Off10 

rn I UNIVERSITY 

A Center for Commercial 

Development of Space: 

Real-Time Satellite Mapping 

Remote Sensing-Based Agricultural 

Information Expert System 

Fabian C. Hadipriono and Carlos F. Diaz 

Department of Civil Engineering 

Earl S. Merritt 

Earth Satel I i te Corporation 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Washington, D.C. 20546 

Grant No. NAGW-973 

Final Report 

RF Project 765707/721489 

August 1989 
PROJECT NAME: Remote Sensing-Based Agricultural 

Information Expert System 

CORPORATE PARTNER: Earth Satellite Corporation, 

Chevy Chase, MD. 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: 

Fabian C. Hadipriono, Dept of CE. 

The Ohio State University 

CORPORATE CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: 

Earl S. Merritt, Vice President 

Earth Satellite Corporation 

REPORTING PERIOD: December 1, 1988 - August 31, 1989. 
TABLE OF CONTENT 

CHAPTER Page 

ABSTRACT 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

LIST OF TABLES 

LIST OF FIGURES 

1. INTRODUCTION 

2. COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

3. EXPERT KNOWLEDGE 

4. THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

5. DEVELOPING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE 

5.1. The Construction of Frames 

5.1,l. Properties of the Root Frame 

5.1.2. Properties of Subframes 

5.2.1. Parameters of Root Frame and 

5.2.2. Parameters of Subframes and 

5.2. Parameters 

Their Properties 

Their Properties 

5.3. Production Rules 

5.3.1. The Properties of Production Rules 

5.3.2. Transforming Rules Draft to ARL 

5.3.4. Rules that Connect Frames 

5.3.5. Rules that Call External Files 

5.4. Geographic Interface 

6. BUILDING A RUNTIME VERSION FOR THE PROGRAM 

7. CONSULTING THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

7.1. Hardware requirement 

7.2. Installation 

7.3. Important Commands 

7.4, The Use of Mouse 

7,5. Consultation: An Illustration 

8.1, Summary of Study 

8.2. Conclusions 

8.3. Recommendations for Future Studies 

APPENDIX A. REFERENCES 

APPENDIX B. EXPERT’S RULES DRAFTS. 

APPENDIX C. ROOT FRAME CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

APPENDIX D. SUBFRAME SATELLITE 

APPENDIX E. SUBFRAME PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY 

APPENDIX F. SUBFRAME GROUND 

APPENDIX G. SUBFRAME MODEL 

APPENDIX H. GLOSSARY 

5.3.3. Certainty Factors in Rules 

8. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

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ABSTRACT 

The research project results in a powerful yet user 

friendly CROPCAST OSU expert system for use by a client to 

determine the crop yield production of a certain crop field. 

The study is based on the facts that heuristic assessment 

and decision making in agriculture are significant and 

dominate much of agribusiness. Transfer of the expert 

knowledge concerning remote sensing based crop yield 

production into a specific expert system is the key program 

in this study. A knowledge base consisting of a root frame, 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, and four subframes, namely, SATELLITE, 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL were developed to 

accomodate the production rules obtained from the domain 

expert. The expert system shell Personal Consultant Plus 

version 4.0. was - used for this purpose. An external 

geographic program was integrated to the system. 

This project is the first part of a completely built 

expert system. The study reveals that much effort was given 

to the development of the rules. Such effort is inevitable 

if workable, efficient, and accurate rules are desired. 

Furthermore, @iu-ndj%m help statements and graphics were 

included.. Internal and external display routines add to the 

visual capability of the system. The work results in a 

useful tool for the client for making decisions on crop 

yield production. The knowledge base has been tested with 

successful results. A step-by-step illustration of 

consultation is presented. A revenue of over US $13 million 

for a workable and completely built system is estimated by 

EarthSat on a six year market projection. 

i 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The investigators of this project wish to thank the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration who provided 

the financial support of this study through the Center for 

Commercial Devclopment on Space at The Ohio State 

University. Special thanks are due to Drs. John D. Bossler 

and William H. Anderson, the Directors of the CCDS, for 

their direction of this project, and to Mr. James F. Ball, 

the administrator of CCDS projects. Mr. Thomas Li, a 

graduate student at The OSU, and Mr. Bob Paul, a programming 

specialist from EarthSat, have assisted the investigators in 

developing the expert system. Dr. Dennis O’Brien edited this 

report. 

ii 
LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE Page 

Table 2.1. Average Product Price, 4 

Table 3.1. Knowledge Base Outline. 7 

Table 5.1. Parameters Defined in the Root Frame. 21 

Table 5.2. Parameters Defined in the Subframe SATELLITE. 25 

Table 5.3. Parameters in the Subrame PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY. 25 

Table 5.4. Parameters Defined in the Subframe GROUND. 26 

Table 5.5. Parameters Defined in the Subframe MODEL. 26 

iii 
* 

LIST OF FIGURES 

FIGURE 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

Figure 

4.la. 

4,lb. 

5.1. 

5.2, 

5.3. 

5.4. 

5.5. 

5.6. 

5.7. 

5.0. 

5.9. 

5.10. 

5.11. 

5.12. 

5.13. 

Architecture of CROPCAST OSU (Phase 1). 

Architecture of CROPCAST OSU. 

Properties of Frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST. 

Properties of Subframe SATELLITE. 

Properties of Subframe PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY. 

Properties of Subframe GROUND. 

Properties of Subframe MODEL. 

Properties of Parameter HIGH-TEMP. 

Properties of Parameter GREEN-RED. 

Properties of Parameter MAXIMUM. 

Rulegroup-SATELLITE. 

Rule 93. 

Rule 81. 

Rule 21. 

Rule 22. 

Page 

10 

11 

14 

16 

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27 

28 

30 

32 

34 

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* This list does not include the figures presented in 

Chapter 7, Section 7.5 (Consultation: an Illustration). 

These figures begin on page 43. 

iv 
1. INTRODUCTION 

Agriculture, while having a strong scientific base, is 

operated as a heuristic enterprise. Farmers base their 

operations on a combination of "what worked well last year" 

and "what my father did worked well for him and I'm not 

going to change." While these statements exaggerate the 

actual situation they provide a basis to try and review the 

role of expert systems in agricultural enterprises. 

First let us examine the problem faced by the farmer or 

the agricultural extension agent in trying to assess 

production. The farmers know what came off each of their 

fields last year and the years before that with high 

confidence. They can walk into the fields and sample; they 

can examine their neighbors' success on similar soils with 

similar varieties; they arrive at their seasonal production 

estimate by weighing these factors together with the amount 

of rain that has fallen and their knowledge of other factors 

that influence crop production. The actual process they use 

in arriving at their estimate is heuristic in that it is a 

discovery process but is generally incapable of proof. 

The production discovery process outlined is 

characteristic of many operational problems f.aced in 

agriculture. Clearly, if the process can be captured then it 

is possible to combine the process with the available 

knowledge in an expert system shell to allow a computerized 

system to make the estimate. 

The real problem is the process, since if we do not 

understand how the farmer or extension agent seeks to 

discover the answer, we have no way of teaching a computer 

to duplicate the process. Let us now examine the range of 

problems that are addressed with heuristic processes in the 

agricultural sector. The range extends from price discovery, 

where the farmer or the speculator is seeking to discover 

the price at which it is economically beneficial to buy or 

sell an agricultural commodity or even the asking price for 

a piece of equipment the individual may wish to sell, to 

decisions regarding the amount of fertilizer to use or the 

appropriate time to apply herbicides. Each of these decision 

activities makes use of the heuristic process in one way or 

another. 

Expert systems can be applied to the full range of 

agricultural problems alluded to in the foregoing. Expert 

systems have evolved from the field of Artificial 

Intelligence; they attempt to provide a cost-effective means 

to simulate human reasoning processes in order to find the 

one or several solutions that may be contained in a given 

knowledge base. Success with expert systems has been 

achieved in many fields including medical diagnosis, 

1 
equipment repair, financial advice, etc. Some expert systems 

developed at The Ohio State University are among others 

related to construction (Hadipriono, 1989), structural 

damage (Hadipriono, 1988), and drainage patern analysis 

(Hadipriono et. al., 1989). The strength of expert systems 

technology is that it offers a way effectively to use human 

process reasoning even if that specific expert is 

unavailable. Thus if Farmer Jones’s father had process 

knowledge on the best way to solve a problem and that 

knowledge had been captured in an expert system before he 

could no longer operate the farm, his reasoning processes 

would still be available to the farm business. 

In this project, we explore the problem faced by the 

crop analyst who wishes to estimate crop yield and 

production at the farm, county, state, or multistate level. 

This project is the first of a multi-phase project, 

encompassing the development of an expert system for crop 

production and price demand analyses. Therefore, the 

objective of this first phase work is to transfer the expert 

knowledge into the knowledge base in the specific expert 

system for crop yields based on information from satellite, 

ground, model, and plant physiological resources. The 

package will be designed so that it can be acquired by a 

variety of clients, ranging from small farming businesses to 

large corporations in the United States as well as in 

foreign countries. 

2 
2. COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL OF THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

In the mid-l970’s, our corporate partner, Earth 

Satellite Corporation (Earthsat), developed a commodity 

forecasting system (CROPCAST) which today provides daily 

worldwide production estimates for some 20 commodities to 

more than 90 organizations, Earthsat’s current client base 

represents about 5% of the food processor and 

exporter/importer market with sales of over $100 million. 

The CROPCAST system ingests and integrates data and 

information from many sources such as the 

agrometeorological data, ground investigative reports, and 

Landsat and Metsat. For the past ten years, CROPCAST has 

been providing accurate production forecasts to a growing 

community of clients. The CROPCAST model has shown excellent 

skill on relatively large area estimates, but it was not 

designed to provide absolutely accurate information at 

county or farm levels, even though the processes used in 

CROPCAST are appropriate to small area processes. 

The clients’ requirements are evolving; i.e., both 

public and private sector clients seek the capability to 

combine the current CROPCAST technology with other supplyand demand-side techniques so that they may better focus 

their resources in a continually changing marketplace. The 

development of a remote-sensing based agriculturalinformation-knowledge-base expert system is expected to 

significantly expand the marketability of the crop 

forecasting services. It will allow such services to reach 

various segments of users ranging from farmers and 

individuals to large corporations worldwide. It is believed 

that the entire agribusiness community will expand and 

benefit . 

EarthSat has identified three major segments in the 

market, Segment 1, which will employ the integrated 

knowledge bases, includes large corporations, such as 

financial institutions, commodity brokerage companies, food 

manufacturers, and foreign trading firms. There are at least 

1,500 potential clients classified in this segment. Several 

of these organizations, including La Arrocera, Toepfer 

International, Hershey Foods Corporation and General Foods 

Corporation have shown a strong interest in the program. 

EarthSat predicts a market penetration of 10 - 15% over a 

six-year period. 

Segment 2 consists of foreign and regional governments, 

which need to use the knowledge base as a tool for managing 

their agricultural demands or for participating in the 

international commodity market. EarthSat estimates about 120 

potential clients in this segment who are interested in the 

system, and expects about 20 - 25% of market penetration 

over a six-year period. . 

3 
Segment 3 is comprised of small businesses, individual 

speculators, and farmers, who are interested in the 

subsystem of the knowledge base. EarthSat approximates 

20,000 elements of this segment and assumes a 10% 

marketability over a six-year period. 

Table 2.1 shows a market forecast for the expert system 

we anticipate selling to the three market sectors. Revenues 

do not include the sale of hardware. Marketing of the 

knowledge base expert system could start as early as the end 

of this year (end of 1989). We will encourage early buyers 

to participate and contribute their expertise for the 

development of the production rules. An early buyer discount 

package will be offered for the rights to use their 

programs. It is expected that we could perform the first 

real-time tests at the end of the first year. Based on the 

test results, we could improve the marketing strategy, for 

instance, by modularieing the package into several different 

packages to achieve maximum utility of each purchase. 

Next, we discuss the expert knowledge available to the 

analyst and the development of an expert system, 

incorporating such knowledge. 

4 
3. EXPERT KNOWLEDGE 

The expert knowledge available to the analyst can 

provide a variety of simulations of crop processes. 

Knowledge of production is essential to the entire 

agricultural decision-making process. The kinds of knowledge 

that the analysts may use are generally listed in Table 3.1. 

This knowledge is classified based on the source of 

information. Eight sources are considered for a completed 

crop production expert system: Satellite-, Ground-, Model-, 

Plant-Physiological-, Statistical-, Geographical-, 

Hydrological-, and Topographical-based information (Column 1 

of Table 3.1), The parameters of each source of information 

are listed in Column 2. These parameters, affecting the crop 

yield production, were used by the expert to establish the 

knowledge. In this report, we focus our work on the first 

four sources. 

The knowledge in Table 3.1 is obtained from experts who 

are actively involved in solving crop production problems. 

Examples of such knowledge for Satellite-, Ground-, Model-, 

and Plant-Physiological-based information are provided in 

Appendix B. They are furnished by our corporate partner, 

Earth Satellite Corp. (Earthsat). This knowledge is 

expressed in. the form of IF-THEN statements. Examples of 

such statements in each of the four sources of information 

are presented here: 

SATELLITE-based statement: 

IF the appearance of an area of crops as measured by 

greenness counts is equal to the greenness count of a 

city, 

reach total loss. 

THEN the loss on crop yield will be significant and may 

GROUND-based statement: 

IF the plant appears yellow early in the season and there 

has been flooding, 

THEN the plant has been oxygen starved and yields may be 

reduced. 

MODEL-based statement: 

IF the subsoil moisture during the reproductive period is 

below 30 percent of capacity or is fluctuating around 

30 percent, 

reduced. 

THEN the chance of above trend yields is significantly 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGAL-based statement: 

IF the plant is in the tassel and ear initiation (8-10 

leaf stage to tasseling), 

THENstress from heat and/or low soil moisture will cause 

serious loss in ear size, kernel si.ze and count, etc. 

5 
In this project, we compiled these statements into 

workable rules, commonly called the production rules, or 

rules expressed by the experts in the form of experiencebased rules of thumb, educated guesses, and heuristic 

assessments. We also modified and redefined the parameters 

in Table 3.1 so that we can use them for the production 

rules. These rules, presented in the next section, are 

essential in the development of the expert system. 
TABLE 3.1 KNOWLEDGE BASE OUTLINE 

TYPES OF 

INFORMAT I ON 

(1) 

PARAMETERS 

(2) 

A. SATELLITE Greene s s 

Area of Greeness 

Variability of Greeness 

Flooding 

Area of Flooding 

Length of time flooding exists 

Field preparation (L/S and Spot) 

Irrigation Application (L/S and Spot) 

Irrigation type (center pivot, flood, etc.) 

Soil Erosion (Wind, Water, etc.) 

Growth stage (inferred from greenup timing) 

B. GROUND 

C. MODEL 

D. PHYSIOLOGICAL 

Growth stage 

Plant height 

Plant condition 

Damage assessment 

Soil moisture assessments 

Field preparation 

Varieties planted 

Flooding locations 

Reproductive progress, i.e., tasseling, 

bloom, etc. 

Areal soil moisture 

estimated for three layers 

Estimate of yield valid to +/-lo percent at 

state levels and 15-20 percent at county 

level. 

Areal estimates of crop yield variability 

Areal estimates of growth stage, accuracy 

near 5 days near 40 degrees north and south 

Areal estimates of crop condition with 

accuracy estimated at 65 percent 

Areal estimates of the occurrance and timing 

of stress events from drought or flood 

Disease potentials due to humidity and/or 

clouds 

Planting and Field preparation delay 

potentials 

Freeze locations and area of potential 

Estimates of plant processes given growth 

stage 

Estimates of damage potential given growth 

stage and conditions of the plant 

7 
TABLE 3.1 KNOWLEDGE BASE OUTLINE (continued) 

TYPES OF 

INFORMATION 

(1) 

PARAMETERS 

(2) 

E. STATISTICAL Total planted area to county level (year 

old) 

Variety information (usually more than a 

year old) 

Yield estimates at the county level with an 

accur;acy valid to +/-15-20 percent 

Agrichemical useage at county level (one to 

two years old) 

Tillage practices (usually more than a year 

old) 

Planting dates (historical) 

Stocks to use ratioes 

On farm storeage estimates 

F. GEOGRAPHICAL/CLIMATOLOGY Maps of locations of drainage 

Maps of soils 

Location of transportation and Elevators 

Political boundaries (township, county, 

stated, etc.) 

Broad area land cover 

Location of water bodies (lakes, ponds, 

rivers, etc.) 

Maps of topography and climate 

Maps of normal high and low temperatures 

Maps of rainfall 

Maps of normal freeze dates 

Maps of degree days 

G. HYDROLOGICAL 

H. TOPOGRAPHIC 

Maps of ground water tables 

Ground water flow potential 

Water quality information 

Detailed topographic information 

8 
4. THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

An expert system may be defined as a computer software 

that captures, accommodates, and manipulates human knowledge 

and expertise to solve a particular problem. An expert 

system deals primarily with knowledge rather than data. The 

architecture of the first phase of CROPCAST OSU (the name of 

our program) is shown in Figure 4,la. 

In general, an expert system consists of two important 

parts: the inference engine and the knowledge base. The 

inference engine performs the inference process. It is a 

mechanism that processes information provided by a user or 

client and the knowledge within the system to obtain the 

solution of a particular problem. The knowledge base 

contains frames, parameters, and production rules. A frame 

is a structure that provides for the collection of 

information concerning the knowledge base (PC PLUS: Getting 

Started, 1988). A frame groups the parameters and production 

rules. A parameter represents an individual piece of 

knowledge. In this project, the production rules were 

compiled from the knowledge acquired from an expert in the 

form of IF-THEN statements and through interviews as 

presented in Appendix B. 

Besides the inference engine and knowledge base, the . expert system should be able to interface with the client 

and external programs. Client interface involves the input 

of evidences, leading to a decision-making process. The 

client may wish to obtain the reason for the decision 

through the explanation facility. In the first phase of this 

project, the external programs employed to interface with 

the knowledge base are limited to graphic software only 

(Figure 4.la). However, as the project evolves, we will 

include other data bases and computational models as shown 

in Figure 4.lb. 

A general purpose expert system software developed with 

an inference mechanism and a body of knowledge for use to 

accommodate production rules is called an expert system 

shell. There are currently numerous expert system shells 

with various capabilities in the market that can be used for 

our project. After a selection process, we decided that 

Personal Consultant Plus version 4.0 (PC Plus), produced by 

Texas Instruments Inc., was the most suitable and within the 

range of our project budget. PC Plus runs on IBM AT 

compatible personal computers with DOS version 2.10 or 

higher. Memory requirement for developing the knowledge base 

are at least 640 KB, plus 0.5 MB of extended or expanded 

memory. required. 

PC Plus is a highly functional tool for expert system 

environment and has been given a high rating by many (Palmer 

and Mar, 1988; Maloney and Miller, 1988). Other significant 

A floppy disk drive and a hard drive are 

9 
EVIDENCES i-rJ 

EXPLANATION, b USER'S e , 

FAClL ITV I NTERF ACE 

DECISION 

MAK 1 NG 

2 IN RENCE MECHANISMS 

KNOWLEDGE 

ACQUISITION 

1. identification 

2. Conceptualization 

3. Formulation 

4. Implementation 

5. Testing - 

KNOWLEDGE DATA - BASES BASES 

1. Maps Data 

2. Model Data 

DOMAIN 

EXPERT 

1. Assump t 1 ons 

2. Rules of Thumb 

3. Assessments 

4. Limitations 

5. Others 

Figure 4.la. The Architecture of CROPCAST OSU (Phase 1) 

10 
7 EVIDENCES 

EXPLANATION, 

FACILITY 

r 

B USER'S , DECISION 

INTERFACE MAK I NG 

< INFER NCE MECHANISMS 

EXPERT 

1. Assumptions 

2. Rules of Thumb 

3. Assessments 

4. Limitations 

5. Others 

& 

KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE DATA 

ACQUl SIT I ON BASES BASES 

1. Maps Data 

2. Model Data 

3. Metereoloqic Data 

4. Remote Sensing 

Related Data 

5. Price/Demand Datz 

. 

6. Crop Vield Data 

COMPUTATIONAL/ANALYT ICAL 

MODELS 

1. Statistical Analyses 

2. Economic Models 

3. Other Matematical Models 

4. Remote Sensing Models 

Figure 4.lb. The Architecture of CROPCAST OSU 

11 
features of this expert system shell are its highly 

interactive environment for development and testing, access 

to external packages, graphic display capability, and 

window-oriented interactive mode with extensive online help. 

In addition, PC Plus is able to translate the rules that are 

written in the Abbreviated Rule Language into the English 

language. Moreover, PC Plus offers a utility that helps to 

translate the knowledge base into other languages such as 

French and Portuguese. 

PC Plus involves three activities: DEVELOP, BUILD, and 

CONSULT. The Activity DEVELOP is used by the knowledge 

engineer (an engineer involved in developing an expert 

system) to construct the knowledge base. BUILD is used to 

construct a workable copy of the expert system without 

accommodating the PC Plus shell. This copy of the program is 

for use by the client to consult the expert system. CONSULT 

is the activity for the knowledge engineer to test the 

expert system. These activities are presented in the next 

chapters. 

12 
5. DEVELOPING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE 

As mentioned before, a frame groups its parameters and 

rules. The development of a knowledge base constitutes the 

construction of the frames, parameters, and production 

rules. 

5.1. The Construction of Frames 

First, we develop the knowledge base by constructing the 

frames. A knowledge base may have two types of frames, a 

root frame and subframes. Each knowledge base should have at 

least the root frame, but it can have only one root frame. 

However, a knowledge base can have as many subframes as the 

problem requires. In this project, a root frame CROP-YIELDFORECAST and its four subframes SATELLITE, PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, 

GROUND, and MODEL were established. They represent the 

sources of information used to determine the crop yield that 

are acquired from the domain experts (Earthsat). The root 

frame and subframes can be networked together by using a 

special instruction that is constructed in a rule. The root 

frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST integrates the four subframes 

through the use of rules, and hence, combines the 

conclusions obtained from the four subframes. Appendices C, 

D, E, F, and G contain the lists of the frames, parameters, 

and rules that we use for CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, SATELLITE, 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL, respectively. 

5.1.1. Properties of the Root Frame 

In order to allow a frame to function as desired, we 

have to provide certain basic information to the frame 

during the development phase. First, at the Knowledge Bases 

Screen, select "create a new knowledge base." Then enter the 

value of DOMAIN, which will prompt a heading that is shown 

in the screen during consultation. Next, assign the name of 

the frame, CROP-YIELD-FORECAST. Following this, enter the 

current objective, which describes of the objective of the 

frame. Figure 5.1 shows the properties of the frame CROPYIELD-FORECAST. 

