Crop Yield in North Dakota as a function of Precipitation

Tyler McEwenGIS in Water Resources

Term Project Presentation12/7/2006

Presentation OverviewPresentation Overview

Introduction/ObjectivesIntroduction/ObjectivesData CollectionData CollectionData Manipulation/ComputationData Manipulation/ComputationResultsResultsConclusionsConclusions

North Dakota: Facts

• Largest City: Fargo

Population 90,672• Total Population

636,677• Total Area

68,676 square miles• 21.0 % Total Jobs From

Agriculture/Related Work

Original ObjectivesOriginal Objectives

Obtain soil survey for entire state!!Obtain soil survey for entire state!! Join crops to soil type and Land Use/Land Cover Join crops to soil type and Land Use/Land Cover

(LULC) data(LULC) data Precipitation calculations and manipulationsPrecipitation calculations and manipulations Interpolate precipitation data Interpolate precipitation data Create crop yield predictive modelCreate crop yield predictive model

Current ObjectivesCurrent Objectives

Join crop yield data to county shapefileJoin crop yield data to county shapefile Perform precipitation calculations and Perform precipitation calculations and

manipulationmanipulation Interpolate precipitation for 10 years of dataInterpolate precipitation for 10 years of data Create animations of crop yield versus Create animations of crop yield versus

precipitationprecipitation Derive correlationsDerive correlations

Data SourcesData Sources

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) http://www.nass.usda.gov/http://www.nass.usda.gov/

National Climate Data Center – Climate Data Online National Climate Data Center – Climate Data Online http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO\http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/CDO\

National Weather Service OST/SEC GIS Map Group National Weather Service OST/SEC GIS Map Group http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/national/html/us_state.htmhttp://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/national/html/us_state.htm

InfoPlease.comInfoPlease.comhttp://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108256.htmlhttp://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108256.html

Precipitation DataPrecipitation Data

Approximated growing season datesApproximated growing season dates Growing Season (May – September) Growing Season (May – September) Spring & durum wheat, corn, barley, sugarbeets, Spring & durum wheat, corn, barley, sugarbeets,

flaxseed, soybeans, canola, sunflower, hay and flaxseed, soybeans, canola, sunflower, hay and potatoespotatoes

Extrapolated precipitation data for growing Extrapolated precipitation data for growing seasonseason

Data CollectionData Collection

Data CollectionData Collection

Data Manipulation/CalculationData Manipulation/Calculation

Calculated total rainfall during crop Calculated total rainfall during crop growing seasongrowing season

Joined rainfall to precipitation stationsJoined rainfall to precipitation stations Interpolated rainfall using Spline methodInterpolated rainfall using Spline method

Precipitation InterpolationPrecipitation Interpolation

ResultsResults

To the animations!To the animations!

ConclusionsConclusions

No correlation between precipitation and No correlation between precipitation and crop yield…yetcrop yield…yet

East vs. west correlationEast vs. west correlation

GoalsGoals

Produce more animationsProduce more animationsFind correlationFind correlation

Special ThanksSpecial Thanks

GrandfatherGrandfatherDr. MaidmentDr. MaidmentTyler JansenTyler JansenFellow studentsFellow students

Questions???Questions???