doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15258-0_2
Abstract
Spatial variation within fields influences soil water, nutrient and crop growth dynamics. Depending on climatic conditions, spatial patterns of yield are often not stable over time because weather conditions favour different processes from year to year. The same holds for rapidly fluctuating soil processes like water and nitrogen dynamics, while other soil properties remain relatively stable over a few years. Estimation of an appropriate irrigation or fertilizer amount in relation to site-specific yield expectations is essential to optimize water or nutrient use efficiency. On the other hand, farmers’ aims are often in conflict with the interest of water suppliers to keep nutrient loads below the drinking water standard. Process-based agro-ecosystem models can help to reflect the spatio-temporal dynamics in soil–crop–atmosphere relations to transcribe spatial within-field variation of temporally stable soil properties into timely and spatially adapted management decisions.KeywordsCrop growth Nitrogen Yield variation Nitrate leaching.
