Daisy has been involved in - and financed by - a large number of projects since its start (with the NPO-research programme). An overview of some of the projects where Daisy are or have been involved are given here.
Current projects
AgroEco-HPM
The project aims to develop and infrastructure platform for Daisy including code quality assurance, standardized test, a geographic interface linking up to relevant soil, weather and management databases and implementing advanced methods in modelling. The project is running from 2023 to 2027 and is founded by the Novo Nordic Foundation. See more about the project here.
KlimaGødning
The project focus on N2O emissions under a variety of conditions in collaboration with Aarhus University and SEGES Innovation Funded by the Danish Agricultural Agency and announced (in Danish) on their homepage.
DIGIJORD
The project aims to develop new digital soil maps using satellites, sensor data and modelling. Daisy is used to simulate periods where the crop growth is affected by the soil conditions. The project is funded by GUDP and a Danish project description can be found on their homepage.
BioAdapt
The project investigate: "Biochar as a tool for climate adaptation in crop production on coarse sandy soil". Daisy is used, together with measurements, to quantify the effect of incorporation of biochar in coarse sandy soil on crop production and environment. The project is founded by GUDP and a Danish project description can be seen on their homepage. Key publications can be found here.
LEX4BIO
The LEX4BIO project aims to optimize the utilization of biobased fertilizers (BBFs). The modeling part is aimed at evaluating BBFs by replacing conventional mineral fertilizers in diverse conditions, with a particular focus on productivity, environmental emissions, and soil carbon and nitrogen storage. See the project homepage here.
LessN: Low-emission crop rotations for targeted nitrogen regulation
The objective of this project is to investigate low-emission crop rotations’ potential as an instrument in the Danish targeted nitrogen regulation scheme. Daisy is used to supplement the findings from experimental data, quantify the effect of optimized crop rotations on nitrogen utilization, yields and loss to the water environment and atmosphere, as well as building up the soils organic nitrogen pool. The project is a collaboration between University of Copenhagen, SEGES, and Aarhus University. The project is funded by GUDP and a a Danish project description can be seen on their homepage.
Dairy crop rotations as a climate change agent (KlimaGræs)
The objective of this project is to develop cost effective dairy crop rotations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide long term carbon sequestration. A long term (1989-ongoing) grass clover ley crop rotation is used to recalibrate the clover and ryegrass modules in Daisy to better estimate carbon and nitrogen dynamics in such rotations. This recalibration is used in a scenario analysis to assess how changes in ley proportion and age affect carbon and nitrogen dynamics. The project is a collaboration between University of Copenhagen, SEGES, Arla, and Aarhus University.
Nutri2Cycle
The Nutri2Cycle project aimed to assess nutrient flows in various farms across Europe and test novel technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency. The daisy modeling task focused on developing baseline scenarios and evaluating the performance of innovative technologies, such as recovered biobased nitrogen fertilizers (e.g., digestate, liquid fraction, recovered ammonium sulfate), within those scenarios. The evaluation aimed to provide comprehensive assessments of environmental impact, soil quality, and productivity. See the project homepage here.
"Er kvælstofudvaskningen fra vintersæd større end fra efterafgrøder?"
The project investigate if winter crops, under certain weather and soil conditions, can reduce N-leaching in amounts similar to cover crops. Daisy is used to simulate N-leaching from drained agricultural fields. The project is funded by Promilleafgiftsfonden and a Danish project description together with the first results, including a podcast, can be found on their homepage.
Earlier projects
2010-2020
The Daisy-related work in this project had to do with developing ways to describe formation of plant toxin inside plants and release of the toxin to the environment. This is then combined with pesticide processes to describe fate of the chemicals. The project is founded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The papers describing the development of the Daisy model are:
García-Jorgensen D.B., Hansen., H.C.B., Abrahamsen P. and Diamantopoulos., E. 2020. A novel model concept for modelling the leaching of natural toxins: results for the case of ptaquiloside. Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2020,22, 1768-1779. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00182A
García-Jorgensen D.B., Hansen., H.C.B., Holbak M., Abrahamsen P. and Diamantopoulos., E. 2024. Modeling the environmental fate of bracken toxin ptaquiloside: Production, release and transport in the rhizosphere. Science of The Total Environment. 2022, 921, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170658
More papers and information on the project can be found on the project homepage.
The project was mainly concerned with plant breeding and genetics of spring barley, but it had a modelling component. The Daisy activities related to parameterization of three varieties of spring barley, with focus on nutrient use efficiency at different sites in Denmark during 2019 and 2020. See the project description here.
The project focused on developing, collecting and applying soil and crop data by satellites, sensors and models to develop decision support system and precision farming methods. The Daisy-related activities in this project had to do with quantification of yield effects and leaching of N due to different fertilization strategies, including precision farming. The project was supported by the Inovaition Foundation. For more information see the project homepage and the three papers:
Gyldengren J.G., Abrahamsen, P., Olsen, J.E., Styczen, M., Hansen, S. and Gislum, R., 2020. Effects of winter wheat N status on assimilate and N partitioning in the mechanistic agroecosystem model DAISY. Volume 206, Issue 6, December 2020, Pages 784-805. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12412
Pedersen, M.F., Gyldengren, J.G., Pedersen, S.M., Diamantopoulos, E., Gislum, R., Styczen, M.E., 2021. A simulation of variable rate nitrogen application in winter wheat with soil and sensor information - An economic feasibility study. Agric. Syst. 192, 103147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103147
and the Danish paper:
Styczen, M.E., Diamantopoulos, E., Gyldengren, J.G., Toft, T., 2020. Plantedække og kvælstofudvaskning i vinterhvede. Vand Jord 27, 56–58. VJ-2_20_Plantedaekke_s56-58-1.pdf (vand-og-jord.dk).