Now, the root frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST has a general 

property VARIABLES. This property contains $$TITLE and 

DOMAIN variables. As mentioned before, the DOMAIN variable 

prompts a heading that is shown in the screen during 

consultation. The value of DOMAIN is "CROPCAST OSU, 

Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University." The $$TITLE 

variable contains the name of the graphic that is presented 

when the client starts a consultation. In our case, the 

value of this variable is (PICTURE CROPCAST). 

13 
$$TITLE 

VALUE :: (PICTURE CROPCAST) 

DOMAIN :: "CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State 

University" 

IDENTIFIER :: CROP-YIELD-FORECASTGOALS :: (LOCATION SATELLITE-PRODUCTION SATELLITETRANSLATION :: (Crop Yield Forecast) 

COMMENTS GROUND-PRODUCTION GROUND-COMMENTS 

PHYS-PRODUCTION PHYS-COMMENTS MODELPRODUCTION MODEL-COMMENTS PRODUCTION INITIAL 

CROP ) 

INITIALDATA :: (INITIAL GROWTH-STAGE WEEKS FLOOD HIGHTEMP SOIL-MOISTURE ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 5 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Crop Yield 

Forecast" :LINE :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) :ATTR 

(YELLOW HIGH) "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" ) 

DISPLAYRESULTS :: YES 

PARMGROUP :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES) 

OFFSPRING :: (SATELLITE PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY GROUND MODEL) 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS :: (CROP FLOOD GROUNDCOMMENTS GROUNDPRODUCTION GROWTH-STAGE 

HIGH-TEMP INITIAL 

LOCATION MODEL-COMMENTS 

MODEL-PRODUCTION PHYSCOMMENTS PHYS-PRODUCTION 

PRODUCTION SATELLITECOMMENTS SATELLITEPRODUCTION SOIL-MOISTURE 

WEEKS ) 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES :: (RULE021 RULE022 RULE074 

RULE075 RULE076 RULE077 

RULE078 RULE096 ) 

Figure 5.1. Properties of the Frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

14 
Besides the above-mentioned property, the root frame 

has other, more specific properties (see Figure 5.1) The 

property IDENTIFIER specifies the group name for the 

parameters and rules defined in this frame. TRANSLATION 

describes the frame, while GOALS lists the goal parameters 

whose values PC Plus attempts to establish during 

consultation. The property INITIALDATA shows the parameters 

whose values are requested by PC Plus from the client each 

time a frame is instantiated. This property also determines 

the desired order of the parameters in which the questions 

are requested. Note that since these parameters are 

question-related, they do not appear in the property GOALS 

and vice versa. An exception to this rule is the parameter 

INITIAL. To get the preliminary information, INITIAL should 

be contained in INITIALDATA, while for updating purposes, 

INITIAL should be contained in GOALS. The property 

PROMPTEVER of the root frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST prompts 

"Crop Yield Forecast" in magenta underlined by yellow stars. 

Note that this prompt can be displayed in any color by 

changing the PROMPTEVER property. 

The property DISPLAYRESULTS indicates whether or not 

the goals of the consultation are displayed when the frame 

finishes the consultation process. The property PARMGROUP 

groups the parameters of the root frame, while RULEGROUPS 

groups the production rules of the root frame. The property 

OFFSPRING identifies the subframes of the frame CROP-YIELDFORECAST. The properties CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS and 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES lists all parameters and rules in 

the root frame, respectively. 

Note that on the screen one can only see the properties 

that can be edited. Figure 5.1 shows all properties 

including the User Defined properties (those that cannot be 

edited) such as RUEGROUPS and SATELLITE-PARMS. 

5.1.2. Properties of Subframes 

The properties of the subframes are almost the same as 

those in the root frame. Figures 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 

show the properties of subframes SATELLITE, PLANTPHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL. In these subframes we add 

other properties. The property PARENTS identifies the root 

frame of a subframe. For all subframes, the root frame is 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST. The property ANTECEDENT requires a more 

detailed description. First, a frame can reach its 

objectives by using either the precedent or antecedent mode. 

The property ANTECEDENT is added if the frame is to perform 

in an antecedent mode, otherwise; the frame performs in a 

precedent mode. 

15 
IDENTIFIER : : "SATELLITE-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from satellite 

information) 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION SATELLITE-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (AVHRR L-S GREEN-RED GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS 

NIR FOREST CENTERED MAXIMUM POND-NIR 

POND-VIR ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 6 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "SATELLITE 

INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) 

" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * * * * " ) 

PARMGROUP :: SATELLITE-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (SATELLITE-RULES) 

SATELLITE-PARMS :: (AVHRR CENTERED FOREST GREEN-RED 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS L-S MAXIMUM NIR 

POND-NIR POND-VIR ) 

SATELLITE-RULES :: (RULE023 RULE024 RULE025 RULE026 

RULE027 RULE028 RULE029 RULE030 

RULE031 RULE080 RULE081 RULE091 

RULE092 RULE093 RULE094 RULE095 ) 

Figure 5.2. Properties of Subframe SATELLITE 

16 
IDENTIFIER : : "PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from plant 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION PHYS-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (PLANTING-DATE LOW-TEMP NIGHT-TEMP SOILphysiology information) 

TEMP WATER-STORAGE SUN LEAVES FUNGI ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "PLANT 

PHYSIOLOGY INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR 

(YELLOW HIGH) 

" * * * * * * ** * * ** * * * ** * * * * * * * * ** * " ) 

PARMGROUP :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES) 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-PARMS :: (FUNGI LEAVES LOW-TEMP NIGHTANTECEDENT :: YES 

TEMP PLANTING-DATE SOIL-TEMP 

SUN WATER-STORAGE ) 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES :: (RULE001 RULE002 RULE003 

RULE004 RULE005 RULE006 

RULE007 RULE009 RULE010 

RULE011 RULE012 RULE013 

RULE014 RULE015 RULE016 

RULE017 RULE018 RULE019 

RULE020 RULE087 RULE090 ) 

Figure 5.3. Properties of Subframe PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY 

17 
IDENTIFIER : : "GROUND-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from ground 

information) 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION GROUND-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (COLOR FIRED HEIGHT LEAN RECOVEROVERNIGHT SILK-DRY SOIL-STICK WILT ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) I' 

GROUND INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW 

HIGH ) " S$$ S$$SS S S S S SX SSSS " ) 

PARMGROUP :: GROUND-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (GROUND-RULES) 

GROUND-PARMS :: (COLOR FIRED HEIGHT LEAN RECOVERGROUND-RULES :: (RULE057 RULE058 RULE059 RULE060 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

OVERNIGHT SILK-DRY SOIL-STICK WILT ) 

RULE061 RULE064 RULE065 RULE067 RULE068 

RULE069 RULE070 RULE071 RULE072 

RULE089) 

Figure 5.4. Properties of Subframe GROUND 

18 
IDENTIFIER : : "MODEL-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from model 

information) 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION MODEL-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (DEW-POINT ETP EARLY-STRESS MODERATESTRESS-EXTEND RAIN-FREQ SOIL-MOISTURETOP SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW SOIL-MOISTURELOWER SUBSOIL-MOISTURE TEMPERATURE ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) " 

MODEL INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW 

HIGH) tt~*~~~~*~*~~****t*ii 

PARMGROUP :: MODEL-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (MODEL-RULES) 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

MODEL-PARMS :: (DEW-POINT EARLY-STRESS ETP MODERATESTRESS-EXTEND RAIN-FREQ SOIL-MOISTURELOWER SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW SOIL-MOISTURETOP SUBSOIL-MOISTURE TEMPERATURE ) 

MODEL-RULES :: (RULE033 RULE034 RULE035 RULE036 RULE037 

RULE038 RULE039 RULE040 RULE041 RULE042 

RULE043 RULE045 RULE046 RULE047 RULE088) 

Figure 5.5, Properties of Subframe GROUND 

19 
There is a significant difference between the precedent 

and antecedent mode. In the precedent mode, a frame reaches 

the objective by using the lowest possible number of 

parameters. For example, if information concerning two 

parameters is sufficient to reach the objective, the program 

requires the input of only those two parameters. Therefore, 

the precedent mode has the advantage of reaching the 

objective with the minimum information. However, by using 

this mode, the frame does not take full advantage of all the 

information available. In the antecedent mode, a frame 

reaches the objective by using all available information. 

The use of an antecedent mode is more advantageous, 

particularly when the objective depends on several 

independent parameters. However, the property INITIALDATA 

must include all the parameters whose values should be 

provided by the client, even when they are not needed. 

The four subframes have the property ANTECEDENT for two 

reasons. First, the large number of independent parameters, 

and second, the updating process of certain parameters. An 

example of such a parameter is SATELLITE-PRODUCTION in 

subframe SATELLITE. This parameter may have to be updated 

several times during a consultation because it may be 

affected by one or more combinations of parameters, such as 

AVHRR and GREEN-RED. If the ANTECEDENT property is not 

assigned to the frame SATELLITE, the parameter is updated 

only once. For more detailed information about antecedent 

and precedent modes, the reader may refer to the PC Plus 

Reference Guide. 

5.2. Parameters 

A parameter must be defined in the frame in which the 

parameter is used. If a parameter is used in more than one 

subframe, say in subframes SATELLITE and MODEL, then it has 

to be defined in the root frame. This is the case of the 

parameter WEEKS. Therefore, a parameter that is defined in a 

root frame also functions in the subframes. However, the 

opposite is not true. A specific procedure must be followed 

when defining a parameter. 

5.2.1. Parameters of Root Frame and Their Properties 

The parameters of the root frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

are shown in Table 5.1. These parameters and their 

properties are also listed in Appendix C. The definitions of 

these parameters are presented in the glossary in Appendix 

H. 

Each parameter has its properties that are important 

for use in the activity CONSULT. An example is the 

properties of the parameter HIGH-TEMP. We must first select 

.HIGH-TEMP in the Parmgroup:CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS Screen 

20 
Table 5.1. Parameters Defined in the Root Frame 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST ....................................................... ....................................................... Parameter Rules 

CROP 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 

FLOOD 3, 57, 69, 89 

GROUND-COMMENTS 37, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65, 

GROUND-PRODUCTION 21, 22, 57, 58, 60, 61, 64, 65, 

GROWTH-STAGE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 

33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 

45, 57, 58, 61, 64, 67, 68, 71, 

....................................................... 

67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 89 

67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 89, 96 

12, 13 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 

72, 80, 87, 89, 90, 94 

HIGH-TEMP 6, 7, 14, 41, 45, 46, 87 

LOCATION 5, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 

INITIAL 21, 22, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 96 

MODEL-COMMENTS 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 

MODEL-PRODUCTION 21, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, - 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 88 

39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 47, 88 

PHYS-COMMENTS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 

20, 87, 90 

PHYS-PRODUCTION 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 

20, 22, 87, 90 

PRODUCTION 21, 96 

SATELLITE-COMMENTS 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 

31, 80, 91, 92, 93, 94 

30, 80, 81, 91, 95, 96 

SOIL-MOISTURE 6, 7, 14, 39, 41, 45, 46 

WEEKS 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 

37, 64, 70, 71, 72, 81, 90, 92, 

93, 94, 95 ........................................................ ........................................................ 

21 
(a screen showing a group of parameters). Figure 5.6 shows 

the parameter HIGH-TEMP and its properties. The property 

TRANSLATION describes a parameter. In the CONSULT mode, the 

TRANSLATION of HIGH-TEMP is shown as "the highest 

temperature before pollination." PROMPT displays a text or a 

question for the client. TYPE indicates the type of the 

value, while EXPECT selects the value category of the 

parameter. In this case, the TYPE is SINGLEVALUED, while 

EXPECT has a value category NUMBER. ANTECEDENT-IN lists all 

the rules having an antecedent mode whose IF statement 

contains this parameter. The property HELP provides help in 

a text mode. This property is very useful for the client 

when consulting the system. By pressing the F1 key, the 

client could obtain further detail of instruction or 

information. The property CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE is useful 

to allow the introduction of degree of certainty into the 

consultation process. If this property is set to UNKNOWN, 

the program assumes that the parameter is unknown whenever 

the client does not give a value to the parameter when 

he/she is prompted to do so. The property RANGE shows the 

range of the value of HIGH-TEMP. 

Another example is the properties of the parameter 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION (Appendix C). We must first select 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION in the Parmgroup:CROP-YIELD-FORECASTPARMS Screen. The parameter SATELLITE-PRODUCTION is defined 

in the root frame because it functions in both the root 

frame, CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, and the subframe SATELLITE. Some 

of the properties are similar to those in HIGH-TEMP but 

others have not been described. The property UPDATED-BY 

lists the rules that update the parameter. UPDATED-IN lists 

the antecedent rules that update the parameter. Note also 

that the value of property TYPE of the parameter SATELLITECOMMENTS is MULTIVALUED (Appendix C). This simply means that 

the parameter contains several values. 

The Parameter LOCATION has the property METHOD (see 

Appendix C). This property contains a DOS-CALL command that 

calls the Geographic Interface (GI), an external program 

showing maps of all counties in the USA. When the parameter 

LOCATION is required during a consultation, DOS-CALL loads 

the GI and the client can select the desired county. When 

the client exits the GI, the program continues with the 

consultation in PC Plus. 

5.2.2. Parameters of Subframes and Their Properties 

The procedure of defining the parameters for the 

subframes is the same as that for the root frame. For 

brevity, we focus the discussion ou the parameters and 

properties of the subframe SATELLITE. First, we choose the 

DEVELOP mode in the Activity Screen. Next, in the Frame 

Screen, we select SATELLITE. Then, we choose SATELLITE22 
HIGH-TEMP 

--------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the highest temperature before 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the highest 

pollination) 

temperature observed before pollination in 

Fahrenheit. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE041 RULE045 RULE046 RULE007 

HELP :: ("This value comes from the observations" 

:LINE "of the current year." :LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this temperature is unknown." :LINE 

"This parameter. is of low importance during 

the" :LINE "early stages of the plant, but it 

is very" :LINE :ATTR ( MAGENTA HIGH-) 

"important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "during the 

late stages of the plant." ) 

RULE014 RULE006 RULE087 ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (60 140) 

Figure 5.6. Properties of Parameter HIGH-TEMP 

23 
PARMS in the Parmgr0up:SATELLITE-PARMS Screen (a screen 

showing a group of parameters). Now it- is possible to define 

a parameter or modify an existing one. These parameters and 

their use in the production rules can be found in Table 5.2. 

Similar procedures were repeated for constructing other 

subframes. Tables 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 list the parameters used 

in subframes PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL, 

respectively. A complete list of the parameters and their 

properties of these subframes are listed in Appendices D, E, 

F, and G. These parameters are defined in the glossary in 

Appendix H. 

An example is the parameter GREEN-RED as shown in 

Figure 5.7. This parameter is defined in the subframe 

SATELLITE. The property TRANSLATION, describing the 

parameter, reads: "the green-red reflectance." PROMPT 

instructs the client to provide the information or evidence 

concerning the parameter. The property TYPE is SINGLEVALUED 

and EXPECT has a POSITIVE-NUMBER. ANTECEDENT-IN lists all 

the rules having an antecedent mode whose IF statement 

contains the parameter GREEN-RED. USED-BY lists the rules 

whose IF statement contains this parameter, but does not 

have the property ANTECEDENT. HELP is a useful property for 

helping the client to obtain further information or 

instruction during consultation. The value of CERTAINTYFACTOR-RANGE here is UNKNOWN, hence, this value allows the 

knowledge base not to activate the rules associated with 

GREEN-RED if the value of this parameter is unknown (a 

client has to press ENTER for "unknown"). The value of RANGE 

is between 0 and 300. Note that if the client inputs an 

unacceptable or unspecified value for these properties, then 

the value is rejected and the client is prompted to enter a 

new value. GPROMPT is the same as PROMPT except that this 

property provides a graphic to the client in addition to the 

text provided by PROMPT. Note that GPROMPT has a filename 

CITYCOUN. 

It is important to note that the parameter MAXIMUM, 

from subframe SATELLITE, has a different value for TYPE. 

This value is either YES or NO. This can be seen in Figure 

5.8. Also observe that the value for CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE 

property is UNKNOWN. Without this latter property, the TYPE 

value will be either YES or NO; however, by adding the 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE property, a client will have three 

options, i.e., YES, NO or UNKNOWN. During consultation, 

these choices are displayed in the screen as a menu. 

Examples of the properties HELP and GHELP can be found 

in Figure 5.8 which shows the parameter MAXIMUM. Here, the 

value of GHELP is COUNT. The property GHELP prompts a 

graphic that is displayed simultaneously with the text 

provided by HELP. In general, properties GHELP and GPROMPT 

must have a graphic filename since both are in graphic mode. 

24 
25 
DEW-POINT 

EARLY-STRESS 

ETP 

MODERATE-STRESS-EXTEND 

RAIN-FREQ 

SOIL-MOISTURE-LOWER 

SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW 

SOIL-MOISTURE-TOP 

SUBSOIL-MOISTURE 

TEMPERATURE 

36 

88 

36, 30 

43 

46, 47, 88 

34 

34, 35 

33 

40, 47 

41, 42, 45, 46 

26 
GREEN-RED 

--------- -----_--- 

TRANSLATION :: (the green-red reflectance) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the green-red 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

reflectance for the crop field" ) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE025 RULE091 RULE027 RULE092 

RULE093 RULE094 RULE081 RULE023 

RULE024 RULE095 RULE026 RULE030 ) 

USED-BY :: (RULE028) 

HELP :: ("The value of green-red reflectance is a 

visual" :LINE "estimate of the AVHRR counts 

using photographic" :LINE "images. " :LINE "High 

values of green-red reflectance indicate" __ -- - :LINE "abundant green vegetation. " : LINE "A 

value of 250 for AVHRR is considered" :LINE 

"high, while 100 is considered low" :LINE 

"Punch ENTER if this value is not available." 

1 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

GPROMPT : : "CITYCOUN" 

Figure 5.7. Properties of Parameter GREEN-RED 

27 
MAXIMUM 

------- - - - - - - - 

TRANSLATION :: (the maximum greenness observation 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Is this the maximum 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE080) 

HELP :: ("The greenness can be observed from AVHRR 

occurred during this period ) 

greenness observation for this season ?" ) 

digital" :LINE "tapes as greenness counts or 

from AVHRR" :LINE "photographic images as 

green-red reflectance." :LINE "Answer YES if 

the greenness started to decline" :LINE 

"during this period." :LINE "If a decline in 

the greenness has not been" :LINE "observed, 

the maximum green-area probably has" :LINE 

"not been reached yet." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

GHELP :: (COUNT) 

Figure 5.8. Properties of Parameter MAXIMUM 

28 
The graphic files are constructed using the SNAPSHOT utility 

provided with PC Plus and graphic packages available in the 

market. In this project the Dr. Halo graphic program was 

used. For more details about graphic construction, see the 

PC Plus Reference Guide. The property PROMPT in a certain 

frame has a characteristic color. This will make it easy for 

a client to distinguish what frame he/she is in during the 

consultation process. The root frame CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

uses cyan reverse. The subframes SATELLITE, PLANTPHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL use cyan, cyan reverse, 

yellow, yellow reverse, respectively. 

5.3. Production Rules 

After determining the parameters and their properties, 

a knowledge engineer may begin to develop the rules. The 

rules provided by the experts are usually presented in the 

form of statements expressed in a natural language (see 

Appendix B). We wrote the rules in a language called 

Abbreviated Rule Language (ARL) which can be translated into 

the English language. The conversion of an expert knowledge 

into workable rules should be performed in such a way that 

the expert knowledge is not altered. Each rule must be 

defined in the frame that contains the rule. The rules for 

frames CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, SATELLITE, PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, 

GROUND, and MODEL are listed in Appendices C, D, E, F, and 

G. In the fol€owing sections we discuss the development of 

production rules. 

- - 

5.3.1. The Properties of Production Rules 

Here, the subframe SATELLITE is used as an example for 

defining the rules. First, we chose the activity DEVELOP in 

the Activity Screen. Then, we entered SATELLITE in the 

Frame Screen. Next, we selected SATELLITE-RULES in the 

Frame:SATELLITE Screen. Now, it is possible to define a new 

rule or modify an existing one. Then, we provided the rules 

with certain properties. The properties are assigned so that 

a rule could perform in the desired way. Some of these 

properties are described here. As an example, in order to 

find the properties of Rule 29 we must select RULE029 in the 

Rulegroup-SATELLITE (Figure 5.9). This rule has an 

ANTECEDENT property. A rule may be in an antecedent or 

precedent mode. If the rule is in a precedent mode, it is 

tested only once during the consultation. On the other hand, 

if the rule has the property ANTECEDENT, it will be tested 

repeatedly during a consultation. Note also, that a rule is 

fired only once during the consultation regardless of the 

number of times the rule is tested. 

The IF property contains the conditions that must be 

satisfied in order to fire a rule. In Rule 29, the IF 

property indicates: POND-NIR > 200 AND POND-VIR > 200. This 

29 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Rulegroup: SATELLITE-RULES 

RULE023 

RULE024 

RULE025 

RULE026 

RULE0 2 7 

RULE028 

RULE029 

RULE030 

RULE03 1 

RULE080 

RULE08 1 

RULE09 1 

RULE092 

RULE093 

RULE094 

RULE095 

13 

Figure 5.9. Rule group-SATELLITE. 

30 
is an example of a statement in the ARL. The same IF 

property in English shows "If the Near Infrared Reflectance 

around ponds is greater than 200, and the Visible Infrared 

Reflectance around ponds is greater than 200." The THEN 

property contains the procedure that is executed when the 

rule is fired. In ARL language, the THEN property is stated 

as: "SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = 0.9 * SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

AND. . . ." In the English language the THEN property states 

"it is definite that the production obtained from satellite 

information is [0.9 times the previous production obtained 

from satellite information], and. . . ." Rules can also be 

used to display a particular message or graph. The PC Plus 

Reference Guide gives a detailed description of these 

features. 

5.3.2. Transforming Rules Draft to ARL 

A rule draft provided by an expert should be 

transformed into the ARL. Here, we describe such a 

transformation using Rule 93 as an example (see Figure 

5.10). In Appendix B, the rule draft Number 7 (in Satellite 

Rules Draft) states the following: 

"If the loss in greenness as seen in either AVHRR 

or L/S-Spot is accompanied by a decrease in the 

size of small farm ponds then the loss in 

greenness can be related to drought in the area." 

