AquaCrop

Plug-in program
(Version 6.0)

Reference manual

March 2017
 AquaCrop
Plug-in program
(Version 6.0)

Reference manual

March 2017
By Dirk RAES, Pasquale STEDUTO, Theodore C. HSIAO and Elias FERERES

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Rome, 2017
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development
status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The
mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these
have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of
FAO.

© FAO, 2017

FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated,
material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial
products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s
endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way.

All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via
www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected].

FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through publications-
[email protected].
Table of contents
1. Input ...................................................................................................................... 1
2. Running simulation(s) .......................................................................................... 5
3. Output.................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Seasonal Output...................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Daily Output ......................................................................................................................... 10
4. Installation .......................................................................................................... 16

iii
 AquaCrop plug-in program (Version 6.0)
The calculation procedures in the AquaCrop plug-in program are identical to the AquaCrop
standard window program (Version 6.0) but the plug-in program has no user interface. By running
the program (ACsaV60.EXE) a list of projects, pre-defined in the standard window version of
AquaCrop, are carried out and results are stored in output files. The plug-in program can be used
in applications where iterative runs are required (e.g. GIS environment).

1. Input
In the absence of a user interface only pre-defined simulation runs can be carried out in the
AquaCrop plug-in program. Therefore the input need to consist of project files, which contains all
the required information for a simulation run (Tab.1). Project files are text files which are
composed1 by the standard window AquaCrop program (i.e. the AquaCrop model with the user
interface) when creating projects. Project files can also be created by the user as long as the
structure of the text file is respected.

To run the projects in the plug-in program, the created project files need to be copied in the LIST
subdirectory of the plug-in version:
 If the project files were created in a standard window AquaCrop program, copy the project files
from the DATA subdirectory (of the AquaCrop window program where they were created) to
the LIST subdirectory of the plug-in version (Fig. 1);
 If the project files were created by the user, paste the project files in the LIST subdirectory of
the plug-in version.
Since the project files contain all information to run the simulations (Tab. 2), the data files
containing the characteristics of the selected environment (climate, crop, soil profile, groundwater
table, field and irrigation management) and the files with the corresponding initial and off-season
conditions, need not to be copied to the LIST directory. The only restriction is that these data files
are stored in a directory of the same computer on which the plug-in program runs. Information in
the project files will guide the plug-in program to the directories where the data files are stored
(Fig. 1).
Project files of previous AquaCrop versions can be used in Version 6.0 of the AquaCrop plug-in
program.

1
Section 2.19 ‘Project characteristics’ of Chapter 2 ‘Users guide’ of the reference manual of
AquaCrop describes how projects are created and updated.

1
Table 1. – The content of a Project file (files with extension ‘PRO’ or ‘PRM’)
A project file is a text file which contains all the required information for a simulation run.
Distinction is made between projects containing the required information for a single simulation
run (with ‘PRO’ as the filename extension) and projects consisting of a set of successive runs
(for simulations in successive years), the so called multiple run projects (with ‘PRM’ as the
filename extension). A project file contains (Tab. 2):
 the period(s) of the growing cycle (from day 1 after sowing/transplanting to crop maturity);
 the simulation period(s): the first and last day of the simulation period which need not to
coincide with the growing cycle;
 the file names (with their directory) containing the characteristics of the selected environment
(climate, crop, irrigation management, field management, soil profile and groundwater table
file);
 the file names (with their directory) containing the initial and off-season conditions; and
 the specific program settings for the run(s).

