HowWet?
HowWet? is a computer program that uses farm rainfall records to estimate plant available water and nitrate in the soil at planting and throughout the fallow season.
- Who this tool is for
- Questions this tool answers
- What this tool does
- Inputs
- Outputs
- Reliability
- History
- Support available
- Where to get it
- Cost
Read about our selection process for including tools on Climate Kelpie
Who this tool is for
Grain growers in regions where soil water and nitrate at planting are important to crop management (particularly northern grain systems on clay soils).
Questions this tool answers
- Given my local rainfall to date this year, how wet is my soil?
- At the end of my fallow and based my soil moisture, what crop should I plant and how much fertiliser do I need.
What this tool does
HowWet? is a computer program that uses farm rainfall records to estimate how much:
- rain has been stored as plant-available water
- nitrogen has been mineralised in soil
- erosion was caused by runoff water during the fallow period
This information should help you decide what crop to plant and how much fertiliser to use.
Inputs
- You select your soil type and climate region from the menus.
- You enter you own farm rainfall data.
- HowWet? contains tables of weekly temperatures and evaporation rates.
- You can select the default plant-available water capacities or enter your own data.
Outputs
HowWet? output is displayed as tables of total rainfall, runoff, evaporation and mineralised nitrogen.
You can choose from a series of graphs.
Figures 1 and 2 are examples.
Reliability
HowWet? uses standard water-balance algorithms from APSIM.
History
HowWet? was developed by Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit.
Support available
Contact David Freebairn, Conics Ltd
Email: david.freebairn@conics.com.au
Refer to the HowWet? webpage for more information a fact sheet.
Where to get it
Visit HowWet? to download the software and fact sheet.
Cost
Free