Although this statement contains both an "if" and a 

"then" clause, it is not yet a readily workable rule. The 

first step to create a rule out of this statement is to 

determine the parameters involved. The "loss in greenness'' 

occurs when GREEN-RED (the green-red reflectance) is lower 

than GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS (the green-red reflectance value of 

the previous observation). We obtained additional 

information from the expert for the IF statement in the 

rule. This new information is about the "decrease in the 

size of small farm ponds." The expert explained that this 

reduction can be observed in the readings of near- and 

visible-infrared-reflectance around small ponds. The 

parameters POND-NIR and POND-VIR were defined as the nearand visible-infrared-reflectance respectively. The expert 

also suggested that readings of visible- and near-infraredreflectance higher than 200 indicated a decrease in the 

size of small ponds. Furthermore, the expert indicated that 

this statement holds true if the plants are in vegetative 

state (one to eleven weeks after planting). To keep this 

information, the parameter WEEKS was then defined as the 

number of weeks after planting. After incorporating 

additional information, the IF property in Rule 93 becomes: 

GREEN-RED < GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS AND WEEKS BT 1 11 AND (PONDNIR > 200 OR POND-VIR > 200). 

31 
RULE093 

----_-- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (7) 

If 1) the green-red reflectance is less than the previous 

green-red reflectance, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 1, and 

3) 1) the Near Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

greater than 200, or 

greater than 200, 

2) the Visible Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is The reduction in greenness 

is due to drought in the area.. ~~ - - 

IF :: ( GREEN-RED < GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS AND WEEKS BT 

1 11 AND ( POND-NIR > 200 OR POND-VIR > 200 ) 

) 

greenness is due to drought in the area." ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "The reduction in 

Figure 5.10. Rule 93 

32 
The "then" statement provided by the expert is treated 

in a different way. The "then" statement indicates that "the 

loss in greenness can be related to drought in the area." 

For this type of observations, we defined the parameter 

SATELLITE-COMMENTS. This parameter has the property TYPE set 

to MULTIVALUED so it can contain the comments concluded by 

the rules that are fired in the subframe SATELLITE. In ARL 

language, the THEN property is stated as: "SATELLITECOMMENTS = "The reduction in greenness is due to drought in 

the area." The complete production rule in ARL language is 

shown as the following: 

IF (GREEN-RED < GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS AND WEEKS BT 1 11 AND 

(POND-NIR > 200 OR POND-VIR > 200) ) 

THEN(SATELL1TE-COMMENTS = "The reduction in greenness is 

due to drought in the area.") 

The complete rule is shown in Figure 5.10 in both 

English and ARL. Note that when the ARL is translated into 

English, the term "previous production" was simply written 

as "production. " 

Another example is Rule 81 (see Figure 5.11). This rule 

combines the rule drafts numbers 8, 9 and 10 (see Satellite 

Rules Draft in Appendix B.) This rule finds the value of the 

parameter SATELLITE-PRODUCTION as a function of parameters 

WEEKS and FOREST. WEEKS was explained before, while FOREST 

indicates how close the AVHRR counts of the crop field to 

that of a nearby forest. As an example, if the AVHRR count 

of the crop field is the same as that of a nearby forest, 

then the value of FOREST should be 100 %. Also, rule draft 

number 9 states that if FOREST is 100 %, then the expected 

crop yield production (the value of SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) is 

100 %. 

The value of parameter SATELLITE-PRODUCTION can be 

found by other rules. The property DOBEFORE of Rule 81 

tells the program to find the value of SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

by using rules 25, 26, 30, and 91 before testing Rule 81. 

After the properties DOBEFORE and IF are satisfied, the 

property THEN is executed. The property THEN combines the 

values of SATELLITE-PRODUCTION found by rules 25, 26, 30, 

91, and the value of FOREST, to obtain the updated value of 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION. Note that in the property THEN, the 

value of CERTAINTY FOREST is used instead of FOREST. This is 

due to the special way the parameter FOREST was defined. 

The parameter FOREST has the property 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE set to POSITIVE (see Appendix D). The 

format that PC Plus uses to prompt the client for the 

certainty factor of a parameter is very user-friendly. In 

order to take advantage of this, when the client enters the 

value of FOREST, the property EXPECT was set to LIKE-FOREST. 

33 
RULE081 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE025 RULE026 RULE030 RULEO91) 

DESCRIPTION :: (8 and 10) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 7, and 

2) there is no evidence that the percentage of area 

that looks like forest is not LIKE-FOREST, and 

3) 1) the AVHRR greenness counts is known, or 

2) the L-S count is known, or 

3) 1) the green-red reflectance is known, and 

2) the Near Infrared Reflectance is known, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the production obtained from 

satellite information is [[the production obtained from 

satellite information plus the measure of certainty 

associated with the percentage of area that looks like 

forest] divided by 21. 

IF : : (WEEKS BT 7 11 AND FOREST- IS--MIGHTBE 

LIKE-FOREST AND (AVHRR IS KNOWN OR L-S IS 

KNOWN OR (GREEN-RED IS KNOWN AND NIR IS KNOWN) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = ((SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

1) 

+ CERTAINTY FOREST ) / 2 ) ) 

Figure 5.11. Rule 81 

34 
When the client enters the value of FOREST, the program 

considers this value as the certainty factor of FOREST. 

Therefore, in Rule 81, the CERTAINTY FOREST represents the 

value of FOREST. 

Another method to determine the crop yield production 

(the value of SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) can be seen in Rule 30 

(see the complete rule in Appendix D). Rule 30 was developed 

base on four rules (draft), 1, 2, 3, 14 (see Satellite Rules 

Draft in Appendix B). We reinterpreted these rules (draft) 

as the following: "if the AVHRR count or the L-S count is 

between 210 and 223 or the difference between the green-red 

reflectance and the near infrared reflectance is between 55 

and 60, then the crop yield production can be reduced by 

15X.l' However, the expert added that rule draft number 14 

assumes observations are made at or just prior to silking 

of corn." Since silking occurs between eight and eleven 

weeks after planting, then we could consider that rule draft 

number 14 holds true if observations were made between eight 

and eleven weeks after planting. 

tl 

Parameters AVHRR, L-S, GREEN-RED, NIR are defined as 

the four observations of the "if" part in the first expert's 

statement, Parameter WEEKS contains the number of weeks 

after planting. This parameter is also part of the "if" 

statement. As the expert's "then" statement implies a 

reduction of 15% in the crop yield (see satellite rule draft 

number 14), the property THEN of Rule 30 indicates: 

(SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = 0.85 * SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) 

AND. 

5.3.3. Certainty Factors in Rules 

In some cases, the expert may provide a statement with 

a degree of certainty. A certainty factor of, say, 70 % 

could mean the expert may consider that there is a seventy 

percent chance that the statement is true. From the frame 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, an example of these factors is 

presented in Rule 21 , Figure 5.12 shows the rule. Note that 

the property THEN in Rule 21 contains parameter PRODUCTION 

whose TYPE is MULTIVALUED (see Appendix C). Then a certainty 

factor is assigned in ARL to each value of that parameter. 

Note that the THEN property of Rule 21 states: "PRODUCTION = 

(1 * SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) CF 40 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * 

GROUND-PRODUCTION) CF 50 ...." The number that follows the 

CF is the certainty factor. If a certainty factor is not 

assigned, the default is 100. 

5,3.4. Rules that Connect Frames 

Rules are also useful to connect the root frame and 

subframes. An example of this feature is shown in Rule 22 

(see Figure 5.13). Here, the THEN property contains the 

35 
RULE0 2 1 

-----_- ------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (PROD=SAT-PROD,GROUND-PROD,MODELIf the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is greater than 0, 

Then 1) there is weakly suggestive evidence (40%) that the 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE022) 

PROD,PLANT-PHYS) 

updated expected percentage of the optimum crop 

yield is [l times the production obtained from 

satellite information], and 

2) there is suggestive evidence (50%) that the updated 

expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is [l 

times the production obtained from ground 

information], and 

3) there is suggestive evidence (60%) that the updated 

'expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is E1 

times the p-r-oduction obtained from plant physiology 

information], and 

4) there is suggestive evidence (50%) that the updated 

expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is [l 

times the production obtained from model 

information]. 

IF :: (INITIAL > 0) 

THEN :: (PRODUCTION = (1 * SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) CF 

40 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * GROUND-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 50 AND PRODUCTION (1 * PHYS-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 60 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * MODEL-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 50 ) 

Figure 5.12. Rule 21 

36 
RULE022 

------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (CONSIDERFRAME SATELLITE, GROUND, 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is greater than or equal to 0, 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, MODEL ) 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is [l times the 

percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production], and 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is E1 times the percentage 

of the optimum crop yield to be used as the 

preliminary production], and 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [l times the 

percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production], and 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [l times the percentage of 

the optimum crop yield to be used as the preliminary 

production], and 

instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

satellite information if appropriate, and 

instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

ground information if appropriate, and 

instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

plant physiology information if appropriate, and 

instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

model information if appropriate. 

IF :: (INITIAL >= 0) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND 

GROUND-PRODUCTION = ( 1 * INITIAL ) AND PHYSPRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND MODELPRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND CONSIDERFRAME 

SATELLITE AND CONSIDERFRAME GROUND AND 

CONSIDERFRAME PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY AND 

CONSIDERFRAME MODEL ) 

Figure 5.13. Rule 22 

37 
instruction CONSIDERFRAME SATELLITE. This causes the root 

frame to access the subframe SATELLITE when the IF property 

is satisfied. 

5.3.5. Rules that Call External Files 

Section 5.2.1. explains how PC Plus can call an 

external program by using the property METHOD in the 

parameter LOCATION. Rules can also be used to integrate 

external files into PC Plus. An example of this is Rule 22 

(see Appendix C). 

The property THEN of Rule 22 contains the commands 

DOS-CALL and DOS-FILE-IN. DOS-CALL is used to call the 

external program NSEW.EXE. This program reads the file 

2ONE.PCD which contains the global coordinates of the crop 

field selected in a consultation, and transfers the 

coordinates to a new file that can be easily accessed by PC 

Plus. The new file is ZONE.RD. DOS-FILE-IN is used to read 

the file ZONE.RD and assigns the first value from this file 

that shows the zone of the desired crop field to the 

parameter LOCATION. 

5.4. Geographic Interface 

The purpose of the Geographic Interface (GI) is to 

create a graphic display of every county in the USA. GI 

allows the client to select any region of the USA from a set 

of maps (this set includes regions and states) that the 

program displays on screen during consultation. It also 

offers a zooming capability that expands any area selected 

by the client. For the states of Ohio, Iowa, Indiana and 

Illinois, GI offers a display of the typical soil moisture 

and corn loss. In future studies this feature will be 

expanded to every state. This interface will also be 

expanded to include other type of data such as 

metereological and topographical. 

During consultation, GI creates a file that contains 

the X and Y global coordinates of the area selected by the 

client. The global coordinates are those commonly used to 

identify any place in the world. Rule draft number 2.d (see 

Rule Draft Plant Physiology in Appendix B) uses the location 

of the crop field to determine the effect of the planting 

date on the crop production. The location of the crop field 

is also important for other sources of information, such as 

metereological and topographical, that will be a part of 

CROPCAST OSU in the near future. 

38 
6. BUILDING A RUNTIME VERSION FOR THE PROGRAM 

Once the knowledge base is developed, we can transfer 

it to a runtime version using the BUILD activity. This 

runtime mode allows the client to consult the program 

without PC Plus. Hence, the program is compiled and 

protected from being read or written. To construct the 

runtime version, the following steps have to be followed: 

Step 1: Make a copy of the PC PLUS RUNTIME disk to the 

BUILD disk. The PC PLUS RUNTIME disk contain files necessary 

to make the runtime version of our program. 

Step 2: Load the PC Plus and select CROPCAST OSU (the name 

of our program) in the Knowledge Bases Screen. Select the 

disk drive where the BUILD disk is inserted, then activate 

the BUILD activity. 

Step 3: Copy the external programs (in this case graphic 

programs) onto the BUILD disk. 

Now the disk is ready for consulting purposes. The 

CONSULT activity is presented in the next chapter. 

39 
7. CONSULTING THE EXPERT SYSTEM 

Consultation could be performed by the client through 

the BUILD disk or by the knowledge engineer through the use 

of the program in PC Plus by selecting the CONSULT activity. 

In this chapter, we discuss the hardware requirement, 

installation procedure, important commands for the client, 

and the use of the mouse. This discussion is followed by an 

illustration of a consultation through a self-explanatory 

screen-by-screen sequence. 

7.1. Hardware requirement 

The minimum hardware requirements are: 

IBM PC, IBM XT, IBM AT, IBM PS/2, or compatibles. 

640 Kb RAM. 

One double side double density floppy drive and 

a hard drive with at least 3 Mb available. 

IBM VGA Color graphics card and monitor. 

Optional equipment is a Microsoft or Logitec mouse and a 

printer. 

-1.2. Installation 

In order to install this program, one is expected to 

have some basic knowledge of MS DOS, The program must be 

installed in the hard drive. The first step of the 

installation is to create four directories in the hard 

drive. They are CROPCAST, TURB04, CIS and MAPS. In the 

directory TURB04, create two subdirectories: TP and PIC. In 

the directory CIS create the subdirectory DATA. 

Next, copy the System Disk (the disk produced in 

Activity BUILD) into the directory CROPCAST, the Maps disk 

(external graphics program) into the directory MAPS, the 

Picture Disk (external graphic program) into the 

subdirectory PIC. Then, copy the Utility Disk (external 

graphics program) into the subdirectory TP, and copy the 

Data Disk into the subdirectory DATA. Now the program is 

ready for consultation. 

7.3. Important Commands 

CROPCAST OSU provides several commands that allow the 

client/user to save, retrieve, print, or modify the 

consultation data. To make use of a command before, during, 

or after a consultation, simply press F2. A menu with 

available commands is displayed. To select a command, just 

move the cursor using the arrow keys in the computer 

keyboard. 

The command CONTINUE lets the user continue the 

40 
consultation in normal routine. If this command is called at 

the end of a consultation, the program begins a new 

consultation. The command EXIT allows the user to quit 

CROPCAST OSU. The command GET PLAYBACK FILE allows the user 

to load the data used in a previous consultation. This data 

must have been saved previously by using the command SAVE 

PLAYBACK FILE. The command HOW tells the user how the 

program has reached the conclusions of the consultation. The 

command NEW START lets the user quit the current 

consultation and start a new one. PRINT CONCLUSIONS prints a 

list of the parameters and the values entered by the users. 

This command also prints the conclusions. The command REVIEW 

allows the user to modify the data that were previously 

entered during the consultation or after using the command 

GET PLAYBACK FILE. 

If the command REVIEW is used during a consultation, 

the program displays the list of the parameters and their 

respective values that the user has entered. In this list, 

the user can choose the parameters that need to be modified. 

To select the parameter, use the up and down arrow keys in 

the computer keyboard. When the desired parameter is 

highlighted, use the right arrow key. The user can select as 

many parameters as needed. After the parameters that need 

modification have been selected, press ENTER. The program 

will prompt the user with new values for the selected 

parameters and the consultation may continue. If the command 

REVIEW is called at the end of a consultation or after a 

file has been retrieved by using the command GET PLAYBACK 

FILE, the user can test the influence of different 

parameters on the result of the crop. This is particularly 

useful if the user does not have accurate information about 

certain parameters and wants to run some "what if" tests and 

find the possible results. The command WHY explains why a 

parameter that is prompted is required during the 

consultation. 

7.4. The Use af Mouse 

The use of mouse is optional, but due to the increasing 

popularity of this device, its support was considered. To 

install the mouse, simply copy the file MOUSE.COM that comes 

with the Utility disk of the mouse into the CROPCAST 

directory. If that utility comes with a different name such 

as GMOUSE.COM or LMOUSE.COM there are two alternatives. The 

first is to rename the file to MOUSE.COM. The second is to 

modify the file CC.BAT in the CROPCAST directory. Check the 

MS DOS manual for instructions on how to modify the CC.BAT 

file. If the mouse uses three buttons, usually the left, 

middle, and right buttons are equivalent to the ENTER, ESC, 

and F2 keys, respectively. In the case of this type of 

mouse, pressing the left and right buttons simultaneously is 

equivalent to the F1 key (used to obtain HELP window). If 

41 
the mouse uses four buttons, the right and left buttons are 

equivalent to the ENTER and F2 key, respectively. Pressing 

the two buttons simultaneously is equivalent to the key ESC. 

The mouse can also be used to make selections in the menus. 

To move the cursor in a menu, just move the mouse in the 

up/down direction. To select items in a multiple choice 

menu, move the mouse in the left/right direction. 

7.5. Consultation: & Illustration 

A client starts the consultation after installing the 

five disks into the hard drive (see Section 7.2.). Then 

insert the Utility Disk into drive A. Next, change to 

CROPCAST directory in the hard drive, and type CC before 

pressing ENTER. 

A list of knowledge bases appears on the screen. Select 

CROPCAST from the list, then press ENTER. A welcome screen 

with a copyright sign is displayed; then press ENTER. Next 

are screens showing sequence of querries for the client to 

answer. For help during any stage of the consultation, 

simply press F1. After consultation is completed, press F2, 

and from the menu that is displayed choose EXIT. The 

following figures show the screens in sequential order 

during a consultation process. They are self-explanatory and 

on-screeen help is available by pressing F1. Note that in 

the following figures, the underlined value is the choice 

made by the client. 

Note that at a certain stage during the consultation a 

list of states or groups of states is displayed. Select one 

option by pressing the number that corresponds to the 

desired zone, and followed by ENTER. The map of the selected 

zone is now displayed. Note that a list of function keys 

and available commands is displayed at the bottom of the 

screen. The next step is to select the particular county or 

counties. To do this, press the function key that 

corresponds to the ZOOM command (press F2). A red frame 

appears on the screen. This frame encloses the desired zone 

to be zoomed. To move the lines of the frame, use the 

keyboard as indicated in the instructions at the bottom of 

the screen. Press F2 or F3 before using the arrows, Home, 

End, Page Up, and Page Down keys. After reaching the desired 

zone, press F6 key to zoom. Use F3 key to save it. Then, the 

program asks for a file name twice. At this stage, enter a 

file name ZONE at. both times. Answer Yes to overwrite the 

filename. The FILLDATA command (F8 key) allows the client to 

color the selected zone. The on-screen help is available by 

pressing F1. Press F10 key to exiL from the geographic 

display to continue the consultation. CROPCAST OSU will lead 

the client through the rest of the consultation. 

42 
Texas Instruments Personal Consultant (tm) Series 

Cnowledge bases: 

CROPCAST 

ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

43 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Current objective: 

Crop Yield Forecast ******************* 

IC* End - press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the preliminary assessment of the crop yield 

100 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. I 

Help: 

Enter the result of the previous consultation 

in percentage of the optimum crop yield. 

If this is the first consultation enter 100. 

This percentage will be updated during the 

consultation. 

e* End - press ENTER to continue. 

44 
45 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

enter the number of weeks after emergence from the soil 

6 u-1 wh. ..say. 

Punch ENTER if this value is unknown. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. I 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Pnter YES if the crop was flooded before the plants had at least two leaves. 

YES 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

- 

1. Use arrow key or fi 

2. press ENTER to cont 

Help : 

Select UNKNOWN only if there is uncertainty 

about the occurrence of flooding. 

This parameter is important only during the 

early stages of the plant. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

:st letter of item to position the cursor. 

tnue . 

46 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the highest temperature observed before pollination in Fahrenheit. 

80 s Help: 

Thia value comes from the observations 

of the current year. 

Punch ENTER if this temperature is unknown. 

This parameter is of low importance during the 

early stages of the plant, but it is very 

important during the late stages of the plant. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. I 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

~~ 

inter the soil moisture as a percentage of its capacity. 

r 60 1 

The soil moisture can be measured in various 

ways. Gravimetric, where the moisture is 

determined by weighting a sample before and 

after drying. Newton Detection, where a source 

of nuclear radiation is used. This method is 

lorn accurate than the Gravimetric near the 

surface. 

This parameter is very important during the 

late stage8 of the plant. 

Enter the soil moisture in percentage of the 

** More - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

47 
BRBGINPtL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

48 

ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

fin 

50 

52 
53 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

150 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

J 

Current objective: 

SATELLITE INFORMATION 

***************a***** 

r* End - press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the AVHRR greenness counts 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

Help: 

AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) 

greenness counts are digital values derived from 

the AVHRR sensor digital tapes. 

High values of AVHRR greenness counts indicate 

that a high percentage of the crop field is 

covered by green vegetation. 

A value o? 250 ?or AVHRR is considered high, 

while 100 is considered low. 

Punch ENTER if the AVHRR greenness count is not 

available. 

54 
ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR ?t:C'TC)GRAPH 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the value of the L-S count 

160 Help: 

l'his observation can be obtained from digital 

tapes provided by the Landsat information. 

High values of L-S count indicate that a high 

percentage of the crop field is covered by 

green vegetation. 

Punch ENTER if this value is not available. 

e* Ed - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. I 

55 

-. . ___ - 
ORIGINAL' PAGE 

COLOR PtJ,STX!?APH 

56 
QRlGlNAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

CROPCAST OSU,-Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the observation for Near Infrared Reflectance 

100 r Help: 

The Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) is the 

lreflected energy received at the satellite in 

the NIR spectrum. 

The NIR spectrum is the part of the 

micrometer spectrum that cannot be observed by 

human vision. 

High values of NIR indicate poor vegetation 

on the crop field. 

A value of 200 for NIR is considered high. 

Punch ENTER if the NIR value is not available. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

57 
le. 

finch DlIf3 if this wlw is not auaihble. 

1- ~rni - press MTER to continue. _II 

m 

1. k vmu kq to indicate your dcgrec of ccrta inty . 

2. lo select one itca, with 100~ certainty, press CTRL-right arm. 

3. Mter making selections, press MfER to continue. 

, -- 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

The Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) is the 

reflected energy received at the satellite in 

the NIR spectrum. 

IThe NIR spectrum is the part of the 

micrometer spectrum that cannot be observed by 

human vision. 

High values of NIR around ponds indicate 

severe evaporation of water. 

A value of 200 for NIR is considered high. c punch ENTER if this value is not available. 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the observation of Visible Infrared Reflectance around ponds 

150 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

Help: 

The Visible Infrared Reflectance (VIR) is the 

reflected energy received at the satellite in 

the VIR spectrum. 

The VIR spectrum is that part of the 

micrometer spectrum that can be observed by the 

human virion. 

