Automated computational tool for simulating field-scale agricultural hydrology and water management

In boreal climate conditions, agricultural productivity is limited by relatively short growing seasons and the prevalence of precipitation over evapotranspiration in the field among other factors. In Finland, the majority of agricultural fields are equipped with drainage systems to manage excess moisture following spring snowmelt and rainfall events. However, the increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions driven by climate change, including summer droughts, requires a more comprehensive understanding of drained field hydrology and the development of advanced strategies for agricultural water management. In this case, computational models become invaluable tools, they help to simulate various scenarios and investigate the impact of such events before they occur. Despite the advantages of using models, they come with several limitations. These include the overall complexity of modeling tools, the need for significant computational power, proficiency in specialized software, and data availability. Due to these factors, a considerable number of models remain inaccessible to a broad range of stakeholders. To address this challenge, a prototype of a computational platform for simulating drained field hydrology, was designed, and developed in this study.

The prototype is capable of preparing input files for the model, which includes finding, collecting, downloading, and preprocessing FMI open-source data on the weather conditions together with soil characteristics extracted from previous studies. Those data sets are used in running simulations in a process-based hydrological model FLUSH within the prototype. As a result, the prototype produces a visualization of simulations in the form of interactive plots of estimated water balance components, groundwater levels, and snow-water equivalent for a calendar year for different drainage settings. The applicability of a program was checked for locations within the mainland of Finland. The prototype of the automated computational program was showcased among potential users and user feedback was recorded and analysed in the study. The results of the feedback were used for further prototype development and improvement.