Short Communication: PTFIndicator: An IRENE_DLL-based application to evaluate estimates from pedotransfer functions by integrated indices

  • Authors:

  • G. Fila;M. Donatelli;G. Bellocchi

  • Affiliations:

  • Research Institute for Industrial Crops, via di Corticella 133, 40128 Bologna, Italy;Research Institute for Industrial Crops, via di Corticella 133, 40128 Bologna, Italy;Research Institute for Industrial Crops, via di Corticella 133, 40128 Bologna, Italy

  • Venue:
  • Environmental Modelling & Software
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are physical-mathematical models which allow estimating soil hydraulic properties from soil data. In the absence of direct measurements, they represent a valuable tool for providing agro-ecological models with soil input estimations, whose accuracy is currently a key issue, especially in field- and regional-scale modelling which rely on soil information databases. The class library IRENE_DLL (Integrated Resources for Evaluating Numerical Estimates - Dynamic Link Library) is a repository of statistical methods and procedures designed to properly handle comparisons between model estimates and actual measurements. A distinct feature is the support for developing integrated evaluation indices based on a two-stage, fuzzy-based approach. We implemented this approach into PTFIndicator, a Microsoft Excel application based on IRENE_DLL, to evaluate the performance of PTFs. This paper introduces the overall functioning of the application, and briefly discusses one relevant worked example.