the use of data-driven impact assessment methods. The core aspect of FoPIA is the stakeholder-based assessment of alternative land use scenarios. Scenario impacts on regional sustainability are assessed by using a set of nine regional land use functions (LUFs), which equally cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The cases analysed in this study include (1) the alternative spatial planning policies around the Merapi volcano and surrounding areas of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; (2) the large-scale afforestation of agricultural areas to reduce soil erosion in Guyuan, China; (3) the expansion of soil and water conservation measures in the Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia; (4) the agricultural intensification and the potential for organic agriculture in Bijapur, India; and (5) the land degradation and land conflicts resulting from land division and privatisation in Narok, Kenya. All five regions are characterised by population growth, partially combined with considerable economic development, environmental degradation problems and social conflicts. Implications of the regional scenario impacts as well as methodological aspects are discussed. Overall, FoPIA proved to be a useful tool for diagnosing regional human-environment interactions and for supporting the communication and social learning process among different stakeholder groups.
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0301-4797 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes TradeM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4474
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Author Francone, C.; Cassardo, C.; Richiardone, R.; Confalonieri, R.
Title Sensitivity Analysis and Investigation of the Behaviour of the UTOPIA Land-Surface Process Model: A Case Study for Vineyards in Northern Italy Type Journal Article
Year 2012 Publication Boundary-Layer Meteorology Abbreviated Journal Boundary-Layer Meteorology
Volume 144 Issue 3 Pages 419-430
Keywords energy balance; hydrological balance; land-surface model; morris method; vegetation cover; vitis vinifera l.; atmosphere transfer scheme; environmental-models; energy-balance; uncertainty; simulation; canopy
Abstract We used sensitivity-analysis techniques to investigate the behaviour of the land-surface model UTOPIA while simulating the micrometeorology of a typical northern Italy vineyard (Vitis vinifera L.) under average climatic conditions. Sensitivity-analysis experiments were performed by sampling the vegetation parameter hyperspace using the Morris method and quantifying the parameter relevance across a wide range of soil conditions. This method was used since it proved its suitability for models with high computational time or with a large number of parameters, in a variety of studies performed on different types of biophysical models. The impact of input variability was estimated on reference model variables selected among energy (e.g. net radiation, sensible and latent heat fluxes) and hydrological (e.g. soilmoisture, surface runoff, drainage) budget components. Maximum vegetation cover and maximum leaf area index were ranked as the most relevant parameters, with sensitivity indices exceeding the remaining parameters by about one order of magnitude. Soil variability had a high impact on the relevance of most of the vegetation parameters: coefficients of variation calculated on the sensitivity indices estimated for the different soils often exceeded 100 %. The only exceptions were represented by maximum vegetation cover and maximum leaf area index, which showed a low variability in sensitivity indices while changing soil type, and confirmed their key role in affecting model results.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0006-8314 1573-1472 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes CropM Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4470
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