The SenSOP-II approach describes and simulates soil-plant-climate interactions during the growing period and gives recommendations or suggests measures for agricultural production. Growth and vitality of specific crops or cultivated plants are influenced by continuous change of soil-, plant- or climate characteristics such as soil water content, plant water balance, nitrogen balance in soils and plants, local solar radiation or temperature and rainfall variations. Further spatial alterations of soils characteristics or plant variations are subject of adequate means of geoelectric mapping techniques and simulation software procedures of plant growth and nutrient turnover (Please see Figure 1).
The engineering design of SenSOP-II innovative solution is based on a 4-Layer approach. It contains dynamic data acquisition of soil physics and plant physiology and local climate conditions with specific sensors – the so-called Sensor Layer - and adapting a simulation model for plant growth and water balance/ nutrient supply assessment for proper cropland management measures coupled with a regional climate model that is the so-called Application Layer. The simulation software is used for the Application Layer. It will be supplemented by a compilation of sophisticated means. Data storage, data modelling and visualization of geographic land information, simulation results, graphs of time series of processed sensor data and integration of external (regional) weather forecast results giving warning notices of proper agricultural measures are part of the so-called Server Layer. Interactions with the enduser is described by the Replication Layer.
