farming.software - Resource Optimization in Agriculture
Efficient farming decisions: Agriculture provides us with safe and sufficient food but it has never before been subject to such rapid environmental and socio-economic changes. The dynamics of these changes and threats call for new approaches and innovative technologies to efficiently support decision-makers in the agricultural sector. farming.software is a software platform that helps its users recognise and optimise the interacting impacts of management practices and can be used with any current Internet browser. farming.software takes no decisions from its users. Instead it organises the multitude of data available from various sources to provide a sound basis for fast and efficient decision making in farming systems.
farming.software integrates data from a wide range of sources to enable accurate simulation of farming systems. Default values of data required for simulation analyses are provided by farming.software. These data are either pre-defined in farming.software or are obtained in real time from available databases and sensors. Users can choose the default values or decide to enter their own data.
With farming.software, users can modify the data according to their needs and requirements. This feature allows farming.software to efficiently support both beginners and experts in their decision-making process.
Data platform
farming.software integrates data from a wide range of sources to enable the most accurate simulations possible. These are either already predefined in farming.software or are obtained in real time from current databases and from sensors. farming.software is characterized by the fact that all data can be defined on request of the user. In this way, farming.software can efficiently support both newcomers and experts in their work.
Administration
farming.software easily manages and visualizes all data relevant to the user. Only the data that is really necessary for optimal support of the user`s work is displayed. The intuitive user interface allows for quick work and provides needed data at the right time.
Interactive planning
farming.software supports the actors in the interactive planning and simulation of agricultural scenarios, taking into account influencing factors, dependencies and interactions such as weather, climate, soil conditions, growth models, fertilization and crop rotation.
Simulations
farming.software enables the implementation of individual simulations and forecasts. For example, the yield simulation for important crops can be performed. By comparing it with current satellite and sensor data during the season, model predictions can be continually refined and a significant improvement in predictive accuracy can be achieved.
Compliance
farming.software shows users the impact of interventions or unforeseen events (such as weather or pest risks) on individual crops, the entire crop plan, the farm or even the entire municipality.
Risk management
farming.software shows users the impact of interventions or unforeseen events (such as weather or pest risks) on individual crops, the entire crop plan or farm.
LOOK INSIDE
Forecasting crop harvest date and yield
Crop yield formation is the result of complex interactions between weather conditions, soil properties, plant genetic characteristics, and management practices. farming.software uses process-based crop simulation models that take these yield formation processes into account.
By assimilating data derived from satellites and sensors during the growing season, the crop model predictions can be continuously refined and a significant improvement in prediction accuracy can be achieved.
For instance, remote sensing technologies are used to perform satellite-based estimation of crop leaf area development and biomass production. The farming.software yield forecasting system can be used at field, farm and regional level.
CENTRALIZED BUILDING ADMINISTRATION
With ECOCITIES all relevant building data is managed in a structured and centralized way. A map based view of all managed buildings allows a quick overview and a simple selection of any building. The web-based system allows decentralized access to this data based on a clearly defined access control model.
DEFINITION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES
ECOCITIES allows decision makers to get a clear overview of the unmanageable number of options and (inter-)dependencies related to economic, technical and environmental issues. It enables them to simulate different strategies and learn about the (long term) consequences of their decisions.
INTERACTIVE ENERGY OPTIMIZATION
ECOCITIES automatically identifies energy efficiency measures capable to reach your desired target values in terms of overall budget constraints, CO2 emission targets, and energy cost reduction goals. The interactive user interface enables all relevant stakeholders (politics, financial, building experts, etc.) to identify the most suitable refurbishment strategy based on their building group specific goals. For each strategy ECOCITIES provides payback time and detailed advice on measures which have to be implemented to reach the set energy efficiency goals.
ENERGY ACCOUNTING
ECOCITIES assesses the energy consumption of single buildings and the entire building group based on actual meter data. This enables the easy monitoring of energy consumption, and the retrospective evaluation of implemented energy efficiency measures (calculated vs. real energy savings). Meter data is assessed either automatically via interfaces from existing systems or manually via the web interface. The decentralized manual input reduces the overall effort by distributing the assessment to people which live or work in the buildings.
COMPLIANCE
ECOCITIES provides a comprehensive decision support system for the definition of energy efficient building groups. The sets of measures are tailored to your specific building stock and associated constraints (e.g., heritage protection). For each set of optimal measures, ECOCITIES calculates the associated investment costs, break even, building-specific measures, reduced energy costs, CO2 emission reduction, and overall heating/primary energy demand of your entire building group.
CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN ENERGY GOALS
ECOCITIES bridges the gap between global action plans such as EU 20-20-20 and their actual implementation at the level of building groups with their different requirements and contexts. Based on the set energy efficiency goals (CO2 emission reduction, budget constraints and targeted share of renewable energy) ECOCITIES automatically identifies strategies to reach the targets for your specific building group.
It provides you with detailed suggestions in the field of thermal refurbishment, energy production (PV and solar thermal), and heating system modernization. ECOCITIES is an enabler for the realization of individual, national, and European energy goals. Thus, it provides synergies with existing endeavors of achieving national and European energy goals.
TECHNICAL COMPATIBILITY
ECOCITIES automatically considers the energy saving potential of combining refurbishment, local energy production and efficient energy distribution and storage measures. ECOCITIES automatically ensures the legal and technical compatibility of the energy efficiency measures. Inter alia, the following energy efficiency measures are considered:
- Thermal hull improvements (roof, upper-most and basement ceiling, outer walls, windows/doors, etc.) – for each construction ECOCITIES chooses from three different quality levels regarding the u-value
- Installation of PV and solar thermal systems – for each energy production system ECOCITIES chooses from three different quality levels regarding the production capacity
- Heating system modernization and replacement
- Attaching buildings to alternative energy networks and energy carriers
LOCAL ENERGY PRODUCTION AND USE
ECOCITIES considers the local topology of the relevant buildings. For example, ECOCITIES automatically evaluates the distance of the buildings to existing energy networks to identify possible alternative energy carriers for each building. As such it influences the suggestions on improving or replacing the heating systems.
Technical compatibility is automatically ensured by ECOCITIES, i.e., only heating systems which require an existing or potentially installable energy carrier will be suggested. ECOCITIES automatically evaluates roof areas regarding their suitability for PV and solar thermal installations in combination with existing or new heating systems.
FINE GRAINED BUILDING DATA
Besides building base data such as u-values and areas ECOCITIES also integrates a document management system used for the clear administration of building plans, energy certificates, etc. ECOCITIES allows to store fine grained details about the building, such as renovations, heating systems, building geometry, etc.