Table 2. – The structure and an example of a project file

Title (Line 1) and Version number (Line 2)
winter wheat on sandy loam soil in Tunis for 22 successive years
6.0 : AquaCrop Version (March 2017)
The simulation period (Line 3 and 4) and the period of the growing cycle (Line 5 and 6) for the
(first) simulation run – See Table 3 for calculation of day numbers
28702 : First day of simulation period - 1 August 1979
28977 : Last day of simulation period - 2 May 1980
28791 : First day of cropping period - 29 October 1979
28977 : Last day of cropping period - 2 May 1980
Setting of the program parameters (Line 7 to 27)
4 : Evaporation decline factor for stage II
1.10 : Ke(x) Soil evaporation coefficient (fully wet and non-shaded)
5 : Threshold for CC below HI can no longer increase (% cover)
70 : Starting depth of root zone expansion curve (% of Zmin)
5.00 : Maximum allowable root zone expansion (fixed at 5 cm/day)
-6 : Shape factor for effect water stress on root zone expansion
20 : Required soil water content in soil for germination (% TAW)
1.0 : Adjustment factor for soil water depletion (p) by ETo
3 : Number days after which deficient aeration is fully effective
1.00 : Exponent of senescence adjusting photosynthetic activity
12 : Decrease of p(sen) once senescence is triggered (% of p(sen))
10 : Thickness top soil (cm) for determination of water depletion
30 : Depth [cm] of profile affected by soil evaporation
0.30 : Considered depth (m) for CN adjustment
1 : CN is adjusted to Antecedent Moisture Class
20 : salt diffusion factor [%]
100 : salt solubility [g/liter]
16 : shape factor for effect of soil water content on CR
12.0 : Default minimum temperature (°C)
28.0 : Default maximum temperature (°C)
3 : Default method for the calculation of growing degree days

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 2

 The file names with their directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected climatic
conditions (Line 28 to 42) for the (first) simulation run
-- 1. Climate (CLI) file
Tunis.CLI
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
1.1 Temperature (Tnx or TMP) file
Tunis.TMP
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
1.2 Reference ET (ETo) file
Tunis.ETo
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
1.3 Rain (PLU) file
Tunis.PLU
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
1.4 Atmospheric CO2 concentration (CO2) file
MaunaLoa.CO2
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\SIMUL\
The file name with its directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected crop (Line
43 to 45) for the (first) simulation run
-- 2. Crop (CRO) file
WWheatTun.CRO
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
The file name with its directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected irrigation
management (Line 46 to 48) for the (first) simulation run
-- 3. Irrigation management (IRR) file
(None)
(None)
The file name with its directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected field
management (Line 49 to 51) for the (first) simulation run
-- 4. Field management (MAN) file
SF80B.MAN
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
The file name with its directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected soil profile
(Line 52 to 54) for the (first) simulation run
-- 5. Soil profile (SOL) file
SANDYLOAM.SOL
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
The file name with its directory (path) containing the characteristics of the selected groundwater
table (Line 55 to 57) for the (first) simulation run
-- 6. Groundwater table (GWT) file
(None)
(None)
The file names with its directory (path) containing the initial conditions (Line 58 to 60) for the
(first) simulation run
-- 7. Initial conditions (SW0) file
SLiniTun.SW0
C:\FAO\AquaCrop\DATA\
The file name with its directory (path) containing the off-season conditions (Line 61 to 63) for
the (first) simulation run
-- 8. Off-season conditions (OFF) file
(None)
(None)

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 3

 In case of multiple projects:
- the simulation period,
- the crop growth cycle,
- file names containing the characteristics of the selected environment,
- file names containing the initial and off-season conditions
for each of the successive run(s) are given in the next lines (Line 64 to …)
….
….
….
….

AquaCrop uses day numbers to specify the start and end of the simulation period and the period of
the growing cycle. The day number refers to the days elapsed since 0th January 1901 at 0 am (Tab.
3).
Table 3. – Number of days elapsed since 0th January 1901, 0 am (The method is valid from
1901 to 2099 only, which is the time range in AquaCrop)
Rules
1. Subtract 1901 from the year
2. Multiply by 365.25
3. According to the month add:
- January : 0
- February : 31
- March : 59.25
- April : 90.25
- May : 120.25
- June : 151.25
- July : 181.25
- August : 212.25
- September : 243.25
- October : 273.25
- November : 304.25
- December : 334.25
4. Add the number of the day within the month
5. Take the integer

Example
For 24 August 1982
1. Subtract 1901 from the year 1982 – 1901 = 81
2. Multiply by 365.25 81 x 365.25 = 29585.25
3. Add 212.25 for August 29585.25 + 212.25 = 29797.5
4. Add the number of the day 29797.5 + 24 = 29821.5
5. Take the integer 29821
Reference
Gommes, R.A. 1983. Pocket computers in agro meteorology. FAO Plant production and
protection paper Nr. 45, Rome, Italy.

