Description:
AbstractComputer‐based biological simulation models have been used to calculate the effects of different management practices and land‐use systems on agricultural production and to assess the impact of these practices on the environment. Using spatial visualization techniques to display simulation results can significantly improve the presentation and interpretation of these analyses. The objective of this study was to develop a computer program for the spatial application of crop models as well as the analysis and visualization of modeled results. The Agricultural and Environmental Geographic Information System for Windows (AEGIS/WIN) links the simulation system Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) v3 with the geographic mapping tool ArcView 2. The interface between the two systems was programmed using Avenue, an object‐oriented macro programming language. This interface handles automatic data and command transfers between the simulation system and the mapping tool and does not require any modifications of DSSAT v3. The main spatial input for AEGIS/WIN is a coverage in the form of a digital map of a farm, a region, or any other area. DSSAT is used to create model input files and to execute the various crop management scenarios for the selected coverage. The crop model outputs can be imported and joined with the original selected land‐use map in ArcView. The simulation results can be analyzed with AEGIS/WIN using simple statistics and bar charts. AEGIS/WIN's most important feature is the display of thematic maps of simulated crop yield, yield components, and other related agronomic and environmental variables. The system was applied to study the spatial yield variability of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) for a research farm in Georgia. AEGIS/WIN was shown to be an effective tool for the spatial application of crop simulation models and for the analysis and visualization of simulated outputs.