Universität Bonn

INRES Crop Science

en

Calibration of a process-based crop model for the development and growth of different crops

Master Thesis

Research area

Crop Science

Motivation / State of the art / Relevance

BASF Digital Farming relies on the modeling framework SIMPLACE developed at U Bonn to simulate the crop development of leaf area, biomass and nitrogen uptake at field scale.

For future applications, SIMPLACE shall be adapted to simulate the development of specific crops, which requires a proper calibration of the model.

Objectives

The goal of this thesis is to derive a scientifically sound derivation of the parameterization for SIMPLACE based on literature information, field measurements as well as satellite data in order to simulate development and growth of crops accurately.

Methodology / Procedure / Workscope / external cooperation

  1. Taking biomass samples (as well as soil samples) on selected fields in the Rheinland region, plus analysis of the lab results
  2. Literature review regarding the topic ‘Simulation of crop growth’
  3. Parameterization of the model based on field samples as well as remote sensing data
  4. Evaluation of the modeling results

Expected results

Ready-to-be-used parameterization for the crop growth model to simulate development of specific crops.

Timeframe

4-6 months

Language

German or English

Previous knowledge

  1. Basic understanding of crop growth and crop production
  2. Basic understanding of crop growth models as well as remote sensing data
  3. Driving license Klasse B
  4. Any coding experience (Python, R) is appreciated, but is not a must

Supervisor

Dr. Thomas Gaiser (tgaiser@uni-bonn.de)

Contact

Dr. Thomas Gaiser (tgaiser@uni-bonn.de)

Additional Information

Cooperation with BASF Digital Farming GmbH in Köln (Contact person: Andreas Tewes, andreas.tewes@xarvio.com)