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 4

2. Running simulation(s)
When the AquaCrop plug-in program is launched, the software runs, one by one, the projects listed
in its LIST directory. Information in the project files (Tab. 2) guides the plug-in program to the
directories where the required data files to run the projects are stored. These data files contain the
characteristics of the environment (climate, crop, soil profile, groundwater table, field and
irrigation management) and information regarding the initial and off-season conditions. If the
project files were created in the standard window AquaCrop program, the required data files are
available in the DATA subdirectory of the AquaCrop window program (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. – Input and output data for running the AquaCrop plug-in program

(1) INPUT: Project files are copied from the DATA subdirectory of the AquaCrop standard
window program, to the LIST subdirectory of the AquaCrop plug-in program;
(2) While running the projects available in the LIST subdirectory of the AquaCrop plug-in
program, the required data is retrieved from the DATA subdirectory of the AquaCrop standard
window program;
(3) OUTPUT: Simulation results are saved in the OUTP directory of the AquaCrop plug-in
program.

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 5

When running the projects available in the LIST subdirectory of the AquaCrop plug-in program:
 the software obtains from the project file (or for each run of a multiple project):
- the starting and end date of the simulation period and growing cycle;
- the program settings; and
- the path of the filenames containing the characteristics of the selected environment (climate,
crop, irrigation management, field management, soil profile and groundwater table file) and
the initial and off-season conditions;

 Before starting a simulation run, the program checks if:

- the structure of the project file is correct (example presented in Tab. 2);
- all files describing the environment are available at the specified path.
If not so, the project is skipped and no output will be generated.
The text file ‘ListProjectsLoaded.OUT’ in the OUTP directory of the AquaCrop plug-in
program, contain information of the requested seasonal and daily output, and the projects which
were loaded successfully (Tab. 4).

Table 4. – Content of the ‘ListProjectsLoaded.OUT’ file

 Requested intermediate results (none, daily, 10-daily or monthly);
 Requested daily output results (Soil water balance, Crop development and production,
Soil water content in the soil profile and root zone, Soil salinity in the soil profile and
root zone, Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile, Soil salinity at various
depths of the soil profile, and/or Climate input parameters);
 Status (successfully or not) of Projects loaded

 While running the successive projects, the progress of the simulations is displayed (Fig. 2), and
the seasonal and the requested daily simulation results are saved in files in the OUTP directory.

 When all projects listed in the LIST directory are run, the program stops automatically.

Figure 2. – Display of the simulation progress: (i) bar gauge: percentage of projects
finalized; (ii) pie gauge: percentage of runs started (in case of multiple run project)

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 6

3. Output
When running a project, intermediate and final seasonal simulation results of a project are stored
in an output file in the OUTP directory of the plug-in program (Fig. 1). Additionally, daily results
(available in the standard window version of AquaCrop) can be requested as output.

3.1 Seasonal Output

The seasonal output file contains length and dates of the simulation period, and the totals for
climatic, soil water and soil salinity parameters, for average stresses during the growing period, for
biomass production, crop yield and crop water productivity (Tab. 7). Seasonal output files are
stored in the OUTP directory of the programme.

 File name: The name of each seasonal output file corresponds with the filename of the
corresponding project file but extended with ‘PROseason’ (for single projects) or ‘PRMseason’
(for multiple projects), and the extension OUT (Tab. 5). There are as many seasonal output
files as project files listed in the LIST directory.

Table 5. – Examples of Projects and seasonal output files

Project files (LIST directory) Seasonal output files (OUTP directory)
Axum.PRO AxumPROseason.OUT
Axum19Years.PRM Axum19YearsPRMseason.OUT

 Option for intermediate results: The standard output consists of totals and averages of
climate, crop, soil water and salt parameters over the total simulation period. Additionally daily,
10-daily or monthly intermediate simulation results can be requested. Therefore the user has to
adjust the number specified at the start of the first (and only) line of the
‘AggregationResults.SIM’ text file (file available in the SIM subdirectory). Depending on the
number either none, daily, 10-daily or monthly intermediate simulation results will be provided
next to the final simulation results (Tab. 6).

The following code applies:

- 0 : for no intermediate results
- 1 : for daily results
- 2 : for 10-daily intermediate results
- 3 : for monthly intermediate results
In the absence of the ‘AggregationResults.SIM’ file, no intermediate results will be provided.