High values of VIR are-und ponds indicate 

severe evaporation of water. 

A value of 200 for VIR is conaidered high. 

Punch ENTER if this value is not available. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

60 
r Current objective: 

GROUND INFORMATION ****************** 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Select the color of the corn plants 

BRIGHT-GREEN 

DARK-GREEN 

YELLOW 

BROWN 

UNKNOWN 

' Help: 

The color of the corn plants is the main color 

of the plant. It can be bright green, dark 

green, yellow, or brown. 

Select UNKNOWN if there is no information about 

this variable. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. pres8 ENTER to continue. 

61 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

ire the lower leaves of the plants fired ? 

YES 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

- Help: 

of plants are fired, the 

leaves is extremely dry and is 

if there is no information about 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State UniGersity 

Enter the height of the plant by July 4 (in feet) 

4 

1. Enter a number. 

Help: 

Punch ENTER if the height of corn plants was not 

measured. 

C* End - press ENTER to cont-nue. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

62 
ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

59 
ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTWR4PH 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

1s the outside row of corn plants leaning or falling down ? 

YES 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

' Help: 

Select UNKNOWN if there is no information about 

it. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

4re the silks dry ? 

YES 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

Help: 

Select UNKNOWN if there is no information about 

it. 

** End - pr as ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

rhe soil is wet or so dry that it... 

sticks to your shoes 

is picked up by the wind 

UNKNOWN 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

64 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY INFORMATION 

............................ 

** End - preaa ENTER to continue. I 

65 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the planting date 

EARL I ER 

MARCH-15-22 

MARCH-2 3 -3 1 

APRIL- 1-6 

APRIL-7-15 

APRIL-16-30 

MAY- 1 - 10 

MAY- 1 1-2 1 

MAY- 2 2- 3 1 

JUNE- 1 - 1 1 

LATER 

UNKNOWN 

' Help: 

Select the period that is closest to the 

believed planting date. 

Select UNKNOWN only if the date of planting is 

definitely unknown. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CRObCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the lowest temperature during the last growth stage in Fahrenheit. 

65 

1. Enter a number. 

Help: 

This value comes from the observations 

of the current year. 

Punch ENTER if this temperature is unknown. 

Thim parameter is very important during the 

early stages of the plant. 

e* End - press ENTER to continue. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

66 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

65 

Pnter the highest temperature at NIGHT-TIME during the last growth stage 

- Help: 

The soil temperature can be measured with 

termoreters at various levels in the soil. The 

value. are often recorded continuously to 

provide more accurate data. 

This parameter is not important during the late 

stages of the plant, but is critical during the 

early stages of the plant. 

Punch ENTER if this parameter is not available. 

** End - preas ENTER to continue. 

in Fahrenheit. 

75 

Help: 

This value comes from the observations 

of the current year. 

Punch ENTER if this temperature is unknown. 

This parameter is of low importance during the 

early stages of the plant, but it is very 

important during the late stages of the plant. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

67 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Yes 

11111-**=* SUNNY 

Dnter the available ground-water storage for the crop at the beginning of 

Thia value comes from the observations 

of the current year. 

Thia parameter is not important during the early 

stages of the plant, but it is critical during 

the late stages of the plant. 

Each little square is equivalent to 10%. 

Punch ENTER if thia information is not 

available. 

the season (in inches). 

10 

Help: 

An inch of water storage is the equivalent to 

an inch of rain over the entire crop. 

The beginning of the season is the time when the 

corn seeds are planted. 

Punch ENTER if the amount of ground-water 

storage is unknown. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

I 

Indicate the average percentage of weekly sunny days 

after tassel development. 

r 1 

ss ENTER to continue. 

I 

1. Use arrow key to indicate your degree of certainty. 

2. To select one item, with 100% certainty, press CTRL-right arrow. 

3. After raking selections, press ENTER to continue. 

68 
Yes 

I------*-* LEAVE 

69 

- Help: 

This value comes from the observation of the 

corn plants in the field. 

High leave loss may reduce the crop yield. 

This parameter is particularly important during 

the late stages of the plant. 

Each little square is equivalent to 10%. 

Punch ENTER if this information is not 

available. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. I 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Current objective: 

MODEL INFORMATION ***************** 

t* End - press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the dew point during the periods from late vegetative to soft dough 

in Fahrenheit 

68 

- Help: 

Dew point is the temperature at which small 

drops of moisture condense on the surface 

of the plant. The dew point is also used as a 

measure of the actual moisture the air can 

contain. If the dew point is large, there is 

a large amount of moisture in the air. 

Punch ENTER if this parameter is not available. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

70 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Enter the maximum value of ETP for two or more continuous days 

5 

1. Enter a number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

t Help: 

ETP: the demand of water on the plant by the 

atmosphere in terms of solar heat, wind, 

humidity, etc. 

A value of 10 for ETP is considered high. 

Punch ENTER if there is no information about 

ETP . 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

)oca moderate stress have occured since the early growth of the plants ? 

YES r Help: 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

- 

Select YES if moderate stress has occurred 

since the emergence of the plants. 

Stress is any factor that impacts the 

photosynthetic efficiency of the plant. 

An example for "moderate stress" is soil 

moisture around 40 percent and temperature 

around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Select UNKNOWN if no records arc available. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

71 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

ire the periods of moderate stress interrupted by light showers ? 

YES r Help: 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

- 

An example of moderate stress is soil moisture 

arround 40 and the temperature arround 80 

degrees. 

Select UNKNOWN if: 

1) Information is not available. 

2) There has not been moderate stress. 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Does rain occur at regular intervals ? 

YES 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

' Help: 

Select UNKNOWN if there is no information irbout 

rain events. 

e* End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Use arrow key or first letter of item to position the cursor. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

72 
ORIGINAL PAGE 

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH 

73 
74 
,ORIGINAL PAGE 

'WLOR PL?T~CR~PH 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

80 - Help: 

Punch ENTER if the highest temperature is 

unknown. 

I** End - press ENTER to continue. 

1. Enter a positive number. 

2. press ENTER to continue. 

75 
CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

Conclusions: 

The location of the crop field in question is as follows: 5 

The production obtained from satellite information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from satellite data is as follows: There 

is positive prove of germination. The green area is either an irrigated field 

or picked a local shower, 

The production obtained from ground information is as follows: 81. 

The additional information obtained from ground data is as follows: The 

coloring of the plants indicates reduction of crop yield. Ample soil moisture 

allows reasonable growth. Reduction of crop yield due to late growth stage. 

The production obtained from plant physiology 

The additional information obtained from plant 

No additional reduction of the crop yield was 

** More - press ENTER to continue. 

nfornation is as follows: 100 

physiology data is as follows: 

found in this consultation. 

CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State University 

' Conclusions: 

The additional information obtained from ground data is as follows: The 

coloring of the plants indicates reduction of crop yield. Ample soil moisture 

allows reasonable growth. Reduction of crop yield due to late growth stage. 

The production obtained from plant physiology information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from plant physiology data is as follows: 

The production obtained from model information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from model data is as follows: No 

additional reduction of the crop yield was found in this consultation. 

The updated expected percentage of the optimum crop yield ie as follows: 100 

No additional reduction of the crop yield was found in this consultation. 

(88%) 81. (SOX) 

The percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used for the preliminary crop 

yield production is as follows: 95.25 

The qualitative value of the crop yield is as follows: EXCELLENT 

** End - press ENTER to continue. 

76 
consultation record: 

Consultation log: CROPCAST OSU, Copy... :: 

the percentage of the optimum crop y... :: 

the growth stages of the corn plants... :: 

the number of weeks after emergence ... .. flooding of the crop .. the highest temperature before polli... :: 

the moisture of the soil .. the location of the crop field in qu... :: 

*IMPORT* :: LOCATION (5) 

the AVHRR greenness counts .. the L-S count .. the green-red reflectance .. the previous green-red reflectance .. the Near Infrared Reflectance .. the crop field looks .. the green area is an isolated spot .. the maximum greenness observation oc... :: 

the Near Infrared Reflectance around... .. the Visible Infrared Reflectance aro... .. the color of the corn plants .. the lower leaves of plants are fired :: 

the height of the corn plants by July 4 :: 

the outside row of corn plants is le... :: 

the corn plants recover overnight fr... :: 

the silks are dry .. the soil is wet or so dry that it .. wilt in upper leaves is observed .. the planting date .. the lowest temperature registered io... :: 

the highest night-time temperature f... :: 

the average low temperature of the s... :: 

the ground-water storage available f... :: 

the average percentage of weekly sun... :: 

the percentage of leave loss .. presence of fungi after maturity .. the dew point during the periods fro... :: 

ETP .. moderate stress occurred during earl... :: 

the periods of moderate stress are i... .. rain occurta at regular intervals .. the moisture in the top soil layer .. the uoil moisture in the plow layer .. the soil moisture in the lower layer :: 

the subsoil moisture .. the highest temperature during the g... :: 

FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES .. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

1. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

.. 

100 

PRE-EMERGENCE EMERGENCE TWO-LEAVES 

6 

NO 

80 

60 

UNKNOWN 

150 

160 

150 

140 

100 

LIKE-FOREST:70% 

YES 

NO 

150 

150 

DARK-GREEN 

YES 

4 

UNKNOWN 

UNKNOWN 

UNKNOWN 

sticks to your shoes 

YES 

APRIL-1-6 

55 

75 

65 

10 

SU"Y-DAYS:BOX 

LEAVE-LOSS : 10% 

UNKNOWN 

68 

5 

NO 

NO 

UNKNOWN 

70 - . 65 

50 

40 

80 

77 
Conclusions for frame: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-1 

The location of the crop field in question is as follows: 5 

The production obtained from satellite information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from satellite data is as follows: There 

is positive prove of germination. The green area is either an irrigated field 

or picked a local shower. 

The production obtained from ground information is as follows: 81. 

The additional information obtained from ground data is as follows: The 

coloring of the plants indicates reduction of crop yield. Ample soil moisture 

allows reasonable growth. Reduction of crop yield due to late growth stage. 

The production obtained from plant physiology information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from plant physiology data is as follows: 

No additional reduction of the crop yield was found in this consultation. 

The production obtained from model information is as follows: 100 

The additional information obtained from model data is as follows: No 

additional reduction of the crop yield was found in this consultation. 

The updated expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is as follows: 100 

(88%) 81. (50%) 

The percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used for the preliminary crop 

yield production is as follows: 95.25 

The qualitative value of the crop yield is as follows: EXCELLENT 

78 
8. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

8.1. Summary of Study 

The development of this first phase remote sensing 

based expert system was founded on the notion that expert 

heuristic assessments often dominates in determining the 

crop yield production. The first phase of CROPCAST OSU was 

developed using THE PC Plus expert system shell. Our expert 

estimated a revenue of over $13 million on a six year market 

projection for a workable and completely built expert 

system. At the end of this report, an illustration showing 

the use of the system for determining crop yield production 

is presented. The following entails the major works 

performed in this study: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The construction of knowledge base frames. The knowledge 

base contains a root frame, CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, and four 

subframes, namely, SATELLITE, PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, 

and MODEL. The subframes represent the sources of 

information used to determine the crop yield that are 

acquired from the domain expert (Earthsat). The root 

frame integrates all the subframes. 

The determination of parameters. A frame groups 

parameters and production rules. The parameters are 

needed for constructing workable production rules. Each 

frame consists of several parameters. The properties of 

each parameter were defined. These properties are 

important for use by the client when consulting the 

system. 

The development of production rules. The expertise of 

EarthSat regarding the crop yield information was 

acquired for constructing the production rules. The 

expert provides written preliminary rules and verbal 

information based on which workable production rules were 

developed at The Ohio State University. Numerous rules 

have been produced while maintaining their efficiency and 

accuracy. 

The provision of an external program. An external 

geographic program developed by EarthSat was integrated 

to the system. This program has, among others, the 

capability of displaying the national, state, and county 

boundaries, and major drainage system. The display has 

zooming capability of any subset of counties drawn from a 

U.S. county data base and window-oriented on-line 

capability to access graphic and textual materials. 

79 
8.2. Conclusions 

The study results in a powerful yet user friendly 

expert system for determining the crop yield production in a 

certain crop field. More specifically, the following 

conclusions are presented: 

1. The study reveals that in order to reach an efficient and 

reliable expert system, much effort was placed on the 

development of production rules. The knowledge obtained 

from the expert, and compiled in preliminary rules, have 

experienced considerable revision and manipulation such 

that the uniqueness, completeness, and accuracy of each 

rule can be maintained. The effort results in workable 

and efficient rules that could provide the client with a 

useful tool for making decision in crop yield 

forecasting. 

2. The technique used in constructing the knowledge base 

emphasizes a user friendly and highly interactive window 

oriented on-line system. For this purpose, abundant 

descriptions are incorporated and generous help 

statements are provided. A client having little knowledge 

of crop yield production should not have any problem in 

consulting the system. Furthermore, numerous visual 

displays are provided internally as well as externally. 

The internal displays are available through the graphic 

help and prompt functions. The external program was 

developed through a conventional graphic programming 

technique capable of displaying the geographical map of 

some states. It also has the capability in zooming the 

counties within a particular state. 

3. Finally, the system was thoroughly and successfully 

tested. Some rules that were found inadequate were 

reassessed. The expert was consulted and the rules were 

improved. A runtime system was developed for use by the 

client to consult the system. A client can use the system 

independently based on each source of information or 

integrally based on all sources. 

8.3. Recommendations for Future Studies 

The following are recommended for future or continuing 

studies of the expert system: 

1. The current knowledge base expert system consists of four 

frames , i.e., SATELLITE, GROUND, MODEL, and 

PHYSIOLOGICAL. The results of our research project 

reveals that an extended knowledge base is necessary in 

order to maintain a complete knowledge base for the crop 

yield production expert system. Four more frames are 

needed to accomodate the production rules obtained from 

80 
2. 

the experts. These frames are STATISTICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, 

HYDROLOGICAL, and TOPOGRAPHIC. With the additional 

frames, the system could become a powerful and user 

friendly state-of-the-art tool for remote sensing based 

crop yield forecasting in agribusiness sectors. 

The decision concerning crop production subsequently 

leads to the decision regarding price analysis. 

Therefore, the construction of price demand knowledge 

base is recommended. This knowledge base will interface 

with the crop yield production knowledge base as well as 

with external subroutines. The system should be able to 

provide the user with explanation and recommendation with 

respect to remote sensing based crop forecasting, supply 

demand analysis, and subsequently, price forecasting. Our 

recommendation for future studies includes the 

examination of the economic information value derived 

from remote sensing and evaluation of the use of economic 

modeling tools in the context of expert systems. This 

includes problems related to rate of harvesting vs. rate 

of marketing; measurements of on-farm storage facilities; 

free market assessment vs government programs; and 

transportation assessment concerning barge movement 

(e.g., reservoir management). We anticipate the 

development of several frames, among others, ECONOMICINTELLIGENCE-SURROGATES, INFORMATION-FLOW, PRICEPATTERNS, STOCK-CHANGE, POLITICAL-SIGNAL, and CALENDEREVENTS. 

81 
APPENDIX A. REFERENCES 

Dr. HALO I11 User Manual, 1988, by Media Cybernetics Inc. 

Hadipriono, F. C., 1988, "FUZZY Reasoning Expert System 

(FRES) for Assessing Damage of Protective Structures," 

Presented to Universal Energy Systems, Contract No. S-760- 

6MG-054, Subproject Under United States Air Force. 

Hadipriono, F. C., 1989, "Cases in Construction Automation," 

International Association for Bridge and Structural 

Engineering Colloquium on Expert System in Civil 

Engineering, Bergamo, Italy. 

Hadipriono, F. C., Lyon, J. G., and Li, W. H., 1989, "A 

Drainage Pattern Knowledge Based Expert System," ASPRS/ACSM 

Fall Convention in Cleveland. 

Maloney, L. M. and Miller, R. A., 1988, "Survey of Computer 

Workstations and Expert System Development Tools," Report 

No. ERC/NSM-88-45, The Ohio State University. 

Palmer, R. N. and Mar, Bo W., 1988, "Expert Systems Software 

for Civil Engineering Applications," Journal of Civil 

Engineering Systems, Vol. 5. 

Personal Consultant Plus Version 4.0 Reference Guide, 

by Texas Instruments Incorporated. 

1988, 

82 
APPENDIX B. RULES DRAFT 

SATELLITE RULES DRAFT 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

If the AVHRR of L/S reflectance in the near IR exceeds 200 counts then 

there is a good possibility there is green vegatation in the scene. 

If the difference between the count values in the green/red channel and 

the near infrared channels exceeds 50 counts then there is positive proof 

that green vegetation exists. , 

If the difference between the green/red reflectance and the near infrared 

reflectance changes by 20 percent (45 counts) then there is a good 

potential that either a stress has occurred if the change is 

negative/improvement has occurred if change is positive or the area green 

leaf cover has increased or decreased. 

If the change in greeness occurs near normal planting time then the change 

in greeness is probably due to increased leaf cover due to emerging 

plants. 

If the change in greeness occurs at the time when the plants are 

approaching leaf scensence then the change in green is due to leaf loss. 

If the period of maximum greeness occurs during the period when 

reproduction would normally occur (see statistics or model output) then 

the chances of near optimum yield are excellent. 

If the loss in greeness as seen in either AVHRR or L/S-Spot is accompanied 

by a decrease in the size of small farm ponds then the loss in greeness 

can be related to drought in the area. 

If the appearance of an area of crops asmeasured by greeness counts is 

equal to the greeness count of a city then the loss crop yield will be 

significant and may reach total loss. 

If the appearance of an area as measured by greeness counts is equal to 

that of a nearby foresteds area then the y€eld potential will be near to 

the projected maximum. 

10. If the percentage cover of the area equal to the city and forest is near 

50 percent then the yield will be about 50 percent of the projected 

maximum yield for the area. 

11. If the area of crops has maximum greeness but it is centered in an area 

that otherwise appears to be like a city then this is either an irrigated 

crop or it picked up a local shower. 

12. If the shore of small farm ponds or lakes has a high reflectance(>200) in 

both the visible and near in bands then there is saline deposits 

indicating evaporation exceeded precipitation. 

83 
13. If the model and/or historical information suggests that an area has been 

planted by a given date and there is no evidence of greeness then there 

probably is poor emergence or spring greenup (in the case of winter 

crops). 

14. AVHRR count value vs. yield reduction from optimum. 

If AVHRR greeness count is: 

- 

- between 201 and 210, yields will be 30% less than optimum. 

- between 211 and 223, yields will be 15% reduced from optimum, 

- between 224 and 250, yields will be near optimum for a given 

location. 

between 143 and 200, yields will be 50% or greater reduced from 

opt imum . 

This statement assumes observations are made at or just prior to silking 

of corn. 

84 
GROUND RULES DRAFT 

1. If the growth is earlier than normal for corn by 2 weeks then there is a 

better chance for superior yield. 

2. If the growth stage for corn is later than normal by 2 weeks then there 

is a greater than even chance that yields will be lower. 

3. If the height of the corn plants on July 4 is less than 36 inches then the 

chances of good yield are reduced by 25 percent. 

4. If the height of the corn plants on July 4 is greater than 48 inches then 

the chances of good yields are increased by 25 percent. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

If the lower leaves of the corn plant are fired but little wilt is 

observed in the upper leaves then the yield potential will not be greatly 

reduced. 

If the corn plants wilt each day but recover overnight then the chances 

for any significant reduction in yield are fairly small. 

If the silks are dried or in any way abnormal then the chance for reduced 

ear fill are reduced. 

If the corn crop appears to have coloring that is not bright green then 

there is a good chance that yields will be reduced. 

If the plant appears yellow early in the season and there has been 

flooding then the plant has been oxygen starved and yields may be reduced. 

10. If the plant is brown early in the growing season then severe drought has 

occurred and the yield loss is irreversible. 

11. If flooding has occurred in a field the area of damage will be defined by 

the short or poorly developed plants. 

12. If the outside row of corn plants is falling down or leaning watch for 

poor root structure in the field. 

13. If the soil sticks to your shoe then there is ample soil moisture to allow 

reasonable. growth. 

14. If the soil can be picked up by the wind then there is insufficient 

moisture in the surface layer for plant growth. 

85 
MODEL RULES DRAFT 

1. If the soil moisture in the lower two layers of the Cropcast model exceed 

30 percent of capacity then the crop should be green and healthy in the 

growth stages from mid-vegetative through to harvest. 

2. If the soil moisture in the top layer (the surface layer as defined in the 

model not the layer we now call the surface layer) has greater than 30 

percent of capacity during the period from planting until two weeks after 

planting then good germination occured. 

3. If the subsoil moisture during the reproductive period is below 30 percent 

of capacity or is fluctuating around 30 percent then the chance above 

trend yields is significantly reduced. 

4. If the soil moisture remains significantly above 90 percent during the 

early growth period then chances for good stand establishment and early 

yield potential are reduced. 

5. If the growth stage progression as shown by the model is accelerated over 

a linear growth rate then the potential for above trend yields is reduced. 

6. If the ETP estimated by the model exceeds 10 mm/day for two or more days 

during late vegetative period then chances of above trend yield are 

reduced. 

7. If there are periods with dew points in excess of 70 degrees F during the 

period from late vegetative to soft dough (corn) and the plants are under 

stress during the day then the results of daytime stress will be amplified 

and above trend yields will be significantly reduced. 

8. If there are periods very low stress (ET/ETP) at any time during the 

growth of the crop the chances for disease formation are increased 

significantly. 

9. If the model indicates periods of moderate stress during the fill stages 

of the corn crop then the quality of the corn (or soyoil) will be 

enhanced. 

10. If the soil moisture in the plow layer (the current top layer) exceeds 85 

percent of capacity during the planting period there is a good chance that 

planting will be delayed until the layer dries to less than about 75 

percent. 

11. If there are numerous periods of moderate stress extending for 2 to 3 days 

in length but interrupted by light showers then the stress will not reduce 

the yield to below trend values. 

12. If significant stress occurs during early to mid vegetative in the model 

but not during reproductive then the yield should not be reduced to below 

trend levels. 

13. If significant stress occurs only in the reproductive growth stage then 

there is a good chance that yields will be reduced below trend values. 

86 
14. Light to moderate stress throughout the lifetime of the crop will often 

assure an excellent yield. 

15. If moderate stress occurs from just after planting to late vegetative the 

crop will be more tolerant to stress at reproductive then yields may not 

be reduced. 

16. If rain events occur at regular intervals even with dry sub soil moisture 

then an above trend yield can be expected. 

