The long-term agrometeorological field experiment at Berlin-Dahlem, Germany

In order to investigate the relationships between atmospheric influences an d crop yields, long-term observations of meteorological and agronomic param eters are necessary. The agrometeorological field experiment at Berlin-Dahl em (Germany), which was established in autumn 1952, is a unique basis for s uch studies. The original aim of this experiment was to show how the variab ility of weather affects the growth, development and yield formation of dif ferent crops. On eight plots, potatoes, winter rye, field beans, oats, suga r-beet, maize, spring barley, and yellow lupin are grown on a permanent cro p rotation. The crop management from year to year is constant so that the a nnual variability of crop yield is only the result of climatic fluctuations . In this paper, the long-term experiment is described and the observed cro p yields are briefly discussed. Following papers will present results of re lationships between atmospheric influences and crop yields for spring and w inter cereal, root crops and legumes in detail. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.