Using a Crop/Soil Simulation Model and GIS Techniques to Assess Methane Emissions from Rice Fields in Asia. III. Databases

As part of a series of papers describing the use of a simulation model to extrapolate experimental measurements of methane (CH₄) emissions from rice fields in Asia and to evaluate the large-scale effect of various mitigation strategies, the collation and derivation of the spatial databases used are described. Daily weather data, including solar radiation, minimum and maximum temperatures, and rainfall were collated from 46 weather stations from the five countries in the study, namely China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand. Quantitative soil data relevant to the input requirements of the model were derived by combining data from the World Inventory of Soil Emissions (WISE) database, the ISIS database, and the FAO Digital Soil Map of the World (FAO-DSMW). These data included soil pH; organic carbon content; sand, silt, and clay fractions; and iron content for top and subsoil layers, and average values of bulk density and available water capacity for the whole profile. Data on the areas allocated to irrigated, rainfed, upland, and deepwater rice at the province or district level were derived from the Huke & Huke (1997) database developed at IRRI. Using a geographical information system (GIS), a series of georeferenced data sets on climate, soils, and land use were derived for each country, at the province or district level. A summary of the soil-related derived databases is presented and their applicationn for use in global change modeling discussed.