87 
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY RULES DRAFT 

1. Corn Growth Stage Factors 

a. 

b. 

c. 

d. 

e. If the plant is in the vegetative development period (2-8 leaves) then 

f. 

If the soil temperatures remain below 48F after planting then 

germination will not occur. 

If the temperature remains below 53F after germination has occurred 

good seedling growth may be impacted. 

If temperatures below 55F are maintained during early seedling growth 

then the seedling may be impacted by seed decay and fungle diseases. 

If flooding occurs prior to the development of good 2 leaf seedlings 

then plant death will occur. 

almost all stress events can be avoided. 

If the plant is in the tassel and ear initiation (8-10 leaf stage to 

tasseling) then stress from heat and/or low soil moisture will cause 

serious loss in ear size, kernel size and count, etc. 

If the plant is at pollen shed and fertilization stage high 

temperatures (near 100F) or extreme stress factors may terminate the 

fertilization process and no kernel will be produced. 

If the plant is in the kernel development and maturation period a loss 

of 50 percent of the leaves may reduce yield reductions of 10 percent 

or more. 

If the plant is in the kernel development and maturation stage and 

extended periods of cloudy weather occur stalk rot potentials will 

increase, (stalk and root rots are the most important diseases, any 

factor that reduces photosynthesis can increase the potential for 

these diseases). 

If high night time temperatures occur in the period from pollination 

through late kernel development then yields maybe significantly 

reduced (example of effects of night temperatures for 52 days 

following pollination show that an average of 65F will provide a yield 

of 160 bu/A while an average of 85F will yield 100 bu/A all other 

things held equal). 

Once the corn plant is in the period Maturity/Harvest/Storage yield 

losses are due to mechanical or fungi processes. 

reports of lodging or ear droppage appear losses in useful yield will 

increase, similarly if mold or other fungi are reported useable yields 

reduced, extreme conditions of fungi can produce high levels of 

aflatoxoin which makes the corn unuseable for human consumption. 

g. 

h. 

i. 

j. 

k. 

For example, if 

2. Effects of Planting Date on Yield 

a. If the weather is cool and moist at planting and during vegetative 

growth good potential yields may occur. Early planting favors these 

types of conditions (75 to 86F temperatures are most favorable unless 

moisture conditions are plentiful then 90 to 95F provides fastest 

growth establishment). 

If planting is early then the root structure is more favorable and the 

chances of hot conditions during tasseling and silking are reduced. 

If the corn silks early then greater solar energy is available during 

kernel fill favoring higher yields. 

b. 

c. 

88 
d. The quantitative effect of planting date is as follows: 

April 16-29 

May 1-9 

May 12-20 

May 23-31 

June 1-11 

97 percent of maximum relative yield 

90 percent 

80 percent I1 

72 percent 11 11 I1 

100 percent 11 11 11 

11 11 11 

11 II I1 

These data were assembled over 10 years at Lansing, Michigan. 

fairly northern area. 

for every 300 miles south of Lansing. 

will effect planting date. 

A 

These dates will move back by about one week 

Local climatological variations 

3. Effect of Temperature on Yield 

a. If the temperatures are less than lOOF and moisture is plentiful 

(generally reported at greater than 60 percent of capacity throughout 

the root profile) then the potential for good yield continues 

throughout the growing season. 

If temperatures exceed lOOF during pollination and mositure is 

marginal (less than 35 percent of capacity) then yield potentials may 

be significantly reduced even if all other growing periods have had 

favorable yield potential results. 

If the growing point of the corn platn is below ground then frost will 

have little effect. The relationship of plant height to growing point 

is: the growing point is below ground until the plant reaches 12 

inches in height, from 17 inches to 36 inches the growing point moves 

up above ground reaching 8 - 14 inches maximum height. 

b. 

c. 

4. Effect of Subsoil Moisture on Corn Yield 

a. 

b. 

If 18 to 24 inches of water are available during the growing season 

then maximum yield potential is possible for the region. 

If the water in ground water storage is less than 9 to 12 inches then 

the potential for reduced yiedls is high. 

(April to September) rainfall ranges from 13 inches in the western 

corn growing areas to 22 inches in the eastern areas. If soils in the 

corn growing areas start out the season at capacity they have from 6 

to 15 inches of water available the remaining water needs must be 

provided by timely rainfall, thus 12 to 18 inches of rain must fall in 

the 3 month period to produce a maximum yielding crop (assuming no 

exceptionally high daytime or nighttime temperatures). 

Normal growing season 

89 
APPENDIX C. ROOT FRAME CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

DOMAIN :: "CROPCAST OSU, Copyright 1989, The Ohio State 

Un ive r s i t y " 

ROOT FRAME :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

FRAME STRUCTURE :: 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST 

SATELLITE 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY 

GROUND 

MODEL 

KB Files : : (MODEL "CROPCAST. kl" GROUND "CROPCAST. k2" 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY "CROPCAST.k3" SATELLITE 

"CROPCAST k4" ) 

Parameter groups :: (MODEL-PARMS GROUND-PARMS PLANTPHYSIOLOGY-PARMS SATELLITE-PARMS 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS ) 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES SATELLITE-RULES 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES META-RULES ) 

Rule groups :: (MODEL-RULES GROUND-RULES 

Number of rules :: 96 

Number of meta-rules :: 0 

Variables :: ($$TITLE DOMAIN) 

TEXTAGS :: () 

Functions :: () 

$$TITLE 

DOMAIN 

VALUE :: (PICTURE CROPCAST) 

VALUE :: "CROPCAST OSU" 

90 
IDENTIFIER :: CROP-YIELD-FORECASTGOALS :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION SATELLITE-COMMENTS 

TRANSLATION :: (Crop Yield Forecast) 

GROUND-PRODUCTION GROUND-COMMENTS PHYSPRODUCTION PHYS-COMMENTS MODEL-PRODUCTION 

MODEL-COMMENTS PRODUCTION INITIAL CROP ) 

INITIALDATA :: (INITIAL LOCATION GROWTH-STAGE WEEKS 

FLOOD HIGH-TEMP SOIL-MOISTURE ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 5 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Crop Yield 

Forecast" :LINE :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) :ATTR 

(YELLOW HIGH) "SSS***b**SttS***ttS" ) 

DISPLAYRESULTS :: YES 

PARMGROUP :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES) 

OFFSPRING :: (SATELLITE PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY GROUND MODEL) 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-PARMS :: (CROP FLOOD GROUNDCOMMENTS GROUNDPRODUCTION GROWTH-STAGE 

HIGH-TEMP INITIAL 

LOCATION MODEL-COMMENTS 

MODEL-PRODUCTION PHYSCOMMENTS PHYS-PRODUCTION 

PRODUCTION SATELLITECOMMENTS SATELLITEPRODUCTION SOIL-MOISTURE 

WEEKS ) 

CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES :: (RULE021 RULE022 RULE074 

RULE075 RULE076 RULE077 

RULE078 RULE096 ) 

CROP 

---- 

TRANSLATION :: (the qualitative value of the crop 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

yield) 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE074 RULE075 RULE076 RULE077 

RULE078) 

FLOOD 

----- ----- 

TRANSLATION :: (flooding of the crop) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter YES if the crop 

was flooded before the plants had at least 

91 C-2- 
two leaves. " ) 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

HELP :: ("Select UNKNOWN only if there is absolute" 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE057 RULE089 RULE069 RULE003) 

:LINE "uncertainty about the occurrence of 

flooding. '' :LINE "This parameter is":ATTR 

(MAGENTA HIGH) "important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) 

"only during the" :LINE "early stages of the 

plant. " ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

GROUND-COMMENTS 

--------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the additional information obtained 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

from ground data) 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE059) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE037 RULE057 RULE089 RULE058 

RULE060 RULE061 RULE065 RULE068 RULE069 

RULE067 RULE071 RULE072 RULE064 RULEO7O) 

DEFAULT :: ("NO additional reduction of the crop 

yield was found in this consultation." ) 

GROUND-PRODUCTION 

-_-__------__---- ----------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the production obtained from qroiind 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

information) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE022) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE057 RULE089 RULE058 RULE060 

RULE061 RULE065 RULE068 RULE069 RULE067 

RULE071 RULE072 RULE064 RULE070 ) 

RULE061 RULE065 RULE068 RULE069 

RULE067 RULE071 RULE072 RULE064 

RULE070 RULE021 RULE096 ) 

CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE057 RULE089 RULE058 RULE060 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

GROWTH-STAGE 

-----_-----_ ------------ 

TRANSLATION :: (the growth stages of the corn plants 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the growth 

stages of corn plants." ) 

EXPECT :: (PRE-EMERGENCE EMERGENCE TWO-LEAVES 

included in this consultation ) 

TYPE :: ASK-ALL 

FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES TASSEL SILK 

POLLINATION FILL-STAGE MATURITY 

HARVEST-STORAGE ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE036 RULE033 RULE035 RULE037 

RULE038 RULE045 RULE057 RULE089 

92 
RULE058 RULE061 RULE068 RULE001 

RULE002 RULE003 RULE005 RULE020 

RULE007 RULE010 RULE009 RULE018 

RULE019 RULE015 RULE016 RULE017 

RULE006 RULE067 RULE071 RULE072 

RULE094 RULE080 RULE004 RULE087 

RULE039 RULE040 RULE011 RULE090 

RULE012 RULE013 ) 

USED-BY :: (RULE042) 

GHELP :: (GROWTH) 

HIGH-TEMP 

--------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the highest temperature before 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the highest 

pollination) 

temperature observed before pollination in 

Fahrenheit. I' ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE041 RULE045 RULE046 RULE007 

HELP : : ("This value comes from the observations" 

:LINE "of the current year. '' : LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this temperature is unknown." :LINE 

"This parameter is of low importance during 

the" :LINE "early stages of the plant, but it 

is very" :LINE :ATTR ( MAGENTA HIGH ) 

"important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "during the 

late stages of the plant," ) 

RULE014 RULE006 RULE087 ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (60 140) 

INITIAL 

------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the percentage of the optimum crop 

yield to be used as the preliminary 

production ) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE096) 

USED-BY :: (RULE022 RULE021 RULE074 RULE075 RULE076 

preliminary assessment of the crop yield" ) 

RULE077 RULE078) 

HELP :: ("Enter the result of the previous 

consultation" :LINE ''in percentage of the 

optimum crop yield." :LINE "If this is the" 

:ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) "first consultation" 

:ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "enter 100." :LINE "This 

percentage will be updated during the" :LINE 

"consultation. '' ) 

DEFAULT :: (100) 

93 
CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE022) 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

LOCATION 

--_--_-_ -------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the location of the crop field in 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

quest ion) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE005 RULE020 RULE018 RULE019 

RULE015 RULE016 RULE017 ) 

RANGE :: (1 15) 

MODEL-COMMENTS 

------_---_--- -------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the additional information obtained 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

from model data) 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE042) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE036 RULE033 RULE034 RULE035 

RULE038 RULE041 RULE043 RULE045 RULE046 

RULE047 RULE088 RULE039 RULE040 ) 

yield was found in this consultation." ) 

DEFAULT :: ("No additional reduction of the crop 

MODEL-PRODUCTION 

--_---_--------- --_------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the production obtained from model 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

information) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE022) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE036 RULE033 RULE034 RULE035 

RULE037 RULE038 RULE041 RULE043 RULE045 

RULE046 RULE047 RULE088 RULE039 RULE040 

1 

CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE036 RULE033 RULE034 RULE035 

RULE037 RULE038 RULE041 RULE043 

RULE045 RULE046 RULE047 RULE088 

RULE039 RULE040 RULE021 RULE096 ) 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

PHYS-COMMENTS 

_-_---------- --_-_-------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the additional information obtained 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

from plant physiology data ) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE001 RULE002 RULE003 RULE005 

RULE020 RULE007 RULE010 RULE009 RULE014 

RULE018 RULE019 RULE015 RULE016 RULE017 

RULE006 RULE004 RULE087 RULE011 RULE090 

RULE012 RULE013 ) 

DEFAULT :: ("No additional reduction of the crop 

94 
yield was found in this consultation." ) 

PHYS-PRODUCTION 

--------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the production obtained from plant 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

physiology information ) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE022) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE001 RULE002 RULE003 RULE005 

RULE020 RULE007 RULEOlO RULE009 RULE014 

RULE018 RULE019 RULE015 RULE016 RULE017 

RULE006 RULE004 RULE087 RULEOll RULE090 

RULE012 RULE013 ) 

CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE002 RULE005 RULE020 RULE007 

RULEOlO RULE009 RULE014 RULE018 

RULE019 RULE015 RULE016 RULE017 

RULE006 RULE004 RULE087 RULE021 

RULE096 RULEOll RULE090 RULE012 

RULE0 13 ) 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

PRODUCTION 

---------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the updated expected percentage of 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULEO21) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE096) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: POSITIVE 

the optimum crop yield ) 

SATELLITE-COMMENTS 

------------------ 

TRANSLATION :: (the additional information obtained 

from satellite data ) 

TYPE :: MULTIVALUED 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE028 RULE031) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE029 RULE025 RULE091 RULE027 

RULE092 RULE093 RULE094 RULE023 RULE024 

RULE026 RULE030 RULE080 ) 

DEFAULT :: ("NO additional reduction of the crop 

yield was found in this consultation." ) 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

.................... .................... 

TRANSLATION :: (the production obtained from satellite 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

information) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

UPDATED-BY :: (RULE022) 

UPDATED-IN :: (RULE029 RULE025 RULE091 RULE027 

RULE081 RULE023 RULE024 RULE095 RULE026 

RULE030 RULE080 ) 

95 
CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE029 RULE025 RULE091 RULE027 

RULE081 RULE023 RULE024 RULE026 

RULE030 RULE080 RULE021 RULE096 ) 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

SOIL-MOISTURE 

----_--_-__-- ------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the moisture of the soil) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the soil 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

moisture as a percentage of its capacity." ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE041 RULE045 RULE046 RULE007 

USED-BY :: (RULE042) 

HELP :: ("Soil moisture can be measured in various 

RULE014 RULE006 RULE039 ) 

ways." :LINE "Gravimetric, where the moisture 

is determined by" :LINE "weighting a sample 

before and after drying. " :LINE "Newton 

Detection, where a source of nuclear" :LINE 

"radiation is used. This method is less 

accurate" :LINE "than the Gravimetric near the 

surface. '' :LINE "This parameter is very" :ATTR 

(MAGENTA HIGH ) "important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) 

"during the" :LINE "late stages of the plant. " 

:LINE "Punch ENTER if this parameter is not 

available. " ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

WEEKS 

----- 

TRANSLATION :: (the number of weeks after emergence 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN REVERSE) "Enter the number of 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE037 RULE025 RULE071 RULE072 

from the soil) 

weeks after emergence from the soil" ) 

RULE027 RULE092 RULE093 RULE094 

RULE081 RULE023 RULE024 RULE095 

RULE026 RULE030 RULE090 ) 

USED-BY :: (RULE028) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

HELP :: (Punch ENTER if this value is unknown.) 

RANGE :: (0 35) 

96 
RULE021 

------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (PRODzSAT-PROD,GROUND-PROD,MODELDOBEFORE :: (RULE022) 

PROD,PLANT-PHYS) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is greater than 0, 

Then 1) there is weakly suggestive evidence (40%) that the 

updated expected percentage of the optimum crop 

yield is [l times the production obtained from 

satellite information], and 

2) there is suggestive evidence (50%) that the updated 

expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is [l 

times the production obtained from ground 

information], and 

3) there is suggestive evidence (60%) that the updated 

expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is [l 

times the production obtained from plant physiology 

information], and 

4) there is suggestive evidence (50%) that the updated 

expected percentage of the optimum crop yield is [l 

times- the production obtained from model 

information]. 

___ 

IF :: (INITIAL > 0) 

THEN :: (PRODUCTION = (1 * SATELLITE-PRODUCTION) CF 

40 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * GROUND-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 50 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * PHYS-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 60 AND PRODUCTION = (1 * MODEL-PRODUCTION ) 

CF 50 ) 

RULE022 

---__-- ------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (CONSIDERFRAME SATELLITE, GROUND, 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is greater than or equal to 0, 

Then 1) call a DOS program named C:\CROPCAST\NSEW.EXE, and 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, MODEL ) 

2) retrieve data from an external source, and 

3) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is [l times the 

percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production], and 

from ground information is [l times the percentage 

of the optimum crop yield to be used as the 

preliminary production], and 

4) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

97 
5) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [l times the 

percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production], and 

from model information is [l times the percentage of 

the optimum crop yield to be used as the preliminary 

production], and 

7) instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

satellite information if appropriate, and 

8) instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

ground information if appropriate, and 

9) instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

plant physiology information if appropriate, and 

10) instantiate the frame crop yield forecast from 

model information if appropriate. 

6) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (INITIAL >= 0) 

THEN : : (DOS-CALL "C: \\CROPCAST\\NSEW EXE" "" AND 

READ-DOS-FILE "C:\CROPCAST\ZONE.RD" LOCATION 

AND SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND 

GROUND-PRODUCTION = ( 1 * INITIAL ) AND PHYSPRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND MODELPRODUCTION = (1 * INITIAL) AND CONSIDERFRAME 

SATELLITE AND CONSIDERFRAME GROUND AND 

CONSIDERFRAME PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY AND 

CONSIDERFRAME MODEL ) 

RULE074 

- - ------- - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE096) 

DESCRIPTION :: (IF PROD>9O THEN CROP=EXCELLENT) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is greater than or equal to 90, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the qualitative value of 

the crop yield is EXCELLENT, and 

2) display a graphic picture. 

IF :: (INITIAL >= 90) 

THEN :: (CROP = EXCELLENT AND PICTURE EXCELLEN) 

RULE075 

--_-_-- ------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE096) 

DESCRIPTION :: (IF PROD BT 80 90 THEN CROP=GOOD) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is less than 90 but greaterthan 

or equal to 80, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the qualitative value of 

the crop yield is GOOD, and 

2) display a graphic picture. 

98 
IF :: (INITIAL BT 80 90) 

THEN :: (CROP = GOOD AND PICTURE GOOD) 

RULE076 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE096) 

DESCRIPTION :: (IF PROD BT 60 80 THEN CROP=FAIR) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is less than 80 but greater than 

or equal to 60, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the qualitative value of 

the crop yield is FAIR, and 

2) display a graphic picture. 

IF :: (INITIAL BT 60 80) 

THEN :: (CROP = FAIR AND PICTURE FAIR) 

RULE077 

------- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE096) 

DESCRIPTION :: (IF PROD BT 40 60 THEN CROP=POOR) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is less than 60 but greater than 

or equal to 40, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the qualitative value of 

the crop yield is POOR, and 

2) display a graphic picture. 

IF :: (INITIAL BT 40 60) 

THEN :: (CROP = POOR AND PICTURE POOR) 

RULE078 

-_----- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE096) 

DESCRIPTION :: (IF PROD<40 THEN PROD=VERY POOR) 

If the percentage of the optimum crop yield to be used as 

the preliminary production is less than 40, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the qualitative value of 

the crop yield is VERY POOR, and 

2) display a graphic picture. 

IF :: (INITIAL < 40) 

THEN :: (CROP = VERY POOR AND PICTURE VERYPOOR) 

RULE096 

__----- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: CROP-YIELD-FORECAST-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE021) 

99 
DESCRIPTION :: (Calculate new INITIAL for next 

consultation) 

If the updated expected percentage of the optimum crop 

yield is known, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the percentage of the 

optimum crop yield to be used as the preliminary production 

is [[[[[the production obtained from satellite information 

times 0.41 plus [the production obtained from ground 

information times 0.511 plus [the production obtained from 

plant physiology information times 0.611 plus [the 

production obtained from model information times 0.511 

divided by 21. 

IF :: (PRODUCTION IS KNOWN) 

THEN :: (INITIAL = (((((SATELLITE-PRODUCTION * 0.4) t 

( GROUND-PRODUCTION * 0.5 ) ) t (PHYSPRODUCTION * 0.6) ) t ( MODEL-PRODUCTION * 0.5 

))/2)) 

100 
APPENDIX D. SUBFRAME SATELLITE 

IDENTIFIER : : "SATELLITE-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from satellite 

information) 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION SATELLITE-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (AVHRR L-S GREEN-RED GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS 

NIR FOREST CENTERED MAXIMUM POND-NIR 

POND-VIR ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 6 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "SATELLITE 

INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) 

" * * ** * **** * * ** * ** * * ** * " ) 

PARMGROUP :: SATELLITE-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (SATELLITE-RULES) 

SATELLITE-PARMS :: (AVHRR CENTERED FOREST GREEN-RED 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS L-S MAXIMUM NIR 

POND-NIR POND-VIR ) 

SATELLITE-RULES :: (RULE023 RULE024 RULE025 RULE026 

RULE027 RULE028 RULE029 RULE030 

RULE031 RULE080 RULE081 RULE091 

RULE092 RULE093 RULE094 RULE095 ) 

AVHRR 

----- 

TRANSLATION :: (the AVHRR greenness counts) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) Enter the AVHRR greenness 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

counts) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE025 RULE091 RULE081 RULE023 

HELP :: ("AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution 

RULE024 RULE095 RULE026 RULE030 ) 

Radiometer) " :LINE "greenness counts are 

digital values derived from" :LINE "the AVHRR 

sensor digital tapes." :LINE "High values of 

AVHRR greenness counts indicate" :LINE "that a 

high percentage of the crop field is" :LINE 

"covered by green vegetation. " :LINE "A value 

of 250 for AVHRR is considered" :LINE "high, 

101 
while 100 is considered low" :LIJE "Puncn 

ENTER if the AVHRR greenness count is not" 

:LINE "available. 'I ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

CENTERED 

-------- 

e - - - - - - - 

TRANSLATION :: (the green area is an isolated spot) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) Is the green area an 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

USED-BY :: (RULEOBI) 

HELP :: ("The green area can be observed in the AVHRR" 

:LINE "digital tapes as greenness counts or in 

the" :LINE "AVHRR photographic images as 

green-red" :LINE "reflectance. " :LINE "Select 

UNKNOWN if undecided. " ) 

isolated spot) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

GPROMPT : : "GREEN" 

FOREST 

-_-_-- -e---- 

TRANSLATION :: (the percentage of area that looks like 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Indicate how close is 

forest) 

the greenness of the crop field to that of a 

forest" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: (LIKE-FOREST) 

HELP :: ("TO compare the greenness count of the crop 

field" :LINE "and the greenness count of a 

city, observe the" :LINE "AVHRR photographic 

images." :LINE "You can use greenness counts 

from digital tapes" :LINE "or green-red 

reflectance from photographic" :LINE "images. " 

:LINE "Punch ENTER if this value is not 

available. 'I ) 

GPROMPT : : "CITYCOUN" 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE081 RULE095) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: POSITIVE 

CONTAINED-IN :: (RULE081 RULE095) 

GREEN-RED 

--------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the green-red reflectance) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the green-red 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

reflectance for the. crop field" ) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE025 RULE091 RULE027 RULE092 

RULE093 RULE094 RULE081 RULE023 

RULE024 RULE095 RULE026 RULE030 ) 

102 
USED-BY :: (RULE028) 

HELP :: ("The value of green-red reflectance is a 

visual" :LINE "estimate of the AVHRR counts 

using photographic" :LINE "images. " :LINE "High 

values of green-red reflectance indicate" 

:LINE "abundant green vegetation. " : LINE "A 

value of 250 for AVHRR is considered" :LINE 

"high, while 100 is considered low" :LINE 

"Punch ENTER if this value is not available." 

) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

GPROMPT : : "CITYCOUN" 

GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS 

------_-_-__-____- -----_------------ 

TRANSLATION :: (the previous green-red reflectance) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the previous 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

green-red reflectance for the crop field" ) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE027 RULE092 RULE093 RULE094) 

USED-BY :: (RULE028) 

HELP :: ("The previous green-red reflectance 

observation" :LINE "is obtained from the 

previous AVHRR information." :LINE "The value 

of green-red reflectance is a visual" :LINE 

"estimate of the AVHRR counts using 

photographic" :LINE "images. " :LINE "High 

values of green-red reflectance indicate" 

:LINE "abundant green vegetation. " : LINE "A 

value of 250 for AVHRR is considered'' :LINE 

"high, while 100 is considered low" :LINE 

"Punch ENTER if this value is not available." 

1 

GHELP :: (COUNT) 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

L-s 

--- 

TRANSLATION :: (the L-S count) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) Enter the value of the 

L-S count) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE025 RULE081 RULE023 RULE024 

HELP :: ("This observation can be obtained from 

RULE095 RULE026 RULE030 ) 

digital" :LINE "tapes provided by the Landsat 

information." :LINE "High values of L-S count 

indicate that a high" :LINE "percentage of the 

crop field is covered by" :LINE "green 

103 
vegetation." :LINE "Punch ENTER if this value 

is not available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

MAXIMUM 

------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the maximum greenness observation 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Is this the maximum 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

HELP :: ("The greenness can be observed from AVHRR 

occurred during this period ) 

greenness observation for this season ?" ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE080) 

digital" :LINE "tapes as greenness counts or 

from AVHRR" :LINE "photographic images as 

green-red reflectance. " :LINE "Answer YES if 

the greenness started to decline" :LINE 

"during this period." :LINE "If a decline in 

the greenness has not been" :LINE "observed, 

the maximum green-area probably has" :LINE 

"not been reached yet." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

GHELP :: (COUNT) 

NIR 

----- --- -- - 

TRANSLATION :: (the Near Infrared Reflectance) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the observation 

for Near Infrared Reflectance" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE025 RULE081 RULE023 RULE024 

HELP :: ("The Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) is the" 

:LINE "reflected energy received at the 

satellite in" :LINE "the NIR spectrum." :LINE 

"The NIR spectrum is the part of the" :LINE 

"micrometer spectrum that cannot be observed 

by" :LINE "human vision. " :LINE "High values 

of NIR" :LINE "indicate poor vegetation on the 

crop field." :LINE "A value of 200 for NIR is 

considered high. " :LINE "Punch ENTER if the 

NIR value is not available." ) 

RULE095 RULE026 RULE030 ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

POND-NI R 

-------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the Near Infrared Reflectance around 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the observation of 

ponds) 

Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) around 

104 
If 

ponds " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE029 RULE093) 

HELP :: ("The Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) is the" 

:LINE "reflected energy received at the 

satellite in" :LINE "the NIR spectrum." :LINE 

"The NIR spectrum is the part of the" :LINE 

"micrometer spectrum that cannot be observed 

by" :LINE "human vision. " :LINE "High values 

of NIR around ponds indicate" :LINE "severe 

evaporation of water." :LINE "A value of 200 

for NIR is considered high." :LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this value is not available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

POND-VI R 

-------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the Visible Infrared Reflectance 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "Enter the observation of 

Visible Infrared Reflectance around ponds" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

around ponds) 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE029 RULE093) 

HELP :: ("The Visible Infrared Reflectance (VIR) is 

the" :LINE "reflected energy received at the 

satellite in" :LINE "the VIR spectrum. " :LINE 

"The VIR spectrum is that part of the" :LINE 

"micrometer spectrum that can be observed by 

the" :LINE "human vision. " :LINE "High values 

of VIR around ponds indicate" :LINE "severe 

evaporation of water." :LINE "A value of 200 

for VIR is considered high." :LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this value is not available," ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 300) 

RULE023 

---_-_- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (13) 

1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 4 but greater than or equal to 2, and 

2) 1) the AVHRR greenness counts is less than 80, or 

2) the L-S count is less than 80, or 

105 
3) [the green-red reflectance minus the Near 

Infrared Reflectance] is less than 25, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is [0.9 times the 

production obtained from satellite information] and 

information obtained from satellite data is Poor 

emergence or spring greenup.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 2 4 AND (AVHRR < 80 OR L-S < 80 OR 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * SATELLITE- 

(GREEN-RED - NIR) < 25 ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "Poor 

emergence or spring greenup." ) 

RULE024 

--_---- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (13) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 2 but greater than or equal to 1, and 

2) 1) [the green-red reflectance minus the Near 

Infrared Reflectance] is less than 20, or 

2) the AVHRR greenness counts is less than 50, or 

3) the L-S count is less than 50, 

- Then 1) it is defi-nite (100%) that the production obtained - 

from satellite information is [0.8 times the 

production obtained from satellite information], and 

information obtained from satellite data is Poor 

emergence or spring greenup.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 1 2 AND ((GREEN-RED - NIR) < 20 OR 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (0.8 * SATELLITEAVHRR < 50 OR L-S < 50 ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "Poor 

emergence or spring greenup." ) 

RULE025 

--_---- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1 and 2) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 8, and 

2) 1) the AVHRR greenness counts is less than 201, or 

2) the L-S count is less than 201, or 

3) [the green-red reflectance minus the Near 

Infrared Reflectance] is less than 50, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is C0.5 times the 

production obtained from satellite information], and 

106 
2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from satellite data is 

Extremely low greenness.. 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 8 11 AND (AVHRR < 201 OR L-S < 201 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (0.5 * SATELLITEOR (GREEN-RED - NIR ) < 50 ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = 

"Extremely low greenness. " ) 

RULE026 

------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1 and 2) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 8, and 

2) 1) [the green-red reflectance minus the Near 

Infrared Reflectance] is less than 55 but 

greater than or equal to 50, or 

greater than or equal to 201, or 

or equal to 201, 

2) the AVHRR greenness counts is less than 210 but 

3) the L-S count is less than 210 but greater than 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is 10.7 times the 

production obtained from satellite information], and 

information obtained from satellite data is Very low 

greenness.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 8 11 AND ((GREEN-RED - NIR) BT 50 55 

OR AVHRR BT 201 210 OR L-S BT 201 210 ) ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (0.7 * SATELLITEPRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "Very low 

greenness. " ) 

RULE027 

------- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3) 

If 1) [the green-red reflectance minus the previous 

green-red reflectance] is less than -45, and 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 1, 

from satellite information is [the production 

obtained from satellite information times 0.81, and 

information obtained from satellite data is Severe 

stress has occurred.. 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

107 
IF :: ((GREEN-RED - GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS) < -45 AND 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

WEEKS BT 1 11) 

* 0.8) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "Severe stress 

has occurred. " ) 

RULE028 

------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2 and 5) 

If 1) the green-red reflectance is less than the previous 

green-red reflectance, and 

greater than 11, 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is The crop is under normal 

leaf loss and drying.. 

IF :: (GREEN-RED < GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS AND WEEKS > 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "The crop is under 

11) 

normal leaf loss and drying." ) 

RULE029 

------- -----_- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (12) 

If 1) the Near Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

greater than 200, and 

greater than 200, 

from satellite information is [the production 

obtained from satellite information times 0.91, and 

information obtained from satellite data is High 

evaporation of water from neighboring crop field 

ponds.. 

2) the Visible Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (POND-NIR > 200 AND POND-VIR > 200) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION * 0.9) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "High 

evaporation of water from neighboring crop 

field ponds. " ) 

RULE030 

-_----- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1 and 2) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 8, and 

108 
2) 1) [the green-red reflectance minus the Near 

Infrared Reflectance] is less than 60 but 

greater than or equal to 55, or 

greater than or equal to 210, or 

or equal to 210, 

2) the AVHRR greenness counts is less than 223 but 

3) the L-S count is less than 223 but greater than 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is [the production 

obtained from satellite information times 0.851, and 

information obtained from satellite data is Low 

greenness.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 8 11 AND ((GREEN-RED - NIR) BT 55 60 

OR AVHRR BT 210 223 OR L-S BT 210 223 ) ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION * 0.85) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "LOW 

greenness. " ) 

RULE031 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (11) 

If the green area is an isolated spot, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is The green area is either an 

irrigated field or picked a local shower.. 

IF : : (CENTERED) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "The green area is 

either an irrigated field or picked a local 

shower. " ) 

RULE080 

------_ ------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (6) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not POLLINATION, and 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not SILK, and 

3) the maximum greenness observation occurred during 

this period, 

from satellite information is [0.9 times the 

production obtained from satellite information], and 

information obtained from satellite data is The 

maximum greenness of the crop was not reached at the 

optimum time.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

109 
IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE != POLLINATION AND GROWTH-STAGE 

!= SILK AND MAXIMUM ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * SATELLITEPRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "The 

maximum greenness of the crop was not reached 

at the optimum time." ) 

RULE081 

- ----_-- - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DOBEFORE :: (RULE025 RULE026 RULE030 RULEO91) 

DESCRIPTION :: (8 and 10) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 7, and 

2) there is no evidence that the percentage of area 

that looks like forest is not LIKE-FOREST, and 

3) 1) the AVHRR greenness counts is known, or 

2) the L-S count is known, or 

3) 1) the green-red reflectance is known, and 

2) the Near Infrared Reflectance is known, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the production cbttrined from 

satellite information is [[the production obtained from 

satellite information plus the measure of certainty 

associated with the percentage of area that looks like 

forest] divided by 21. 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 7 11 AND FOREST IS MIGHTBE 

LIKE-FOREST AND (AVHRR IS KNOWN OR L-S IS 

KNOWN OR (GREEN-RED IS KNOWN AND NIR IS KNOWN) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = ((SATELLITE-PRODUCTION 

1) 

+ CERTAINTY FOREST ) / 2 ) ) 

RULE091 

------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1 and 2) 

If 1) the AVHRR greenness counts is greater than 250, or 

2) the green-red reflectance is greater than 250, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from satellite information is 11.1 times the 

production obtained from satellite information], and 

information obtained from satellite data is Crop 

yield may be above optimum.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (AVHRR > 250 OR GREEN-RED > 250) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * SATELLITEPRODUCTION) AND SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "Crop 

yield may be above optimum." ) 

110 
RULE092 

----_-- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3) 

If 1) [the green-red reflectance minus the previous 

green-red reflectance] is greater than 45, and 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 1, 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is Satisfactory growth is 

observed.. 

IF :: ((GREEN-RED - GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS) > 45 AND 

WEEKS BT 1 11) - 

observed.) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = Satisfactory growth is 

RULE093 

------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION ::. (7) 

If 1) the green-red reflectance is less than the previous 

green-red reflectance, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 1, and 

3) 1) the Near Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

greater than 200, or 

greater than 200, 

2) the Visible Infrared Reflectance around ponds is 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is The reduction in greenness 

is due to drought in the area.. 

IF :: ( GREEN-RED < GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS AND WEEKS BT 

1 11 AND ( POND-NIR > 200 OR POND-VIR > 200 ) 

1 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = "The reduction in 

greenness is due to drought in the area." ) 

If 

RULE094 

------- 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3 and 4) 

1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

3) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, or 

this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

soil is less than 3 but greater than or equal to 

1, and 

111 
2) the green-red reflectance is greater than the 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from satellite data is There is positive prove of 

germination.. 

previous green-red reflectance, 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE 

= EMERGENCE OR WEEKS BT 1 3 ) AND GREEN-RED > 

GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-COMMENTS = There is positive prove 

of germination.) 

RULE095 

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: SATELLITE-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (8 and 10) 

If 1) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 11 but greater than or equal to 7, and 

2) there is no evidence that the percentage of area 

that looks like forest is not LIKE-FOREST, and 

3) 1) the measure of certainty associated with the 

AVHRR greenness counts is less than 100, or 

count is less than 100, or 

2) the measure of certainty associated with the L-S 

3) 1) the measure of certainty associated with the 

2) the measure of certainty associated with the 

green-red reflectance is less than 100, and 

Near Infrared 

Reflectance is less than 100, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the production obtained from 

satellite information is the measure of certainty associated 

with the percentage of area that looks like forest. 

IF :: (WEEKS BT 7 11 AND FOREST IS MIGHTBE 

LIKE-FOREST AND (( CERTAINTY AVHRR ) < 100 OR 

(CERTAINTY L-S) < 100 OR (( CERTAINTY GREENRED ) < 100 AND (CERTAINTY NIR) < 100 ) ) ) 

THEN :: (SATELLITE-PRODUCTION = (CERTAINTY FOREST)) 

112 
APPENDIX E. SUBFRAME PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY 

IDENTIFIER : : " PLANT-PHYS IOLOGY- " 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from plant 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION PHYS-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (PLANTING-DATE LOW-TEMP NIGHT-TEMP SOILphysiology information) 

TEMP WATER-STORAGE SUN LEAVES FUNGI ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) "PLANT 

PHYSIOLOGY INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR 

(YELLOW HIGH) 

" ****** ** ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** " ) 

PARMGROUP :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES) 

ANTECEDENT :: YES . PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-PARMS :: (FUNGI LEAVES LOW-TEMP NIGHTTEMP PLANTING-DATE SOIL-TEMP 

SUN WATER-STORAGE ) 

PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES :: (RULE001 RULE002 RULE003 

RULE004 RULE005 RULE006 

RULE007 RULE009 RULE010 

RULE011 RULE012 RULE013 

RULE014 RULE015 RULE016 

RULE017 RULE018 RULE019 

RULE020 RULE087 RULE090 ) 

FUNGI 

----- 

TRANSLATION :: (presence of fungi after maturity) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Indicate the 

percentage of plants" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) 

:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "where fungi was 

observed. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: (PERCENTAGE-OF-FUNGI) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE012) 

HELP :: ("Fungi can be observed on corn plant leaves 

as" :LINE "yellowish discolorations. " :LINE 

"Extreme conditions of fungi can produce high" 

:LINE "levels of aflatoxin which makes the 

113 
corn" : LINE "unusable for human consumption. 

This is" :LINE "particularly" :ATTR (MAGENTA 

HIGH) "critical" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH ) "during 

and after the" :LINE "maturity of the 

plant.":LINE "Each little square is equivalent 

to lo%." :LINE "Punch ENTER if there is no 

available" :LINE "information about fungi. " ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: POSITIVE 

CONTAINED-IN :: (RULEOL2) 

LEAVES 

------ 

TRANSLATION :: (the percentage of leave loss) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Indicate the 

percentage of leave loss of the corn 

plants. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: (LEAVE-LOSS) 

HELP :: ("This value comes from the observation of 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULEO13) 

the" : LINE "corn plants in the field. " : LINE 

"High leave loss may reduce the crop yield." 

:LINE "This parameter is particularly" :ATTR ( 

MAGENTA HIGH ) "important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) 

"durfng" :LINE "the late stages of the plant. " 

:LINE "Each little square is equivalent to 

1OX." :LINE "Punch ENTER if this information 

is not" :LINE "available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: POSITIVE 

LOW-TEMP 

---_---- -------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the lowest temperature registered for 

the last growth stage ) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the lowest 

temperature during the last growth stage in 

Fahrenheit. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE002 RULE007 RULE014 RULE006 

HELP :: ("This value comes from the observations" 

: LINE "of the current year. " : LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this temperature is unknown.":LINE 

"This parameter is very" :ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) 

"important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "during the" 

:LINE "early stages of the plant." ) 

RULE004) 

RANGE :: (-10 80) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

NIGHT-TEMP 

---------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the highest night-time.temperature 

114 
for the last growth stage ) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the highest 

temperature at NIGHT-TIME during the last 

growth stage" :LINE "in" :ATTR ( WHITE HIGH 

) :ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Fahrenheit. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("This value comes from the observations'' 

:LINE "of the current year." :LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this temperature is unknown.":LINE 

"This parameter is of low importance during 

the" :LINE "early stages of the plant, but it 

is very" :LINE :ATTR ( MAGENTA HIGH ) 

"important" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "during the 

late stages of the plant." ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE007 RULE010 RULE009 RULE014) 

RANGE :: (30 90) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

PLANTING-DATE 

------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the planting date) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Enter the planting 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

date) 

EXPECT :: (MARCH-15-22 MARCH-23-31 APRIL-1-6 APRIL-7- 

15 APRIL-16-30 MAY-1-10 MAY-11-21 MAY-22-31 

JUNE-1-11 ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE018 RULE019 RULE015 RULE016 

RULE0 1 7 ) 

HELP :: ("Select the period that is closest to the" 

:LINE "believed planting date. " :LINE "Select 

UNKNOWN" :ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) "only" :ATTR 

(WHITE HIGH) "if the date of planting is" 

: LINE "definitely unknown. " ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

SOIL-TEMP 

--------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the average low temperature of the 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the average low 

temperature of the SOIL during germination" 

:LINE "in" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) :ATTR (YELLOW 

HIGH ) "Fahrenheit." ) 

soil during germination ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("The soil temperature can be measured with" 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE001) 

:LINE "termometers at various levels in the 

soil. The" :LINE "values are often recorded 

continuously to" :LINE "provide more accurate 

data.":LINE "This parameter is not important 

115 
during the late" :LINE "stages of the plant, 

but is'' :ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) "critica1":ATTR 

(WHITE HIGH) "during the" :LINE "early stages 

of the plant." :LINE "Punch ENTER if this 

parameter is not available." ) 

RANGE :: (-10 80) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

SUN 

--- 

TRANSLATION :: (the average percentage of weekly 

sunny days after tassel development ) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Indicate the average 

percentage of weekly sunny days" :LINE 

"after tassel" :ATTR (WHITE H1GH):ATTR 

(YELLOW HIGH) "development. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: (SUNNY-DAYS) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE011 RULEOSO) 

HELP : : ("This value comes from the observations" 

:LINE "of the current year. " : LINE "This 

parameter is not important during the 

ear1y":LINE "stages of the plant, but it is" 

:ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) "critical" :ATTR (WHITE 

HIGH) "during" :LINE "the late stages of the 

plant ." :LINE "Each little square. is 

equivalent to 1OX." :LINE "Punch ENTER if this 

information is not" :LINE "available. I' ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: POSITIVE 

WATER-STORAGE 

----___----_- ------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the ground-water storage available 

for the crop at the beginning of the 

season ) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the available 

ground-water storage for the crop at the 

beginning of" :LINE "the season (in" :ATTR 

(WHITE HIGH) :ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "inches)." 

1 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE005 RULEOBO) 

HELP :: ("An" :ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) "inch of water" 

:ATTR (WHITE HIGH) "storage is the equivalent 

to" :LINE "an inch of rain over the entire 

crop." :LINE "The" :ATTR (MAGENTA HIGH) 

"beginning of the season" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH) 

"is the time when the" :LINE "corn seeds are 

planted." :LINE "Punch ENTER if the amount of 

ground-water" :LINE "storage is unknown. I' ) 

RANGE :: (0 30) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

116 
RULE001 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.a) 

If 1) 

2) 

Then 1) 

2) 

the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

the average low temperature of the soil during 

germination is less than 48, 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is 0, and 

it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

There was no germination due to cold temperatures 

after planting and before germination.. 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND SOIL-TEMP < 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = 0 AND PHYS-COMMENTS = 

48 1 

"There was no germination due to cold 

temperatures after planting and before 

germination. '' ) 

RULE002 

----_-- e - - e - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.c) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, and 

growth stage is less than 55, 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Cold temperatures may cause seed decay and fungle 

diseases., and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.81, 

2) the lowest temperature registered for the last 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES AND LOW-TEMP < 55) 

THEN :: (PHYS-COMMENTS "Cold temperatures may cause 

seed decay and fungle diseases." AND PHYSPRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.8 

117 
RULE003 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.d) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

in this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, and 

2) flooding of the crop, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is 0, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Plant death due to early flooding.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = 0 AND PHYS-COMMENTS = 

TWO-LEAVES) AND FLOOD ) 

"Plant death due to early flooding." ) 

RULE004 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3.c) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

4) the lowest temperature registered for the last 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

this consultation is not PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

this consultation is not EMERGENCE, and 

this consultation is not TWO-LEAVES, and 

growth stage is less than 33, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.91, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction of crop yield due to late frost.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE != PRE-EMERGENCE AND GROWTHSTAGE != EMERGENCE AND GROWTH-STAGE != 

TWO-LEAVES AND LOW-TEMP < 33 ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.9) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = " Reduction of crop yield 

due to late frost." ) 

RULE005 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

118 
DESCRIPTION :: (4.b) 

If 1) 1) 1) the ground-water storage available for the 

crop at the beginning of the season is less 

than 9, and 

2) 1) the location of the crop field in 

2) the location of the crop field in 

question is 1, or 

question is 2, or 

2) 1) the ground-water storage available for the 

crop at the beginning of the season is less 

than 12, and 

2) 1) the location of the crop field in 

2) the location of the crop field in 

question is 3, or 

question is 4, and 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.71, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

There is a high chance of future drought.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (((WATER-STORAGE < 9 AND (LOCATION = 1 OR 

LOCATION = 2)) OR ( WATER-STORAGE < 12 AND 

GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE ) 

(LOCATION = 3 OR LOCATION = 4) ) ) AND 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.7) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "There is a high chance of 

future drought. " ) 

RULE006 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (l.g, 3.b) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) 1) the highest temperature before pollination is 

greater than 100, or 

growth stage is greater than 85, or 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) the lowest temperature registered for the last 

3) the moisture of the soil is less than 35, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.61, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Production of kernel may have been seriously 

affected by extreme stress.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

119 
IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = POLLINATION AND (HIGH-TEMP > 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.6) 

100 OR LOW-TEMP > 85 OR SOIL-MOISTURE < 35 ) ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Production of kernel may 

have been seriously affected by extreme 

stress. " ) 

RULE007 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.f) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, or 

in this consultation is 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, or 

in this consultation is TASSEL, and 

greater than 100, or 

growth stage is greater than 85, or 

growth stage is greater than 85, and 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) 1) the highest temperature before pollination is 

2) the lowest temperature registered for the last 

3) the highest night-time temperature for the last 

3) the moisture of the soil is less than 35, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.81, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Serious loss in ear size, kernel size and count due 

to extreme stress.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TASSEL ) AND ( HIGH-TEMP > 100 

OR LOW-TEMP > 85 OR NIGHT-TEMP > 85 ) AND 

SOIL-MOISTURE < 35 ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Serious loss in ear size, 

kernel size and count due to extreme stress." 

