Analysis and modelling of biophysical processes within agro-environmental systems

This line refers to the analysis of biophysical processes via field, greenhouse and growth chamber experiments, and to the formalization of the acquired knowledge in mathematical models to be used for operational purposes, ranging from crop monitoring and yield forecast to management support.
The Cassandra activities in this field are traditionally focused on rice-baesd cropping systems, although new lines are active since 2012 (e.g., targeting the development of energy crop models).

Examples for these activities refer to the impact of management practices on rice elongation (Confalonieri et al., 2014), to mechanical transplanting stress (Pagani et al., 2014), to leaf area dynamics within rapeseed canopies (Gilardelli et al., 2014), and to the analysis of the floodwater effect on the vertical thermal profile (Confalonieri et al., 2005). These activities led to the first modelling approaches for the processes involved.

Current activities include the analysis and modelling of processes involved with rice grain quality, carbon/nitrogen and greenhouse gas emission from paddy soils, germination and emergence dynamics.

References:

Confalonieri, R., Mariani, L., Bocchi, S., 2005. Analysis and modelling of water and near water temperatures in flooded rice (Oryza sativa L.). Ecological Modelling, 183, 269-280.

Confalonieri, R., Stella, T., Dominoni, P., Frasso, N., Consolati, G., Bertoglio, M., Bianchi, E., Bortone, L., Cairo, V., Cappelli, G., Cozzaglio, G., Fattorossi, G., Garbelli, A., D'Incecco, P., Marazzi, A., Marescotti, M.E., Marziali, F., Maserati, S., Mazza, M., Mottadelli, G., Negrini, G., Nutini, F., Orasen, G., Pacca, L., Pinnetti, M., Pirotta, M., Porta, R., Riva, A., Scaramelli, A., Sessa, F., Uggeri, S., Urbinati, F., Russo, G., Chiodini, M., Bregaglio, S., Acutis, M., 2014. Impact of agro-management practices on rice elongation: analysis and modelling. Crop Science, 54, 2294-2302.

Gilardelli, C., Stella, T., Frasso, N., Cappelli, G., Bregaglio, T., Chiodini, M.E., Confalonieri, R., 2014. An improved version of WOFOST for the simulation of quantitative and qualitative aspects of winter rapeseed production. Proceedings of the 13th Congress of the European Society for Agronomy, Debrecen, Hungary, 25-29 August 2014, pp. 207-208.

Pagani, V., Francone, C., ZhiMingWang, Qiu, L., Bregaglio, S., Acutis, M., Confalonieri, R., 2014. Evaluation of WARM for different establishment techniques in Jiangsu (China). European Journal of Agronomy, 59, 78-85.