Kb. Perry et al., HEAT UNITS, SOLAR-RADIATION AND DAYLENGTH AS PEPPER HARVEST PREDICTORS, Agricultural and forest meteorology, 65(3-4), 1993, pp. 197-205
Daily maximum and minimum air temperature, total solar radiation and d
aylength data from seven locations during three seasons of 3 years wer
e used to compare 52 heat unit accumulation models with counting days
as a harvest prediction method for pepper. The best model was defined
as the one with the least variation, i.e. smallest coefficient of vari
ation (CV). CV's were calculated for each method over all seasons and
locations, for each method over all locations for each season, and for
each method in each season at each location. In all cases heat unit a
ccumulation methods were better than counting days. The location and s
eason specific model was the most accurate, but the analysis over all
seasons and locations did result in smaller CV's than counting days, s
o improved harvest prediction can be achieved by using regionally deve
loped models.