Tools
The tools presented below represent a portion of the tools available for the climate, agriculture and forestry sectors. The tools range from specialized calculators to maps, models and datasets estimating a variety of outputs (e.g., crop production, greenhouse gas flux, and species distribution). Certain tools may be more relevant to land managers to aid in year-to-year decision-making, while others are more useful for researchers studying agriculture and climate change. Keep in mind that all tools have limitations and make assumptions that may not be appropriate for an entity’s climate/region/crop/soil type. USDA does not endorse the tools presented below. The tool list is provided for informational purposes only, and is not exhaustive.
-
Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) Ecosystem Services Model
The Water Supply Stress Index Model (WaSSI) is a web-based tool that can be used to project the effects of land use change, climate change, and water withdrawals on river flows, water supply stress, and ecosystem…
-
USA Blight
USA Blight tracks late blight for potatoes and tomatoes, and allows users to upload data on blight occurrences. Users can subscribe to alerts, and access information about managing and preventing blight.
-
U.S. Drought Portal
The U.S. Drought Portal (www.drought.gov) is the U.S. government’s authoritative drought information website. It provides a one-stop shop for data, decision-support products, resources, and information on drought—from…
-
Ag Weather Tools
Ag Weather Tools provides GPS-based roaming alerts, as well as forecasts, touch screen interactive weather displays, and ag commentary. The app also gives users advance notice to weather risks and provides farm-level…
-
Being Prepared for Climate Change Workbook
Being Prepared for Climate Change is a workbook that guides resource managers through the development of a risk-based climate change adaptation plan consisting of a vulnerability assessment and an action plan to reduce…
-
APEX: Agricultural Policy/Environmental Extender Model
Agricultural Policy/Environmental Extender Model (APEX) can perform long-term continuous simulations for modeling the impacts of different nutrient management practices, tillage operations, conservation practices,…
-
AgroClimate Weather Stations
Short-term planning based on monthly temperature and precipitation totals for neutral and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, and probability of exceedance from user-selected weather stations.
-
AgroClimate Strawberry Advisory System
Provides recommendations for timing fungicide applications for control of Anthracnose and Botrytis fruit rots; provides alerts.