N-tracking Tool

It is an online tool for tracking real-time (daily frequency) soil nitrogen availability (lbs Nitrogen/acre) in cornfields for the user-defined location in Illinois. Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT), version 4.6, is used in combination with USDA gSSURGO soil database, and daily NWS weather data (Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis) to simulate soil nitrogen dynamics. Users are asked to provide information about location (latitude/longitude, or click on Googlemap to choose a location), corn cultivar being used (or default one), planting date and fertilizer application date(s) and amount(s), and simulation end date (default is current date). The information is sent to the server where the program prepares soil and weather files corresponding to the user’s location. DSSAT simulations are then run for the selected simulation duration and an output is generated in the form of an email to the user with times series of soil Nitrogen concentrations (lbs Nitrogen/acre) at two depths (0-1 and 1-2 feet) over the requested period from first application of nitrogen or from planting date (whichever is earliest) to the simulation end date.