Assessing the Mechanisms of Crop Loss from Air Pollutants with Process Models

Abstract

The modeling of plant physiological processes with digital computers is entering its third decade. Continuing advances in computing technology have greatly reduced the cost of simulation and have greatly expanded the scope of problems that may be investigated. It also appears that these advances are continuing at an accelerating rate with the development and use of supercomputers, parallel processors, and optically based machines. These are exciting and challenging opportunities that require some vision as to what can be realistically undertaken in the near term and be prepared for in the longer term. This paper considers the advantages and disadvantages of process modeling of physiological responses of crops to air pollutants and considers the role of process modeling in a crop loss assessment program such as could have been developed in the National Crop Loss Assessment Network (NCLAN) in the United States. A brief review of plant models is given, and a concept of how process models can contribute to crop loss assessment on a site-specific and regional basis is outlined. As such the paper has a more forward-looking focus and less of a retrospective analysis of air pollutant effects modeling.