Enhancing APSIM to simulate excessive moisture effects on root growth

We would like to highlight a new paper in which some significant improvements to the simulation of root depth are detailed.  These improvements have been reviewed and accepted as part of APSIM version 7.10.

In summary, the highlights are as follows:

• A new excessive moisture stress factor was developed and added into APSIM-soybean.
• The addition of this factor was more important in simulating root growth than the exact parameterization.
• Vertical root growth is inhibited when volumetric soil moisture approaches 3% below saturation.
• Root depth and length distributions were affected by the depth to the water table.

The paper by Ebrahimi-Mollabashi et al can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2019.03.014