Table 6. – Example of the AggregationResults.SIM’ text file (file available in the SIM
subdirectory) generating 10-daily intermediate seasonal simulation results
2 : Time aggregation for intermediate results (0 = none ; 1 = daily; 2 = 10-daily; 3 = monthly)

 Recorded simulation results: In each seasonal output file there are for each simulation run as
many lines as intermediate results plus one extra line for the totals of the simulation run. The
results are presented in 38 columns (Tab. 7) and contain information of the length and dates of
the simulation period, and the totals for climatic, soil water and soil salinity parameters, for

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 7

 average stresses during the growing period, for biomass production, crop yield and crop water
productivity.

Table 7. –Information available in the 36 columns of the seasonal output file

Nr Symbol Description Unit Format(1)
Time aggregation
1 Period Length of period: - 9 characters
- Tot (Number simulation run) : for
total simulation run
- Day : for intermediate daily results
- 10Day : for intermediate 10-daily
results
- Month : for intermediate monthly
results
First day of considered period
2 Day1 Day at start of period - 9 (INT)
3 Month1 Month at start of period - 9 (INT)
4 Year1 Year at start of period - 9 (INT)
Climatic parameters for considered period
5 Rain Rainfall mm 9:1 (REAL)
6 ETo Reference evapotranspiration mm 9:1 (REAL)
7 GD Growing degrees °C day 9:1 (REAL)
8 CO2 Atmospheric CO2 concentration ppm 9:2 (REAL)
Soil water parameters for considered period
9 Irri - Amount of water applied by mm 9:1 (REAL)
irrigation, or
- Net irrigation requirement (if
requested)
10 Infilt Infiltrated water in the soil profile mm 9:1 (REAL)
11 Runoff Water lost by surface runoff mm 9:1 (REAL)
12 Drain Water drained out of the soil profile mm 9:1 (REAL)
13 Upflow Water moved upward by capillary rise mm 9:1 (REAL)
14 E Soil evaporation mm 9:1 (REAL)
15 E/Ex Relative mean soil evaporation % 9 (INT)
(100 E/Ex)
16 Tr Total transpiration of crop and weeds mm 9:1 (REAL)
17 TrW Crop transpiration in weed infested field mm 9:1 (REAL)
18 Tr/Trx Relative mean crop transpiration % 9 (INT)
(100 Tr/Trx)

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 8

 Soil salinity parameters for considered period
19 SaltIn Salt infiltrated in the soil profile ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
20 SaltOut Salt drained out of the soil profile ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
21 SaltUp Salt moved upward by capillary rise ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
from groundwater table
22 SaltProf Salt stored in the soil profile ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
Average stresses during growing cycle (from germination onwards)
23 Cycle Length of crop cycle: from germination days 9 (INT)
to maturity (or early senescence)
24 SaltStr Average soil salinity stress % 9 (INT)
25 FertStr Average soil fertility stress % 9 (INT)
26 WeedStr Average relative cover of weeds % 9 (INT)
27 TempStr Average temperature stress (affecting % 9 (INT)
transpiration)
28 ExpStr Average leaf expansion stress % 9 (INT)
29 StoStr Average stomatal stress % 9 (INT)
Biomass production in considered period
30 Biomass Above-ground biomass produced ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
31 Brelative Relative biomass (Reference: no water, % 9 (INT)
no soil fertility, no soil salinity stress, no
weed infestation)
Crop yield (only specified at end of simulation run)
32 HI Harvest Index adjusted for failure of % 9:1 (REAL)
pollination, inadequate photosynthesis
and water stress
33 Yield Yield (HI x Biomass) ton/ha 9:3 (REAL)
34 WPet ET Water Productivity for yield part (kg kg/m3 9:2 (REAL)
yield produced per m3 water
evapotranspired)
Last day of considered period
35 DayN Day at end of period - 9 (INT)
36 MonthN Month at end of period - 9 (INT)
37 YearN Year at end of period - 9 (INT)
Name of project
38 File Project file name - n characters
(1)
Text: total number of characters
Integer: Total number of digits
Real: Total number of digits (including the decimal point) : decimal places

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 9

3.2 Daily Output
In the standard window version 6.0 of AquaCrop, daily simulation results are stored in a set of 8
output files (see section 2.25 ‘Output files’ in Chapter 2 ‘Users guide’ of AquaCrop Reference
manual). The output files contain information on the:
- Crop development and production (file --Crop.OUT);
- Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile (file --CompWC.OUT);
- Soil salinity at various depths of the soil profile (file --CompEC.OUT);
- Soil water content in the soil profile and root zone (file --Prof.OUT);
- Soil salinity in the soil profile and root zone (file --Salt.OUT);
- Various parameters of the soil water balance (file --Wabal.OUT);
- Climate input parameters (file –Clim.OUT);
- Net irrigation water requirement (file --Inet.OUT).
These daily output files can also be requested as output of the AquaCrop Plug-In program. As the
seasonal output files, the daily output files are stored in the OUTP directory of the programme.
Note that recording all daily outputs might slow down significantly the speed of the AquaCrop
plug-in programme.

