The Agricultural Meteorology Group is engaged in research that helps enhance or improve crop production under variable weather conditions. We aim to develop a system to predict the crop damages caused by extreme temperatures and diseases. We also attempt to determine the impacts of global environmental changes such as global warming on crop production and to develop adaptation measures under climate change.
To improve and expand the spatial and temporal prediction of the development of rice blast diseases, we have combined the BLASTAM, a model to estimate likelihood of rice blast breakouts based on the meteorological data, with a 1km fine-resolution weather data created from the AMeDAS data. We have confirmed that the combined system successfully reproduces the actual occurrences of the disease. We have also developed a numerical model to predict distribution of heading stage anomaly of rice across the Tohoku region, based on the phenology model and fine-resolution weather data. For soybean, we have determined parameters for the flowering time prediction model for the major and promising cultivars in the Tohoku region.
Currently, we are developing a decision-support system to transfer or translate fine-resolution weather data into the information useful for pest control, collaborating with the Plant Protection Group, using information and communications technologies (ICTs). We are also developing a tool to aid crop management practices using crop simulation models. To develop the technology to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases and the uptake and/or accumulation of radioactive substances, we study the mechanisms of methane emission from paddy fields and dynamics of cesium affected by various crop management practices.
Group Leader
Group Members
- Toshikazu KAWAKATA
- Mari HATONO
- Sayuri OKUBO
- Miyuki NAKAJIMA
- Etsushi KUMAGAI
- Mari NAMIKAWA
- Takayuki YABIKU
- Sayuri OHKUBO
