Harlan Shannon

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
An Overview of the USDA World Agricultural
Outlook
Board Geographic Information System
Harlan Shannon Meteorologist U.S. Department of
Agriculture Office of the Chief Economist World
Agricultural Outlook Board Washington D.C., U.S.A.
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Introduction

• Several analytical techniques can be used to
  assess agricultural weather
• time series analyses
• analog comparisons
• maps
• Historically, many maps were static depicted
  just one variable, making it difficult to
• overlay data sets
• visualize and evaluate relationships
• easily assess crop weather conditions
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have helped
  overcome these obstacles

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
GIS Described
Simple GIS

• GIS defined integrated system for organizing,
  displaying, and analyzing spatial data using
  computers and compatible technologies
• GIS incorporates quantitative data directly into
  the system, helping users
• overlay multiple data sets
• create precise maps
• statistically evaluate relationships
• Numerous organizations use GIS to study, monitor,
  and model agricultural and meteorological
  processes

Robust GIS
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
WAOB Geographic Information System

• Software
• ArcView 3.x older software still used to run
  some operational applications
• ArcGIS 9.x majority of operations transitioned
  to this newer software
• Hardware
• Pentium D desktop computers
• 3.4 GHz processing speed
• 2 GB RAM
• Windows XP operating system
• PCs connected via local area network
• Oracle 11g database

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
GIS Activities

1. Manually generate maps of important agricultural
   meteorological variables
2. Automate product creation to maximum extent
   possible
3. Overlay analyze agrometeorological data sets,
   establish relationships, determine impacts
   where applicable

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
GIS Activities
manual labor
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Production Data Internet
NASS crop production data posted on the Internet
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Production Data Excel
Data can be converted into a GIS-compatible
format using a spreadsheet
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Production Data ArcView
Agricultural data can then be imported into GIS
and mapped
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Maps United States
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Crop Maps United States
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Crop Maps Brazil
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Crop Maps Russia
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Automating Applications

• Crop production areas shift slowly over time,
  thus maps of major crop areas are updated
  infrequently
• automated updates not necessary
• In contrast, crop progress conditions vary on
  much shorter time scales, requiring more frequent
  map updates
• manual map production can be time consuming and
  tedious if a large number of products are
  required
• Automation is necessary to effectively and
  efficiently produce such products

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Progress Condition Maps
Crop progress and condition maps previously
prepared by hand
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
VBA Macros

• Object-oriented programming language, enables
  users to automate various tasks associated with
  mapping
• Examples of automation
• importing data
• spatial analysis (e.g., contouring)
• defining map scale/extent
• annotation
• creating a map legend
• exporting/printing a map

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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Progress Condition Maps
Programming significantly reduces product
generation time and ensures product consistency
from run-to-run
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Progress Condition Maps
Once initial programming accomplished, often
little additional code needed to expand/enhance
suite of products
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Progress Condition Maps
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Crop Progress Condition Maps
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Automating More Applications
same principles apply to automating weather
analyses
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Maps of Daily Data
Green number precipitation
Red number maximum temperature
Blue number minimum temperature
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Color Contour Maps
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Color Contour Maps
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Crop Moisture Index
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
MODIS Crop Condition Analyses
Western Australia September 3, 2007
Western Australia September 2, 2008
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MODIS Winterkill Analyses
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Overlaying Analyzing Data
real power in GIS is ability to overlay and
analyze multiple data sets
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GEOSPATIAL APPLICATIONS IN AGROMETEOROLOGY
Thank You !