The projected aimed to develop a decision support system to tailor pesticide application in drained agricultural fields to weather and field conditions, thereby minimizing the risk of pesticide leaching to streams and lakes. See more here.
The project analyzed possible causes of decline of protein content in spring barley and winter wheat within the specified period and used modelling to estimate effects of plant breeding, different fertilization rates and management practices, climate change and organic matter in the soil. Results form the project be seen in the Danish project report and in the two papers:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2020.126013
Merete E. Styczen, Per Abrahamsen, Søren Hansen, Leif Knudsen: 2020. Model analysis of the significant drop in protein content in Danish grain crops from 1990-2015. European Journal of Agronomy 118, 126068,
The project utilized daisy modeling, among other methods, to enhance nitrogen utilization in plant production and minimize nitrogen loss to environment. Through testing numerous scenarios that considered agro-environmental and agro-edaphic variability, changes in the soil's organic nitrogen pool were estimated. The ultimate goal was to develop a comprehensive tool for nutrient accounting in field planning and management. The project was funded by GUDP and a Danish project description can be seen on their homepage.
The project aimed to map the environmental effects of crop rotation changes and utilize crops and crop sequences as a mitigation tool to protect water bodies. Daisy modeling analyzed the effects of different crops and sequences on various farms to identify optimal combinations for lower nitrogen leaching. Additionally, mitigation measures like catch crops and early sowing were evaluated.
The Daisy modeling tasks aimed to quantify the impact of conservation agriculture practices on soil carbon sequestration.
The project investigated the effect on deep ancient (e.g. from former trees) biopores on pesticide leaching on glacial till in Denmark. Daisy (2D) was used to simulated pesticide leaching through matrix and macropores to drains and groundwater. The project was led by Aarhus University and a project description can be found on their homepage.
The project continued the work in PESTPORE I and investigated where in the landscape biopores form by former tree roots can be expected to be located. 3 excavations where carried out and flow paths in matrix, cracks and biopores where described. Disy was used to simulated the risk of pesticide leaching to groundwater at the tree sites. The project was lead by Aarhus University and a project description can be seen at their homepage.
The influence of tillage on pesticide leaching to field drains.
The project investigated the effect of conservation agriculture on the hydraulic properties of the Ap horizon, the occurrence of biopores and the risk of pesticide leaching. The final Danish project report can be seen here.
Investigations of macropore continuity in drained fields and the effect of biopores directly connecting the soil surface to drains on the filter function of the soils.
The project aimed to quantify the amount of biopores directly connecting drains with the soil surface via smoke injection in the drainlines. Daisy was used to simulate the risk of pesticide leaching through the identified biopores. The final Danish project report can be seen here.
2000-2010
Multidimensional modelling of waterflow and solutetransprt in the top 1-2 meter of the soil in drained agricultural fields.
During the project was Daisy developed to account for water flow and solute transport in 2 Dimensions. Additionally, a biopore model, a colliod model, a litter model and a 2-domain model (mobile/imobile) was implemented. The final Danish project report can be seen here.
Calibration of different varieties of potatoes grown across Europe. The results from the project is presented in final project report, which can be downloaded here and in the paper:
T. Heidmann, C. Tofteng, P. Abrahamsen, F. Plauborg, S. Hansen, A. Battilani, J. Coutinho, F. Doležal, W. Mazurczyk, J.D.R. Ruiz, J. Takáč, J. Vacek, Calibration procedure for a potato crop growth model using information from across Europe, Ecological Modelling, Volume 211, Issues 1–2, 2008, Pages 209-223, ISSN 0304-3800, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.09.008
Before 2000
UNCERSDSS was an EU project (EU contract ENV4-CT95-070) with title: Assessment of cumulative uncertainty in Spatial Decision Support Systems: Application to examine the contamination of groundwater from diffuse sources. It including a coupling of Daisy with the hydraulic model MIKE SHE. The following papers describe the project results:
M Thorsen, J.C Refsgaard, S Hansen, E Pebesma, J.B Jensen, S Kleeschulte, Assessment of uncertainty in simulation of nitrate leaching to aquifers at catchment scale, Journal of Hydrology, Volume 242, Issues 3–4, 2001, Pages 210-227, ISSN 0022-1694,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00396-6.
J.C. Refsgaard, M. Thorsen, J.B. Jensen, S. Kleeschulte, S. Hansen, Large scale modelling of groundwater contamination from nitrate leaching, Journal of Hydrology, Volume 221, Issues 3–4, 1999, Pages 117-140, ISSN 0022-1694, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(99)00081-5.
Hansen, S., Thorsen, M., Pebesma, E.J., Kleeschulte, S. and Svendsen, H. (1999), Uncertainty in simulated nitrate leaching due to uncertainty in input data. A case study. Soil Use and Management, 15: 167-175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-2743.1999.tb00083.x
Styczen, M., Thorsen, M., Refsgaard, A., Christiansen, J.S., and Hansen, S. 1999. Non-point pollution modelling at different scales and resolution, based on MIKE SHE. DHI Software Conference, 1999. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=950d1270f9b3e45a3074be4ffa1275251cb0bd35
Danish Informatics Network for Agricultural Sciences. During the project was Daisy rewritten in C++ as described in the paper:
Per Abrahamsen, Søren Hansen, Daisy: an open soil-crop-atmosphere system model, Environmental Modelling & Software,
Volume 15, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 313-330, ISSN 1364-8152, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-8152(00)00003-7
The Danish Research Program on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Organic Matter (NPO) was where the original work on Daisy was carried out. See more about the project here.