A DATA SET FROM NORTH GERMANY FOR THE VALIDATION OF AGROECOSYSTEM MODELS - DOCUMENTATION AND EVALUATION

A three-year set of agricultural field measurements for two silt loam and one sandy soil locations is documented. The measurements represent the coordinated efforts of five member institutions of a long-term, i nterdisciplinary project focusing on agroecosystem processes. The data provided the basis for a comparative modeling workshop. Soil-water an d weather have been most intensively monitored, followed by soil nitro gen, crop growth and herbicide persistence. Detailed field management as well as measurement methodologies are described. The presence of mu ltiple, independent measurements of soil-water status at one of the lo am sites presented a rare opportunity for assessing the quality of thi s portion of the data. It was concluded that the 10 to 400 cm profile of electronically-monitored matrix potential provides a remarkably con sistent and rich picture of both long- and short-term soil-water behav ior at this site.