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Research article2021Peer reviewedOpen access

The chaos in calibrating crop models: Lessons learned from a multi-model calibration exercise

Wallach, Daniel; Palosuo, Taru; Thorburn, Peter; Hochman, Zvi; Gourdain, Emmanuelle; Andrianasolo, Fety; Asseng, Senthold; Basso, Bruno; Buis, Samuel; Crout, Neil; Dibari, Camilla; Dumont, Benjamin; Ferrise, Roberto; Gaiser, Thomas; Garcia, Cecile; Gayler, Sebastian; Ghahramani, Afshin; Hiremath, Santosh; Hoek, Steven; Horan, Heidi; Hoogenboom, Gerrit; Huang, Mingxia; Jabloun, Mohamed; Jansson, Per-Erik; Jing, Qi; Justes, Eric; Kersebaum, Kurt Christian; Klosterhalfen, Anne; Launay, Marie; Lewan, Elisabet; Luo, Qunying; Maestrini, Bernardo; Mielenz, Henrike; Moriondo, Marco; Zadeh, Hasti Nariman; Padovan, Gloria; Olesen, Jorgen Eivind; Poyda, Arne; Priesack, Eckart; Pullens, Johannes Wilhelmus Maria; Qian, Budong; Schuetze, Niels; Shelia, Vakhtang; Souissi, Amir; Specka, Xenia; Srivastava, Amit Kumar; Stella, Tommaso; Streck, Thilo; Trombi, Giacomo; Wallor, Evelyn; Wang, Jing; Weber, Tobias K. D.; Weihermueller, Lutz; de Wit, Allard; Woehling, Thomas; Xiao, Liujun; Zhao, Chuang; Zhu, Yan; Seidel, Sabine J.
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Abstract

Calibration, the estimation of model parameters based on fitting the model to experimental data, is among the first steps in many applications of process-based models and has an important impact on simulated values. We propose a novel method of developing guidelines for calibration of process-based models, based on development of recommendations for calibration of the phenology component of crop models. The approach was based on a multi-model study, where all teams were provided with the same data and asked to return simulations for the same conditions. All teams were asked to document in detail their calibration approach, including choices with respect to criteria for best parameters, choice of parameters to estimate and software. Based on an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the various choices, we propose calibration recommendations that cover a comprehensive list of decisions and that are based on actual practices.

Keywords

Calibration recommendations; Process-based models; Parameter estimation; Phenology

Published in

Environmental Modelling and Software
2021, Volume: 145, article number: 105206
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Agricultural Science
    Ecology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105206

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113947