1 

RULE009 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.j) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is FILL-STAGE, or 

120 
2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) the highest night-time temperature for the last 

growth stage is less than 85 but greater than or 

equal to 75, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.851, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction of crop yield due to night temperatures 

above 75 F.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

POLLINATION) AND NIGHT-TEMP BT 75 85 ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.85) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Reduction of crop yield 

due to night temperatures above 75 F." ) 

RULE010 

---_--- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.j) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is FILL-STAGE, or 

in this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) the highest night-time temperature for the last 

growth stage is greater than 85, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.71, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction of the crop yield due to night 

temperatures above 85 F.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

POLLINATION) AND NIGHT-TEMP > 85 ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.7) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Reduction of the crop 

yield due to night temperatures above 85 F." ) 

RULE01 1 

-----_- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.i) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation'is FILL-STAGE, or 

121 
2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is MATURITY, and 

2) the measure of certainty associated with the 

average percentage of weekly sunny days after tassel 

development is less than or equal to 30, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.81, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

There is a potential development of STALK and ROOT 

ROTS diseases due to cloudy weather.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

MATURITY) AND ( CERTAINTY SUN ) <= 30 ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = " There is a potential 

development of STALK and ROOT ROTS diseases 

due to cloudy weather." ) 

RULE0 12 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION .:: (1.k) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the measure of certainty associated with presence 

in this consultation is MATURITY, or 

in this consultation is HARVEST-STORAGE, and 

of fungi after maturity is greater than 10, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times [l 

minus [the measure of certainty associated with 

presence of fungi after maturity divided by loo]]], 

and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction of crop yield due to fungi after 

maturity.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = MATURITY OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * (1 - 

HARVEST-STORAGE) AND (CERTAINTY FUNGI) > 10 ) 

(CERTAINTY FUNGI / 100 ) ) ) AND PHYS-COMMENTS 

= "Reduction of crop yield due to fungi after 

maturity." ) 

RULE01 3 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

122 
ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.h) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is FILL-STAGE, or 

in this consultation is MATURITY, and 

2) the measure of certainty associated with the 

percentage of leave loss is greater than or equal to 

50 , 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.91, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction of crop yield due to high leave loss.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.9) 

MATURITY) AND ( CERTAINTY LEAVES ) >= 50 ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Reduction of crop yield 

due to high leave loss." ) 

RULE014 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.a) 

If 1) the highest temperature before pollination is less 

2) 1) the lowest temperature registered for the last 

than 75, and 

growth stage is less than 66, or 

growth stage is less than 66, and 

3) the moisture of the soil is greater than 70, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) the highest night-time temperature for the last 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.81, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Reduction in the crop yield due to extremely low 

stress.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (HIGH-TEMP < 75 AND (LOW-TEMP < 66 OR NIGHTTHEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

TEMP < 66) AND SOIL-MOISTURE > 70 ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Reduction in the crop 

yield due to extremely low stress." ) 

RULE0 15 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT *:: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

123 
ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.b., 2.d.IF PLANTING=APRIL-l6-30 AND 

ZONE=l THEN PROD=.97 ) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

2) 1) 1) the planting date is APRIL-16-30, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 1, or 

2) 1) the planting date is APRIL-7-15, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 2, or 

3) 1) the planting date is APRIL-1-6, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 3, or 

4) 1) the planting date is MARCH-23-31, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

is 4, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.971, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Planting was a little early. Early planting favors 

root structure of the plants.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

If 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND ((PLANTINGDATE = APRIL-16-30 AND LOCATION = 1 ) OR 

(PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-7-15 AND LOCATION 2 ) 

OR (PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-1-6 AND LOCATION = 

3) OR ( PLANTING-DATE = MARCH-23-31 AND 

LOCATION = 4 ) ) ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Planting was a little 

early. Early planting favors root structure of 

the plants. " ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.97) 

RULE016 

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.b, 2.d.IF PLANTING=APRIL-7-15 AND 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

ZONE=l THEN PROD=.9 ) 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) 1) 1) the planting date is APRIL-7-15, and 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 1, or 

2) 1) the planting date is APRIL-1-6, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is less than 3 but greater than or equal to 

1, or 

3) 1) the planting date is MARCH-23-31, and 

124 
2) the location of the crop field in question 

is less than 4 but greater than or equal to 

1, or 

4) the planting date is MARCH-15-22, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.91, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Planting was too early. Early planting favors root 

structure of the plants.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND ((PLANTINGDATE = APRIL-7-15 AND LOCATION = 1 ) OR 

(PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-1-6 AND LOCATION BT 1 3 

) OR (PLANTING-DATE = MARCH-23-31 AND LOCATION 

BT 1 4) OR PLANTING-DATE = MARCH-15-22 ) ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.9) AND 

PHYS-COMMENTS = "Planting was too early. Early 

planting favors root structure of the plants." 

1 

RULE017 

------- -__--_- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.b, 2.d.IF PLANTING=MAY-11-21 AND 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

ZONE=l THEN PROD=.9) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

2) 1) 1) the planting date is MAY-11-21, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 1, or 

2) 1) the planting date is MAY-1-10, and 

is 2, or 

3) 1) the planting date is APRIL-16-30, and 

4) 1) the planting date is APRIL-7-15, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 3, or 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

is 4, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.91, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Planting was too late. Chances of hot conditions 

during tasseling and silking.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND ((PLANTING125 
DATE = MAY-11-21 AND LOCATION = 1 ) OR 

(PLANTING-DATE = MAY-1-10 AND LOCATION = 2 ) 

OR (PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-16-30 AND LOCATION = 

3) OR ( PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-7-15 AND 

LOCATION = 4 ) ) ) 

(PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.9) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Planting was too late. 

Chances of hot conditions during tasseling and 

silking . " ) 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.b, 2.d.IF PLANTING=MAY-22-31 AND 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

2) 1) 1) the planting date is MAY-22-31, and 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

ZONE=l THEN PROD=.8) 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 1, or 

2) 1) the planting date is MAY-11-81, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 2, or 

3) 1) the planting date is MAY-1-10, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is 3, or 

4) 1) the planting date is APRIL-16-30, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

is 4, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.81, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Planting was too late. High chances of hot 

conditions during tasseling and silking., 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

(GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND ((PLANTINGDATE = MAY-22-31 AND LOCATION = 1 ) OR 

(PLANTING-DATE = MAY-11-21 AND LOCATION = 2 ) 

OR (PLANTING-DATE = MAY-1-10 AND LOCATION = 3) 

OR ( PLANTING-DATE = APRIL-16-30 AND LOCATION 

(PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

=4))) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Planting was too late. 

High chances of hot conditions during 

tasseling and silking. " ) 

:: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

126 
ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.b, Z.d.IF PLANTING=JUNE-l-ll AND 

ZONE=l THEN PROD=.72 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, and 

2) 1) 1) the planting date is JUNE-1-11, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is less than 5 but greater than or equal to 

1, or 

2) 1) the planting date is MAY-22-31, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is less than 5 but greater than or equal to 

2, or 

3) 1) the planting date is MAY-11-21, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

is less than 5 but greater than or equal to 

3, or 

4) 1) the planting date is MAY-1-10, and 

2) the location of the crop field in question 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

is 4, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.721, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Planting was too late. Very high chances of hot 

conditions during tasseling and silking.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE AND ((PLANTINGDATE = JUNE-1-11 AND LOCATION BT 1 5 ) OR 

(PLANTING-DATE = MAY-22-31 AND LOCATION BT 2 5 

) OR (PLANTING-DATE = MAY-11-21 AND LOCATION 

BT 3 5 ) OR (PLANTING-DATE = MAY-1-10 AND 

LOCATION = 4) ) ) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Planting was too late. 

Very high chances of hot conditions during 

tasseling and silking. " ) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.72) 

RULE020 

-----_- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (4.b) 

If 1) 1) 1) the ground-water storage available for the 

crop at the beginning of the season is less 

than 12 but greater than or equal to 9, and 

2) 1) the location of the crop field in 

2) the location of the crop field in 

question is 1, or 

question is 2, or 

2) 1) the ground-water storage available for the 

127 
crop at the beginning of the season is less 

than 18 but greater than or equal to 12, and 

2) 1) the location of the crop field in 

2) the location of the crop field in 

question is 3, or 

question is 4, and 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, 

from plant physiology information is [the production 

obtained from plant physiology information times 

0.851, and 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

There is a chance of future drought.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (((WATER-STORAGE BT 9 12 AND (LOCATION = 1 OR 

LOCATION = 2)) OR (WATER-STORAGE BT 12 18 AND 

GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE ) 

(LOCATION = 3 OR LOCATION = 4) ) ) AND 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (PHYS-PRODUCTION * 0.85) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "There is a chance of 

future drought. " ) 

RULE087 

------- 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.b) 

If 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EMERGENCE, and 

2) the highest temperature before pollination is less 

than 53, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is CO.9 times the 

production obtained from plant physiology 

information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Low temperatures may have affected normal seedling 

growth.. 

IF :: (GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE AND HIGH-TEMP < 53) 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * PHYS-PRODUCTION) 

AND PHYS-COMMENTS = "Low temperatures may have 

affected normal seedling growth." ) 

RULE090 

- - - -----_- - - - - 

SUBJECT :: PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.c) 

If 1) the measure of certainty associated with the 

128 
average percentage of weekly sunny days after tassel 

development is less than or equal to 30, and 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is SILK, and 

3) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

less than 10, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from plant physiology information is [1.1 times the 

production obtained from plant physiology 

information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from plant physiology data is 

Early silking decreases the effect of cloudy weather 

during kernel fill.. 

IF :: ((CERTAINTY SUN) <= 30 AND GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (PHYS-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * PHYS-PRODUCTION) AND 

SILK AND WEEKS < 10) 

PHYS-COMMENTS = "Early silking decreases the 

effect of cloudy weather during kernel fill." 

1 

129 
APPENDIX F. SUBFRAME GROUND 

IDENTIFIER : : "GROUND-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from ground 

information) 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION GROUND-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (COLOR FIRED HEIGHT LEAN RECOVEROVERNIGHT SILK-DRY SOIL-STICK WILT ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) " 

) 

GROUND INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW 

HIGH ) It f f f f f ffffffffff*f f 

PARMGROUP :: GROUND-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (GROUND-RULES) 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

GROUND-PARMS :: (COLOR FIRED HEIGHT LEAN RECOVERGROUND-RULES :: (RULE057*RULE058 RULE059 RULE060 

OVERNIGHT SILK-DRY SOIL-STICK WILT ) 

RULE061 RULE064 RULE065 RULE067 RULE068 

RULE069 RULE070 RULE071 RULE072 

RULE089) 

COLOR 

----- 

---eTRANSLATION :: (the color of the corn plants) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Select the color of the 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

corn plants) 

EXPECT :: (BRIGHT-GREEN DARK-GREEN YELLOW BROWN) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE061 RULE068 RULE069) 

HELP :: ("The color of the corn plants is the main 

color" :LINE "of the plant. It can be 

brightly green, dark" :LINE "green, yellow, 

or brown." :LINE "Select UNKNOWN if there is 

no information about":LINE "this variable. ") 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

FIRED 

----- ----- 

TRANSLATION :: (the lower leaves of plants are fired) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Are the lower leaves 

130 
of the plants fired ?" ) 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE065) 

HELP :: ("When the leaves of plants are fired, the" 

:LINE "surface of the leaves are extremely 

dry and are" :LINE "not green." :LINE "Select 

UNKNOWN if there is no information about" 

:LINE "it." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

HEIGHT 

------ 

e----- 

TRANSLATION :: (the height of the corn plants by July 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the height of 

the plant by July 4 (in feet)" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("Punch ENTER if the height of corn plants 

RANGE :: (0 12) 

4) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE064 RULEO'IO) 

was not" :LINE "measured." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

LEAN 

---- 

TRANSLATION :: (the outside row of corn plants is 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Is the outside row of 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

HELP :: (Select UNKNOWN if there is no information 

leaning or falling down ) 

corn plants leaning or falling down ?" ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE058) 

about :LINE it.) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RECOVER-OVERNIGHT 

----------_------ ----------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the corn plants recover overnight from 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "DO the corn plants 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE065) 

HELP :: ("When the plant wilts, it becomes less 

wilt) 

recover overnight from wilt ?" ) 

fresh," :LINE "bends, and starts to die." 

:LINE "Select UNKNOWN if there is no 

information about" :LINE "it." ) 

GHELP :: (RECOVERY) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

131 
SILK-DRY 

-------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the silks are dry) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Are the silks dry ?) 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE067) 

HELP :: (Select UNKNOWN if there is no information 

about :LINE it.) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

SOIL-STICK 

--_------- ---------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the soil is wet or so dry that it) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) The soil is wet or so 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: (sticks to your shoes is picked up by the 

wind) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULEOGO) 

USED-BY :: (RULE059) 

HELP :: (Select UNKNOWN if undecided) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

dry that it ...) 

WILT 

---- 

TRANSLATION :: (wilt in upper leaves is observed) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Is wilt observed in the 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE065) 

HELP :: ("When the plant wilts, it becomes less 

upper leaves ?) 

fresh," :LINE "bends, and start to die." 

:LINE 2 "Punch UNKNOWN if there is no 

information about" :LINE "it. " ) 

GHELP :: (UPWILT) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RULE057 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (11.) 

If 1) flooding of the crop, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not PRE-EMERGENCE, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not EMERGENCE, or 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

132 
this consultation is not TWO-LEAVES, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is [the production obtained 

from ground information times 0.81, and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is The area of 

flood damage is defined by the short of poorly 

developed plants.. 

IF :: (FLOOD AND (GROWTH-STAGE != PRE-EMERGENCE OR 

GROWTH-STAGE != EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE != 

TWO-LEAVES ) ) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "The area of flood 

damage is defined by the short or poorly 

developed plants. I' ) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (GROUND-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

RULE058 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (12.) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, 

or 

this consultation is TASSEL, or 

this consultation is SILK, or 

this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) the growth stages of' the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not HARVEST-STORAGE, and 

3) the outside row of corn plants is leaning or falling 

down, 

from ground information is [the production obtained 

from ground information times 0.91, and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Poor root 

structure of the plants.. 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

4) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

5) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TASSEL OR GROWTH-STAGE = SILK 

OR GROWTH-STAGE = POLLINATION ) AND GROWTHSTAGE != HARVEST-STORAGE AND LEAN .) 

0.9) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Poor root 

structure of the plants." ) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (GROUND-PRODUCTION * 

133 
RULE059 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (13.) 

If the soil is wet or so dry that it is sticks to your 

shoes, 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from 

ground data is Ample soil moisture allows reasonable 

growth.. 

IF :: (SOIL-STICK = sticks to your shoes) 

THEN :: (GROUND-COMMENTS = "Ample soil moisture allows 

reasonable 

growth. ) 

RULE060 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (14.) 

If the soil is wet or so dry that it is is picked up by 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

the wind, 

from ground information is [the production obtained 

from ground information times 0.81, and 

information obtained from ground data is There is 

insufficient moisture in the surface layer for plant 

growth.. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

IF :: (SOIL-STICK = is picked up by the wind) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (GROUND-PRODUCTION * 0.8) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "There is insufficient 

moisture in the surface layer for plant 

growth. " ) 

RULE06 1 

------- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (10.) 

If 1) the color of the corn plants is BROWN, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, or 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES, or 

4) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, and 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is not HARVEST-STORAGE, 

134 
Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Severe 

drought has occurred and the yield loss is 

irreversible., and 

from ground information is [0,8 times the production 

obtained from ground information]. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (COLOR = BROWN AND (GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE 

OR GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES ) AND GROWTH-STAGE != 

HARVEST-STORAGE ) 

occurred and the yield loss is irreversible," 

AND GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.8 * GROUNDPRODUCTION ) ) 

THEN :: (GROUND-COMMENTS = "Severe drought has 

RULE064 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3.) 

If 1) the height of the corn plants by July 4 is less than 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

3, and 

greater than 5, 

from ground information is [0.8 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Reduction 

of crop yield due to short growth.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (HEIGHT < 3 AND WEEKS > 5) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.75 * GROUNDPRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Reduction 

of crop yield due to short growth." ) 

RULE065 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (5. 6.) 

If 1) the lower leaves of plants are fired, and 

2) wilt in upper leaves is observed, and 

3) the corn plants recover overnight from wilt is not 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) khat the production obtained 

true , 

from ground information is [0.9 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Reduction 

135 
of crop yield due to wilt.. 

IF :: (FIRED AND WILT AND ! RECOVER-OVERNIGHT) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * GROUND-PRODUCTION) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Reduction of crop yield 

due to wilt." ) 

RULE067 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (7.) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is SILK, or 

this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) the silks are dry, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Dry silks 

reduce the chance of low crop yield.. 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = SILK OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * GROUNDPOLLINATION) AND SILK-DRY ) 

PRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Dry silks 

reduce the chance of low crop yield," ) 

RULE068 

-----_- - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (8.) 

If 1) the color of the corn plants is not BRIGHT-GREEN, 

and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, or 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES, or 

4) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, or 

5) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, 

or 

this consultation is TASSEL, 

6) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is 10.9 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

136 
2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is The 

coloring of the plants indicates reduction of crop 

yield.. 

IF :: (COLOR != BRIGHT-GREEN AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES OR GROWTHSTAGE = EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TASSEL ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "The 

coloring of the plants indicates reduction of 

crop yield. " ) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * GROUNDRULE069 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (9.) 

If 1) the color of the corn plants is YELLOW, and 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

2) flooding of the crop, 

from ground information is [0.9 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is The plants 

have been oxygen starved during flooding.. 

IF :: (COLOR = YELLOW AND FLOOD) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * GROUND-PRODUCTION) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "The plants have been 

oxygen starved during flooding." ) 

RULE070 

------- ------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (4.) 

If 1) the height of the corn plants by July 4 is greater 

than 4, and 

less than 5, 

from ground information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Increase of 

crop yield due to high growth.. 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the soil is 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (HEIGHT > 4 AND WEEKS < 5) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (1.25 * GROUND137 
PRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Increase 

of crop yield due to high growth." ) 

RULE071 

---__-- ------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.) 

If 1) 

or 

2) 

3) 

4) 

5) 

or 

6) 

or 

7) 

Then 1) 

2) 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

this consultation is FILL-STAGE, and 

soil is less than 9, 

the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than or equal to 8, or 

the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is SILK, and 

the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than or equal to 7, or 

the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TASSEL, and 

the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than or equal to 6, or 

the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, 

and 

the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 5, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 3, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES, and 

2) the nuialer of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than or equal to 1, 

it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Increase of 

crop yield due to early growth stage.. 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE AND WEEKS < 9) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = POLLINATION AND WEEKS <= 8 ) 

OR (GROWTH-STAGE = SILK AND WEEKS <= 7 ) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = TASSEL AND WEEKS <= 6) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES AND 

WEEKS < 5 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = 

138 
EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES AND WEEKS < 3 ) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES AND WEEKS 

<=1)) 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * GROUND-PRODUCTION) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Increase of crop yield 

due to early growth stage." ) 

RULE072 

------- 

SUBJECT :: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2.) 

If 1) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FILL-STAGE, and 

soil is greater than or equal to 14, or 

this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

soil is greater than or equal to 13, or 

this consultation is SILK, and 

soil is greater than or equal to 12, or 

this consultation is TASSEL, and 

soil is greater than or equal to 10, or 

this consultation is TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, 

and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is greater than or equal to 8, or 

6) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is greater than or equal to 6, or 

7) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is greater than or equal to 4, or 

8) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is greater than or equal to 3, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is [0.9 times the 

production obtained from ground information], 

and 

information obtained from ground data is Reduction 

of crop yield due to late growth stage.. 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

3) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

4) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

5) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

139 
IF :: 

THEN : : 

RULE089 

- - - - - ------- - - 

SUBJECT 

((GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE AND WEEKS >= 14) 

OR (GROWTH-STAGE = POLLINATION AND WEEKS >= 

13 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = SILK AND WEEKS >= 12 

) OR (GROWTH-STAGE TASSEL AND WEEKS >= 10) 

OR (GROWTH-STAGE = TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES 

AND WEEKS >= 8 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = 

EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES AND WEEKS >= 6 ) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES AND WEEKS 

>= 4 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES AND 

(GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * GROUNDWEEKS >= 3 ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Reduction 

of crop yield due to late growth stage." ) 

:: GROUND-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (11.) 

If 1) flooding of the crop, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants.included in 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, or 

this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from ground information is [0.4 times the production 

obtained from ground information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is Early flood 

caused great damage to the crop.. 

IF :: (FLOOD AND (GROWTH-STAGE = PRE-EMERGENCE OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TWO-LEAVES ) ) 

PRODUCTION) AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "Early 

flood caused great damage to the crop.") 