 File name: The name of the daily output files corresponds with the filename of the
corresponding project file but extended with ‘PROday’ (for single projects) or ‘PRMday’ (for
multiple projects), and the extension OUT (Tab. 8). There are as many daily output files as
project files listed in the LIST directory.

Table 8. – Examples of Projects and daily output files

Project files (LIST directory) Output files (OUTP directory)
Axum.PRO AxumPROday.OUT
Axum19Years.PRM Axum19YearsPRMday.OUT

 Content: The user specifies the daily data that needs to be recorded with the help of codes
(one code per line) in the ‘DailyResults.SIM’ text file (file available in the SIM subdirectory).
The number of codes (specified in successive lines), and the value of the code (specified at the
start of each of the successive lines) determine the content of the output (Tab. 9):
- 1 : Various parameters of the soil water balance. When net irrigation is calculated column
8 (Irri) contains the daily net irrigation requirement;
- 2 : Crop development and production;
- 3 : Soil water content in the soil profile and root zone;
- 4: Soil salinity in the soil profile and root zone;
- 5 : Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile;
- 6 : Soil salinity at various depths of the soil profile;
- 7 : Climate input parameters
In the absence of the ‘DailyResults.SIM’ file, no daily results will be provided.

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 10

 Table 9. – Example of a ‘DailyResults.SIM’ file (file available in the SIMUL subdirectory)
requesting a record of daily results of the (i) Crop development and production and of
the (ii) Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile
2 : Crop development and production
5 : Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile

 Structure: In each daily output file there are for each simulation run as many lines as days in
the simulation period. The individual runs of a multiple projects (PRM) are separated by an
empty line and the Run number. The number of columns depend on the daily data that needs
to be recorded and can be up to 95 column if all daily results are requested (Tab. 10).

Table 10. – Structure of the daily output file

Nr Symbol Description Unit Format(1)
General information
1 Day - 6 (INT)
2 Month - 6 (INT)
3 Year - 6 (INT)
4 DAP Days after planting/sowing - 6 (INT)
5 Stage Crop growth stage: - 6 (INT)
0: before or after cropping;
1: between sowing and germination or
transplant recovering;
2: vegetative development;
3: flowering;
4: yield formation and ripening
-9: no crop as a result of early canopy
senescence

IF Code 1: Various parameters of the soil water balance

6 WC(x.xx) Water content in total soil profile mm 10:1 (REAL)
with (x.xx): the soil depth in meter
7 Rain Rainfall mm 8:1 (REAL)
8 Irri Water applied by irrigation mm 9:1 (REAL)
Or net irrigation requirement if the
determination of Net Irrigation
requirement is requested in the IRR file
9 Surf Stored water on soil surface between mm 7:1 (REAL)
bunds
10 Infilt Infiltrated water in soil profile mm 7:1 (REAL)
11 RO Surface runoff mm 7:1 (REAL)
12 Drain Water drained out of the soil profile mm 9:1 (REAL)
13 CR Water moved upward by capillary rise mm 9:1 (REAL)
14 Zgwt Depth of the groundwater table (-9.90 if m 8:2 (REAL)
absent)
15 Ex Maximum soil evaporation mm 9:1 (REAL)

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 11

 16 E Actual soil evaporation mm 9:1 (REAL)
17 E/Ex Relative evaporation (100 E/EX) % 7 (INT)
18 Trx Maximum crop transpiration mm 9:1 (REAL)
19 Tr Total transpiration of crop and weeds mm 9:1 (REAL)
20 Tr/Trx Relative transpiration (100 Tr/Trx) % 6 (REAL)
21 ETx Maximum evapotranspiration mm 9:1 (REAL)
22 ET Actual evapotranspiration mm 8:1 (REAL)
23 ET/ETx Relative evapotranspiration (100 % 8 (INT)
ET/ETx)

