ITAgri assists in generation of following agromet products which are required for preparation of agromet advisories at different
stage of the crop and weather conditions and weather forecast
1.Spatial Daily, Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly and Seasonal Weather Parameters
Weather information at different temporal and spatial scale is useful for preparation of Agromet Advisories. In view of that,
spatial daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and seasonal scales information/maps are generated utilizing the realized weather
observations for the parameters like temperature (maximum temperature, minimum temperature, diurnal temperature),
maximum and minimum relative humidity, cloud and wind speed.
2. Realized & forecast Soil Moisture
Soil moisture information is used in the preparation of agromet advisories in respect of sowing, irrigation, mulching etc. Daily
soil moisture is computed by Soil Water Balance (SWB) technique based on the method of Thornthwaite and Mather (1955).
Spatial rainfall values are used as data source to generate daily realized soil moisture. In addition to daily soil moisture data,
cumulative, difference between two consecutive days for soil moisture are also made.
Soil moisture Forecast is made based on quantitative rainfall forecast. NWP Model output is used to generate soil moisture
forecast Soil moisture information along with forecast can be used for irrigation scheduling, early warning of dry spells, and crop
yield forecasting etc.
3. Monitoring Meteorological and Agricultural Drought using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)
Computation of SPI is done at a weekly and monthly time scale. The computation is carried out based on the two parameters
gamma distribution function. The rainfall data were transformed into log normal values followed by computation of u statistics,
shape and scale parameters of the gamma distribution. The resulting parameters are then used to find the incomplete gamma
cumulative probability of an observed precipitation event. The incomplete gamma cumulative probability is then converted to
gamma probabilities after including the occurrences of zero precipitation events. The gamma probabilities are transformed into
standardized normal distribution using -probability transformation techniques (Abramowitz and Stegun, 1965).
Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)
Evaporation information can be useful to decide water management practices particularly in respect of irrigation scheduling
which is ultimately improve crop productivity. While plants need water to grow properly, water is often a scarce resource in many
agricultural areas. By reducing the effects of evaporation through mulching etc., farmers can better utilize the water from rainfall
and other natural sources and use less water while irrigating agricultural crops. Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration
Index (SPEI) is an useful index for monitoring of agricultural drought using evaporation and rainfall values.
Aridity Anomaly maps:
Aridity Anomaly Map gives information about the moisture stress experienced by growing plant. This analysis would indicate
qualitatively retardation in the plant’s growth and so poor yields. Indirectly, this may also be helpful for irrigation scheduling, the
amount and the time at which the water is badly needed by the plant. The Aridity Index is worked out on weekly / biweekly basis
Satellite derived Agromet Products
Satellite-based information is used widely in monitoring agriculture sectors. Satellite image data have the potential to provide
real-time analysis for large areas of attributes of a growing crop that can assist in making timely management decisions that
affect the outcome of the current crop.
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is an index of plant “greenness” or photosynthetic activity, and is one of the
most commonly used vegetation indices. Many factors affect NDVI values like plant photosynthetic activity, total plant cover,
biomass, plant and soil moisture, and plant stress. Weekly NDVI products are operationally generated from satellite data. This
dataset contains gridded daily. In addition to NDVI other satellite products like Potential Evapotranspiration, Land Surface Water
Index(LSWI), LST, Insolation and Soil wetness Index is also used.
More Agromet products
a. Anomaly for weather parameters: Anomaly of different weather parameters from long term average are also generated on
different temporal and spatial scales.
b. Growing Degree days:
Growing degree day (GDD) is a weather-based indicator for assessing crop development. It is a calculation used as a measure of
heat accumulation used to predict plant and pest development rates such as the date that a crop reaches maturity. GDD units
can be used to: assess the suitability of a region for production of a particular crop; estimate the growth-stages of crops, weeds
or even life stages of insects; predict maturity and cutting dates of forage crops; predict best timing of fertilizer or pesticide
application; estimate the heat stress on crops; plan spacing of planting dates to produce separate harvest dates. These maps are
prepared on weekly and seasonal scale. Maximum and minimum temperatures are used for computation of GDD.
c. Soil temperature& its anomaly at different depths
The soil layer of the earth is critical in maintaining plant life, offering mechanical support, and supplying water and nutrients. It
affects plant growth directly, i.e. all crops practically slow down their growth. It is useful tool during germination and can also
give information of soil borne pest and disease information.
d. Evaporation from Evaporation network and anomaly
Evaporation information can be useful to decide water management practices particularly in respect of irrigation scheduling
which is ultimately improve crop productivity. While plants need water to grow properly, water is often a scarce resource in many
agricultural areas. By reducing the effects of evaporation through mulching etc., farmers can better utilize the water from rainfall
and other natural sources and use less water while irrigating agricultural crops.
Besides, more agromet products will be made available