THEN :: (GROUND-PRODUCTION = (0.4 * GROUND140 
APPENDIX G. SUBFRAME MODEL 

IDENTIFIER : : "MODEL-" 

TRANSLATION :: (crop yield forecast from model 

PARENTS :: (CROP-YIELD-FORECAST) 

GOALS :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION MODEL-COMMENTS) 

INITIALDATA :: (DEW-POINT ETP EARLY-STRESS MODERATEinformation) 

STRESS-EXTEND RAIN-FREQ SOIL-MOISTURETOP SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW SOIL-MOISTURELOWER SUBSOIL-MOISTURE TEMPERATURE ) 

PROMPTEVER :: (:LINE 7 :ATTR (CYAN HIGH) " 

MODEL INFORMATION" :LINE :ATTR (YELLOW 

HIGH ) " * ** * * * ***Sf ** * * * * " ) 

PARMGROUP :: MODEL-PARMS 

RULEGROUPS :: (MODEL-RULES) 

MODEL-PARMS :: (DEW-POINT EARLY-STRESS ETP MODERATEANTECEDENT :: YES 

STRESS-EXTEND RAIN-FREQ SOIL-MOISTURELOWER SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW SOIL-MOISTURETOP SUBSOIL-MOISTURE TEMPERATURE ) 

MODEL-RULES :: (RULE033 RULE034 RULE035 RULE036 RULE037 

RULE038 RULE039 RULE040 RULE041 RULE042 

RULE043 RULE045 RULE046 RULE047 RULE088) 

DEW-POINT 

--------- - - - - - - - - - 

TRANSLATION :: (the dew point during the periods from 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the dew point 

late vegetative to soft dough ) 

during the periods from late vegetative to 

soft dough in Fahrenheit" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("Dew point is the temperature at which small" 

:LINE "drops of moisture condense on the 

surface" :LINE "of the plant. The dew point is 

also used as a" :LINE "measure of the actual 

moisture the air can" :LINE "contain. If the 

dew point is large, there is" :LINE "a large 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE036) 

141 
amount of moisture in the air." :LINE "Punch 

ENTER if this parameter is not available." 1 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (40 99) 

EARLY-STRESS 

------------ 

TRANSLATION :: (moderate stress occured during early 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Does moderate stress 

have occured since the early growth of the 

plants ?" ) 

growth) . 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

HELP :: ("Select YES if moderate stress has occured 

since" :LINE "the emergence of the plants. " 

:LINE "Stress is any factor that impacts the" 

:LINE "photosynthetic efficiency of the 

plant.":LINE "An example of Moderate stress is 

soil moisture" :LINE "around 40 percent and 

temperature around 80" : LINE "percent. " : LINE 

"Select UNKNOWN if no records are available." 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE088) 

1 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

ETP 

--- 

TRANSLATION :: (ETP) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the maximum 

value of ETP for two or more continuous 

days " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE036 RULE038) 

HELP :: ("ETP: the demand of water on the plant by 

the" :LINE "atmosphere in terms of solar heat, 

wind," :LINE "humidity, etc." :LINE 2 "Punch 

ENTER if there is no information about" :LINE 

"ETP. " ) 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

MODERATE-STRESS-EXTEND 

...................... ...................... TRANSLATION :: (the periods of moderate stress are 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Are the periods of 

interrupted by light showers ) 

moderate stress interrupted by light showers 

?" ) 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE043) 

HELP :: ("An example of moderate stress is soil 

moisture" :LINE "arround 40 and the 

142 
temperature arround 80" :LINE "degrees. " : LINE 

"Select UNKNOWN if:" :LINE "1) There is the 

information is not available." :LINE "2) There 

has not been moderate stress." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RAIN-FREQ 

--------- 

TRANSLATION :: (rain occurs at regular intervals) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Does rain occur at 

TYPE :: YES/NO 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE046 RULE047 RULE088) 

HELP :: ("Select UNKNOWN if there is no information 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

regular intervals ?) 

about" :LINE "rain events. " ) 

SOIL-MOISTURE-LOWER 

------------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the soil moisture in the lower layer) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the value of 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

soil moisture in the lower layer" ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE034) __ - HELP :: ("The lower layer of soil is often refered as 

the" :LINE "soil between the plow layer and 

the roots of the" :LINE "plant. It :LINE "Soil 

moisture can be measured in various ways." 

:LINE "Gravimetric, where the moisture is 

determined by" :LINE "weighting a sample 

before and after drying. " :LINE "Newton 

Detection, where a source of nuclear" :LINE 

"radiation is used. " :LINE "Enter the soil 

moisture in percentage of the": LINE "soil 

capacity. The soil capacity is the amount of 

water": LINE "in the soil when the soil is 

saturated" :LINE "Punch ENTER if this 

parameter is not available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

GHELP :: (SOIL) 

SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW 

------------_----- ------------------ 

TRANSLATION :: (the soil moisture in the plow layer) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the value of 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("The plow layer is often refered as the 

soil moisture in the plow layer" ) 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE034 RULE035) 

soil" :LINE "under the top soil but not deeper 

143 
than one feet." :LINE "Soil moisture can be 

measured in various ways." :LINE "Gravimetric, 

where the moisture is determined by" :LINE 

"weighting a sample before and after drying." 

:LINE "Newton Detection, where a source of 

nuclear" :LINE "radiation is used. This method 

is less accurate":LINE "than the Gravimetric 

near the surface." :LINE "Enter the soil 

moisture in percentage of the": LINE "soil 

capacity. The soil capacity is the amount of 

water": LINE "in the soil when the soil is 

saturated" :LINE "Punch ENTER if this 

parameter is not available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

GHELP :: (SOIL) 

SOIL-MOISTURE-TOP 

----------------- ---------_------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the moisture in the top soil layer) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the value of 

moisture in the top soil layer during the 

two first" :LINE "weeks" :ATTR (WHITE HIGH ) 

:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "after" :ATTR (WHITE 

HIGH) :ATTR (YELLOW HIGH ) "planting" ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

HELP :: ("The top soil is often refered as the soil 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE033) 

on the" :LINE "surface or fresh toF soil." 

:LINE "Soil moisture can be measured in 

various ways." :LINE "Gravimetric, where the 

moisture is determined by" :LINE "weighting a 

sample before and after drying." :LINE "Newton 

Detection, where a source of nuclear" :LINE 

"radiation is used. This method is less 

accurate":LINE "than the Gravimetric near the 

surface. " :LINE "Enter the soil moisture in 

percentage of the": LINE "soil capacity. The 

soil capacity is the amount of water": LINE 

"in the soil when the soil is saturated" :LINE 

"Punch ENTER if this parameter is not 

available. " ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

GPROMPT :: "SOIL" 

SUBSOIL-MOISTURE 

---------------- --_------------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the subsoil moisture) 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) Enter the value of 

subsoil moisture) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

144 
If 

EXPECT :: NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE047 RULE040) 

HELP :: ("The subsoil is often refered as the soil 

below" :LINE "the root of the corn plant." 

:LINE "Soil moisture can be measured in 

various ways." :LINE "Gravimetric, where the 

moisture is determined by" :LINE "weighting a 

sample before and after drying." :LINE "Newton 

Detection, where a source of nuc1ear":LINE 

"radiation is used." :LINE "Enter the subsoil 

moisture in percentage of the": LINE "subsoil 

capacity. The subsoil capacity is the amount 

of water": LINE "in the subsoil when the 

subsoil is saturated" :LINE "Punch ENTER if 

this parameter is not available." ) 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

RANGE :: (0 100) 

GHELP :: (SOIL) 

TEMPERATURE 

---------__ ----------- 

TRANSLATION :: (the highest temperature during the 

PROMPT :: (:ATTR (YELLOW HIGH) "Enter the highest 

growing periods) 

temperature in Fahrenheit during the growing 

periods. " ) 

TYPE :: SINGLEVALUED 

EXPECT :: POSITIVE-NUMBER 

ANTECEDENT-IN :: (RULE041 RULE045 RULE046) 

USED-BY :: (RULE042) 

HELP :: (Punch ENTER if the highest temperature is 

CERTAINTY-FACTOR-RANGE :: UNKNOWN 

:LINE unknown.) 

RANGE :: (50 140) 

RULE033 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (2,) 

1) the moisture in the top soil layer is less than 30, 

and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

.3) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, 

145 
Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [0.9 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Good 

germination may have been impacted by low moisture 

in the top soil.. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE-TOP < 30 AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

PRE-EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES ) ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Good germination may 

have been impacted by low moisture in the top 

soil. " ) 

RULE034 

_------ ------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (1.) 

If 1) the soil moisture in the lower layer is less than 

30, or 

2) the soil moisture in the plow layer is less than 30, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is 10.9 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Crop health 

from mid-vegetative to harvest may have been 

affected by low moisture in the lower layer of 

soil.. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE-LOWER < 30 OR SOIL-MOISTUREPLOW < 30) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Crop health from midvegetative to harvest may have been affected 

by low moisture in the lower layer of soil." ) 

RULE035 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (10,) 

If 1) the soil moisture in the plow layer is greater than 

85, and 

this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, 

from model information is 10.8 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

146 
information obtained from model data is Planting 

should have been delayed until the layer dries to 

less than 75 percent.. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW > 85 AND GROWTH-STAGE = 

PRE-EMERGENCE) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Planting should have 

been delayed until the layer dries to less 

than 75 percent." ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.8 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

RULE036 

--_---- ------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (7.) 

If 1) the dew point during the periods from late 

vegetative to soft dough is greater than 70, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, or 

in this consultation is 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, or 

in this consultation is TASSEL, or 

in this consultation is SILK, or 

in this consultation is POLLINATION, or 

in this consultation is FILL-STAGE, and 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

4) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

5) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

6) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

3) ETP is greater than 10, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is the results 

of daytime stress will be amplified and reduction of 

crop yield due to high dew point., and 

from model information is [0.9 times the production 

obtained from model information]. 

2) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (DEW-POINT > 70 AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TASSEL OR GROWTH-STAGE = SILK OR GROWTH-STAGE 

= POLLINATION OR GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE ) 

AND ETP > 10 ) 

stress will be amplified and reduction of crop 

yield due to high dew point." AND MODELTHEN :: (MODEL-COMMENTS = "the results of daytime 

PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) ) 

147 
RULE0 37 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (5.) 

If 1) 

or 

2) 

or 

3) 

or 

4) 

or 

5) 

or 

6) 

or 

7) 

or 

8) 

or 

9) 

or 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

in this consultation is MATURITY, and 

soil is less than 16, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is HARVESTSTORAGE, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 18, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

in this consultation is FILL-STAGE, and 

soil is less than 14, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is POLLINATION, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 10, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

in this consultation is SILK, and 

soil is less than 9, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

in this consultation is TASSEL, and 

soil is less than 8, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, and 

soil is less than 7, 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

in this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, and 

soil is less than 5, 

1) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

this consultation is FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES, and 

2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 3, 

10) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, and 

148 
2) the number of weeks after emergence from the 

soil is less than 1, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is CO.9 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from ground data is reduction 

of crop yield due to accelerated growth rate.. 

IF :: ((GROWTH-STAGE = MATURITY AND WEEKS < 16) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = HARVEST-STORAGE AND WEEKS < 18 

) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE AND WEEKS < 14 

) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = POLLINATION AND WEEKS < 

10 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = SILK AND WEEKS < 9) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = TASSEL AND WEEKS < 8 ) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES AND 

WEEKS < 7 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = 

EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES AND WEEKS < 5 ) OR 

(GROWTH-STAGE = FOUR-TO-SIX-LEAVES AND WEEKS < 

3 ) OR (GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES AND WEEKS < 

1)) 

AND GROUND-COMMENTS = "reduction of crop yield 

due to accelerated growth rate." ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

RULE038 

--_---- ------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (6.) 

If 1) ETP is greater than or equal to 10, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES, or 

in this consultation is 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES, or 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is EO.9 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is reduction 

of crop yield due to high ETP.. 

IF :: (ETP >= 10 AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

EIGHT-TO-TEN-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE = 

TWELVE-TO-FOURTEEN-LEAVES ) ) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "reduction of crop yield 

due to high ETP." ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

149 
RULE039 

_------ ------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (4.) 

If 1) the moisture of the soil is greater than or equal to 

95, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is PRE-EMERGENCE, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is EMERGENCE, or 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is TWO-LEAVES, or 

4) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is FOURTO-SIX-LEAVES, 

from model information is 10.9 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Reduction of 

crop yield due to excessive soil moisture during 

early growth.. 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE >= 95 AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

PRE-EMERGENCE OR GROWTH-STAGE = EMERGENCE OR 

GROWTH-STAGE = TWO-LEAVES OR GROWTH-STAGE '= 

FOURTO-SIX-LEAVES ) ) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Reduction of crop yield 

due to excessive soil moisture during early 

growth. " ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.9 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

RULE040 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (3.) 

If 1) the subsoil moisture is less than 35, and 

2) 1) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is POLLINATION, or 

2) the growth stages of the corn plants included 

in this consultation is SILK, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is 10.8 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is reduction 

of crop yield due to low subsoil moisture during 

reproduction.. 

IF :: (SUBSOIL-MOISTURE < 35 AND (GROWTH-STAGE = 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.8 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

POLLINATION OR GROWTH-STAGE = SILK ) ) 

150 
AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "reduction of crop yield 

due to low subsoil moisture during 

reproduction. '' ) 

RULE04 1 

----_-- - - - e - - - 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (8.) 

If 1) the moisture of the soil is greater than or equal to 

2) 1) the highest temperature during the growing 

70, and 

periods is less than 80, 

or 

less than 60, 

2) the highest temperature before pollination is 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is The chances 

for disease formations are increased significantly 

due to very low stress., and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [0.8 times the production 

obtained from model information]. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE >= 70 AND (TEMPERATURE < 80 OR 

HIGH-TEMP < 60)) 

formations are increased significantly due to 

very low stress." AND MODEL-PRODUCTION = (0.8 

THEN :: (MODEL-COMMENTS = "The chances for disease 

* MODEL-PRODUCTION) ) 

RULE042 

_------ ------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

DESCRIPTION :: (9.) 

If 1) the moisture of the soil is less than 70 but greater 

than or equal to 

50, and 

is less than 90 but greater t,han or equal to 60, and 

this consultation is FILL-STAGE, 

2) the highest temperature during the growing periods 

3) the growth stages of the corn plants included in 

Then it is definite (100%) that the additional information 

obtained from model data is Moderate stress enhances the 

quality of the corn. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE BT 50 70 AND TEMPERATURE BT 60 

90 AND 

GROWTH-STAGE = FILL-STAGE ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-COMMENTS = "Moderate stress enhances 

the quality of the corntt ) 

151 
RULE046 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (14.) 

If 1) the moisture of the soi is less than 

greater than or equal to 30, and 

0 but 

2) the highest temperature during the growing periods 

3) the highest temperature before pollination is less 

4) rain occurs at regular intervals, 

is less than 95 but greater than or equal to 75, and 

than 85 but greater than or equal to 65, and 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Increase of 

crop yield due to light to moderate stress 

throughout the lifetime of the crop.. 

IF :: (SOIL-MOISTURE BT 30 50 AND TEMPERATURE BT 75 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

95 AND HIGH-TEMP BT 65 85 AND RAIN-FREQ ) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Increase of crop yield 

due to light to moderate stress throughout the 

lifetime of the crop." ) 

RULE047 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (16.) 

If 1) rain occurs at regular intervals, and 

2) the subsoil moisture is less than 30, 

Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Increase of 

crop yield due to regular rain.. 

If 

IF :: (RAIN-FREQ AND SUBSOIL-MOISTURE < 30) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Increase of crop yield 

due to regular rain." ) 

RULE088 

------- 

SUBJECT :: MODEL-RULES 

ANTECEDENT :: YES 

DESCRIPTION :: (15.) 

1) moderate stress occured during early growth, and 

2) rain occurs at regular intervals, 

153 
Then 1) it is definite (100%) that the production obtained 

from model information is [1.1 times the production 

obtained from model information], and 

2) it is definite (100%) that the additional 

information obtained from model data is Early stress 

made the corn plants very resistant to stress during 

reproduction.. 

IF :: (EARLY-STRESS AND RAIN-FREQ) 

THEN :: (MODEL-PRODUCTION = (1.1 * MODEL-PRODUCTION) 

AND MODEL-COMMENTS = "Early stress made the 

corn plants very resistant to stress during 

reproduction. " ) 

154 
APPENDIX H. GLOSSARY 

AVHRR : 

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. This is a scanning 

satellite sensor flying on the National Oceanographic and 

Atmospheric Administration which has observing capabilities 

in the visible, near infrared and far infrared portion of 

the electromagnetic spectrum. It is also a parameter used in 

the program to store the value of the AVHRR observation. 

Capacity : 

Refers to the water content of the soil when it is 

saturated. 

CENTERED : 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the green area 

observed from satellite observation is an isolated area. 

COLOR : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the color of the 

leaves of the corn plants. 

CROP : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the qualitative 

value of the crop yield. 

DEW-POINT: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

dew point observation. 

Dew point: 

The temperature at which the air moisture condense on the 

surface of the plant leaves. 

Ear : 

The part of the corn plant that contains the kernels. 

Ear Fill : 

The process where the kernels of corn fill the ear following 

the tasseling and pollination period. Good fill results in 

high corn yields. 

EARLY-STRESS: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the corn plants 

experienced moderate stress during the early growth periods. 

ET: 

The actual transpiration of the plant or rate of water used 

by the plant. 

155 
ETP : 

The water demand on the plant by the atmosphere. It is also 

a parameter used in the program to store the value of the 

ETP observation. 

FIRED: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the lower 

leaves of the plants are fired. 

FLOOD : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the event of 

flooding occurrence. 

FOREST : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the percentage of 

the area that looks like forest in the satellite 

observations. 

Frame : 

A structure that provides for the collection of several 

types of data about the knowledge base. 

FUNGI : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the fungi degree 

observed in the corn. 

Fungi : 

Any of a major group of saprophytic and parasitic lower 

plants that lack chlorophyll and includes molds and rusts. 

Fungi can be observed in corn plants as yellowish 

discolorations. 

GREEN-RED: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

greedred reflectance. 

Green/Red Channel: 

Refers to the response of sensor channel on various sensing 

systems in electromagnetic terms. 

GREEN-RED-PREVIOUS: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

green/red reflectance of the previous consultation. 

Greenness Count: 

The index relating the visible to infrared reflectance 

ratioes that is used to determine how green an agricultural 

field or plant or a city of forest is. The city or forest 

counts form the end points to calibrate counts over 

agricultural regions. 

156 
GROUND-COMMENTS: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores additional 

commentaries about the expected crop yield obtained in the 

subframe GROUND. 

GROUND-PRODUCTION: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the expected crop 

yield obtained in the subframe GROUND. 

GROWTH-STAGE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the growth stages 

of the corn plant that are included in the consultation. 

HEIGHT : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the height of the 

plants by July 4, in inches. 

HIGH-TEMP: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

highest temperature observed before pollination. 

INITIAL : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the percentage of 

the optimum production of the crop field to be used as the 

preliminary value for the corn production. 

Kernel : 

The grains of corn. 

L/S : 

Shorthand for LandSat. It is also a parameter used in the 

program to store the value of the L/S greenness observation. 

LandSat: 

Satellite operated by the EOSAT company which provides 

visible, near infrared and far infrared portions of the 

electromagnetic spectrum. 

LEAN : 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the outside row 

of corn plants is leaning or falling down. 

LEAVES : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the percentage of 

leave loss of the plants. 

LOCATION : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the location of 

the crop field. 

LOW-TEMP: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the lowest 

157 
temperature observed for the crop. 

MAXIMUM : 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the actual 

greenness observation is the maximum for the year in that 

particular crop field. 

MODEL-COMMENTS: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores additional 

comments about the expected crop yield obtained in the 

subframe COMMENTS. 

MODEL-PRODUCTION: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the expected crop 

yield obtained in the subframe MODEL. 

MODERATE-STRESS-EXTEND: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the plants 

experienced periods of moderate stress interrupted by light 

showers. 

Near Infrared: 

Indicates that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that 

is just beyond that used by human vision. 

NIGHT-TEMP: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the highest night 

time temperature observed for the crop. 

NIR: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

near infrared reflectance observation. 

Parameter: 

An individual piece of knowledge that keeps information 

about certain factor. 

PHYS-COMMENTS: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores additional 

comments about the expected crop yield obtained in the 

subframe PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY. 

PHYS-PRODUCTION: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the expected crop 

yield obtained in the subframe PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY. 

PLANTING-DATE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the planting date 

of the crop. 

158 
POND-NIR: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

near infrared reflectance observation around small ponds in 

the area. 

POND-VIR: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

visible infrared reflectance observation around small ponds 

in the area. 

PRODUCTION: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the combination 

of the expected crop yield obtained in each subframe. 

Property: 

Refers to a structure that contains information that 

describe frames, parameters or rules. 

RAIN-FREQ: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not rain occurred 

with regular frequency. 

RECOVER-OVERNIGHT: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the corn plants 

recover overnight from wilt. 

Reflectance: 

Refers to the reflectance of sunlight from earth surface 

objects in those parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. 

Root Rots: 

A type of corn disease that has a higher potential of 

occurrence when there is low photosinthesis. 

Rule: 

Element of a knowledge base that express relationship 

between parameters and conclusions about them. 

SATELLITE-COMMENTS: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores additional 

comments about the expected crop yield obtained in the 

subframe SATELLITE. 

SATELLITE-PRODUCTION: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the expected crop 

yield obtained in the subframe SATELLITE. 

Significant Stress: 

The stress that has impact on the vegetation appearance or 

plant health. 

159 
Silk: 

The part of the corn plant that grows on the tip of the ear. 

This part is directly involved in the pollination process. 

SILK-DRY: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the silks of 

the plants are dry. 

SOIL-MOISTURE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the value of the 

soil moisture. 

SOIL-MOISTURE-LOWER: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the moisture 

content of the lower layer of soil. 

SOIL-MOISTURE-PLOW: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the moisture 

content of the plow layer of soil. 

SOIL-MOISTURE-TOP: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the moisture 

content of the upper layer of soil. 

SOIL-STICK: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the options "the soil sticks to your shoes" or "the soil can 

be picked by the wind". 

SOIL-TEMP: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the average soil 

temperature during germination. 

Stalk: 

A type of corn disease that has a higher potential of 

occurrence when there is low photosinthesis. 

Stress: 

The plant stress measured as a function of the ratio ET/ETP. 

A plant that cannot meet the demand of the atmosphere by 

drawing moisture in the soil will go under stress and may 

change the appearance from green to yellow or brown as the 

water leaves its leaf cells. 

SUBSOIL-MOISTURE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the moisture 

content of the subsoil. 

SUN : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the weekly 

average percentage of sunny days after tassel development. 

160 
Tassel: 

The part of the corn plant located in the crest of the plant 

and has a yellowish color. This part of the plant contains 

the polen and is directly involved in the reproduction 

process. 

TEMPERATURE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the highest 

temperature observed for the crop. 

Visible Infrared: 

Indicates that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that 

is used by human vision. 

WATER-STORAGE: 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the ground water 

storage available for the crop at the beginning of the 

season. 

WEEKS : 

A parameter used in the program. It stores the number of 

weeks after emergence of the soil. 

WILT: 

A parameter used in the program. It provides the client with 

the yes/no option indicating whether or not the plants 

wilt. 

Wilt: 

Referred to the process of the plants when the leaves become 

less fresh and start to die. Wilt is frequently due to 

stress and high temperatures. 

161