Linking to external data

As you would expect, simulating all aspects of a farming system at the level of detail required for all management decisions is a large task. CLEM requires a range of data in order to perform the simulation. Sometimes this data (such as crop yields) may be available from field measurements or expert opinion, but it is more likely that it will also come from another simulation model. Rather than replicating the enormous effort that has gone into a range of other specific models (crop and pasture models), CLEM uses the output of these models to provide the information needed to perform simulations.

A number of components are provided that allow CLEM to read data files from field measurements or the output of other simulation models and they relate to the type and format of the data provided. At present these include crop, forage, and native pasture production (see Data readers). These components are added to the simulation tree and the location of the data file is specified and linked to various activities using the names of columns in the data files.

See next section - Companion components