If Code 2: Crop development and production

24 GD Growing degrees °C-day 9:1 (REAL)
25 Z Effective rooting depth m 8:2 (REAL)
26 StExp Percent water stress reducing leaf % 7 (INT)
expansion
27 StSto Percent water stress inducing stomatal % 7 (INT)
closure
28 StSen Percent water stress triggering early % 7 (INT)
canopy senescence
29 StSalt Percent salinity stress % 7 (INT)
30 StWeed Relative cover of weeds % 7 (INT)
31 CC Total green canopy cover of crop and % 8:1 (REAL)
weeds
32 CCw Crop green Canopy Cover in weed % 8:1 (REAL)
infested field
33 StTr Percent temperature stress affecting crop % 7 (INT)
transpiration
34 Kc(Tr) Crop coefficient for transpiration - 9:2 (REAL)
35 Trx Maximum crop transpiration of crop and mm 9:1 (REAL)
weeds
36 Tr Total transpiration of crop and weeds mm 9:1 (REAL)
37 TrW Crop transpiration in weed infested field 9:1 (REAL)
38 Tr/Trx Relative total transpiration of crop and % 6 (INT)
weeds (100 Tr/Trx)
39 WP Crop water productivity adjusted for g/m2 8:1 (REAL)
CO2, soil fertility and products
synthesized
40 Biomass Cumulative biomass produced ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
41 HI Harvest Index adjusted for failure of % 8:1 (REAL)
pollination, inadequate photosynthesis
and water stress
42 YieldPart Crop yield (HI x Biomass) ton/ha 9:3 (REAL)
43 Brelative : Relative biomass (Reference: no water, % 8 (INT)
no soil fertility, no soil salinity stress, no
weed infestation)

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 12

 44 WPet ET Water productivity for yield part (kg kg/m3 12:2 (REAL)
yield produced per m3 water
evapotranspired)

IF Code 3: Soil water content in the soil profile and root zone
45 WC(x.xx) Water content total soil profile mm 10:1 (REAL)
with (x.xx): the soil depth in meter
46 Wr(x.xx) Water content in maximum effective root mm 9:1 (REAL)
zone
with (x.xx): the maximum effective root
zone
47 Z Effective rooting depth m 8:2 (REAL)
48 Wr Water content in effective root zone mm 8:1 (REAL)
49 Wr(SAT) Water content in effective root zone if mm 10:1 (REAL)
saturated
50 Wr(FC) Water content in effective root zone at mm 10:1 (REAL)
field capacity
51 Wr(exp) Water content in effective root zone at mm 10:1 (REAL)
upper threshold for leaf expansion
52 Wr(sto) Water content in effective root zone at mm 10:1 (REAL)
upper threshold for stomatal closure
53 Wr(sen) Water content in effective root zone at mm 10:1 (REAL)
upper threshold for early canopy
senescence
54 Wr(PWP) Water content in effective root zone at mm 10:1 (REAL)
permanent wilting point

IF Code 4: Soil salinity in the soil profile and root zone

55 SaltIn Salt infiltrated in the soil profile ton/ha 9:3 (REAL)
56 SaltOut Salt drained out of the soil profile ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
57 SaltUp Salt moved upward by capillary rise ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
from groundwater table
58 Salt(x.xx) Salt content in the total soil profile ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
with (x.xx): the soil depth in meter
59 SaltZ Salt content in the effective root zone ton/ha 10:3 (REAL)
60 Z Effective rooting depth m 8:2 (REAL)
61 ECe Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 9:2 (REAL)
soil-paste extract from the root zone
62 ECsw Electrical conductivity of the soil water dS/m 8:2 (REAL)
in the root zone
63 StSalt Salinity stress % 7 (INT)
64 Zgwt Depth of the groundwater table m 8:2 (REAL)
65 ECgw Electrical conductivity of the dS/m 8:2 (REAL)
groundwater

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 13

 IF Code 5: Soil water content at various depths of the soil profile
66 WC 1 soil water content compartment 1 * vol% 11:1 (REAL)
67 WC 2 soil water content compartment 2 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
68 WC 3 soil water content compartment 3 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
69 WC 4 soil water content compartment 4 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
70 WC 5 soil water content compartment 5 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
71 WC 6 soil water content compartment 6 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
72 WC 7 soil water content compartment 7 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
73 WC 8 soil water content compartment 8 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
74 WC 9 soil water content compartment 9 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
75 WC10 soil water content compartment 10 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
76 WC11 soil water content compartment 11 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
77 WC12 soil water content compartment 12 vol% 11:1 (REAL)
* The corresponding soil depth (at the centre of the compartment) is specified in meter
below the symbol

