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A Computer Program to Analyze Single‐Season Crop Model Outputs
Author(s) -
Thornton Philip K.,
Hoogenboom Gerrit
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1994.00021962008600050020x
Subject(s) - computer science , graphical user interface , software , source code , personal computer , ibm , computer program , crop simulation model , user interface , gross margin , data file , simulation , statistics , database , operating system , crop yield , production (economics) , mathematics , materials science , macroeconomics , agronomy , economics , biology , nanotechnology
Computer simulation models of the growth, development, and yield of annual crops can produce large quantities of data, especially if a simulation experiment involves many treatments and replications across different years. Computer software was written to perform simple analyses of such experiments, allowing the user to identify those treatments that are productive, stable, economically attractive, environmentally sound, or otherwise suitable for the purposes of the investigator. The computer program, which runs on a DOS (IBM‐compatible) personal computer, can interface with output files produced by any crop model run on any other computer that conforms to a common output file structure. Summary statistics for a wide variety of model output variables are calculated and presented to the user in a number of tabular and graphical forms. Net monetary returns and gross margins can also be calculated, and price‐cost variability can be taken into account in the analysis. The user can perform an economic comparison of simulation treatments using mean‐Gini stochastic dominance or, visually, meanvariance analysis. The results of all calculations and analyses are written to an output file that can be manipulated by the user to provide input to a spreadsheet or statistical package for further analysis of the simulated data. The program allows rapid, preliminary analysis of treatments from replicated simulation experiments and can help the user to identify particularly promising treatments that warrant further evaluation.