IF Code 6: Soil salinity at various depths of the soil profile

78 ECe 1 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 1
*
79 ECe 2 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 2
80 ECe 3 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 3
81 ECe 4 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 4
82 ECe 5 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 5
83 ECe 6 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 6
84 ECe 7 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 7
85 ECe 8 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 8
86 ECe 9 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment 9
87 ECe10 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment
10
88 ECe11 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment
11

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 14

 89 ECe12 Electrical conductivity of the saturated dS/m 11:1 (REAL)
soil-paste extract (ECe) - compartment
12
* The corresponding soil depth (at the centre of the compartment) is specified in meter
below the symbol

IF Code 7: Climate input parameters

90 Rain Rainfall mm 9:1 (REAL)
91 ETo Reference evapotranspiration mm 10:1 (REAL)
92 Tmin Minimum air temperature °C 10:1 (REAL)
93 Tavg Average air temperature °C 10:1 (REAL)
94 Tmax Maximum air temperature °C 10:1 (REAL)
95 CO2 Atmospheric CO2 concentration for that ppm 10:2 (REAL)
year
(1)
Text: total number of characters
Integer: Total number of digits
Real: Total number of digits (including the decimal point) : decimal places

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 15

4. Installation

To run AquaCrop Plug-In, the required data files to run the list of projects should be available on
the PC. If the files were created through the user interface of the AquaCrop standard window
program they will be in the DATA subdirectory of AquaCrop. If so, the AquaCrop standard
window program and the AquaCrop Plug-In program should be on the same PC.

The FAO AquaCrop webpage http://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-

software/aquacrop/en/ contains zipped files which can be downloaded for installing AquaCrop
standard window and the AquaCrop Plug-In programs on the PC.

For the AquaCrop standard window program – Version 6.0

- AquaCrop64bitV60Nrxxxx2017.zip: a zipped file containing the files
to be copied to an AquaCrop folder on a 64-bit PC.

For the AquaCrop Plug-In program – Version 6.0

- ACsa64bitV60Nrxxxx2017.zip: a zipped file containing the files to be
copied to an ACsaV60 folder on a 64-bit PC.

 Copying the AquaCrop standard window and Plug-In program to appropriate folders on
a 64-bit PC
1. Copy the zipped files to the PC;
2. Unzip;
3. Copy the full content of the unzipped file:
- for the AquaCrop standard window program it consists of files and 5 subdirectories with
more files;
- for the AquaCrop Plug-In program it consists of files and the subdirectories LIST (which
is empty), OUTP and SIMUL
4. Paste the full content in a directory (folder) of the PC:
- for example C:\FAO\AquaCrop for the AquaCrop standard window program;
- for example C:\FAO\ACsaV60 for the AquaCrop Plug-In program.

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 16

 Once installed
When AquaCrop is properly installed, you will find in the respectively directories:

C:\FAO\AquaCrop
the AquaCrop.EXE file (the executable file, to launch the standard window program);
and five subdirectories:
- DATA (default subdirectory for the input files);
- IMPORT (default subdirectory for text files with climatic data);
- OBS (default subdirectory for the field observations files);
- OUTP (default subdirectory for the output files);
- SIMUL (subdirectory for simulation purposes, containing between other files the
MaunaLoa.CO2 file, files with default project settings (*.PAR), and SOILS.DIR (a file with
default values for soil characteristics).

C:\FAO\ACsaV60
the ACsaV60.EXE file (the executable file, to launch the Plug-In program);
and three subdirectories:
- LIST (subdirectory in which the copied project files should be stored);
- OUTP (subdirectory, where simulation results will be stored);
- SIMUL (subdirectory, which contains Manauloa.CO2 and eventually the
‘AggregationResults.SIM’ and the ‘DailyResults.SIM’ text files in which the options for the
content of the output files are specified. In the absence of the ‘AggregationResults.SIM’ file no
intermediate results will be provided. In the absence of ‘DailyResults.SIM’, no daily results
will be provided.

Reference Manual AquaCrop Plug-in (ACsaV60) – March 2017 17