ICASA guide

ICASA File X creation guide

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Introduction to ICASA Standards

ICASA standards ensure consistency, interoperability, and proper documentation of agricultural field experiments.

Why ICASA matters

Consistency: standardized variable names and formats
Interoperability: share data across models and platforms
Documentation: complete metadata for reproducibility
Quality control: validation and error checking

Quick start templates

Choose a template to get started quickly or follow the detailed guide below.

Basic crop experiment

Single crop variety
Basic weather data
Standard soil profile
Control treatment

Irrigation study

Multiple irrigation levels
Water stress analysis
Irrigation scheduling
Yield response

Fertilizer trial

Nitrogen rates
Application timing
Soil analysis
Economic analysis

Variety comparison

Multiple cultivars
Phenology tracking
Yield components
Adaptation analysis

Step-by-step File X creation

1) File setup and basic structure

*EXP.DETAILS: UFGA2024 soybean irrigation study
@INSI    . . . . . . . .  INSTITUTION
UFGA
@LONGLATI  . . . . . . .  LONGITUDE LATITUDE
-82.37 29.63
@ELEV  . . . . . . . .  ELEVATION
40

ICASA naming convention

INSTI + YEAR + EXNO + CROP + "." + EXT (e.g., UFGA2401.SBX)

2) General simulation controls

@N GENERAL
NYERS NREPS START SDATE RSEED
1 1 S 2024180 2150

@N OPTIONS
WATER NITROGEN PHOSPHOR MINERAL DISEASES
Y Y N N N

@N METHODS
LIGHT EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PHOTOSYNTHESIS
1 1 1

@N MANAGEMENT
PLANTING IRRIGATION FERTILIZER RESIDUE HARVEST
R R F R R

@N OUTPUTS
DAILY SUMMARY GROWTH WATER NITROGEN
Y Y Y Y Y

3) Treatments

@N TREATMENTS    4
@N TRNO R O C TNAME
 1 1 1 1 1 Control - No irrigation
 2 1 1 1 2 Low irrigation - 50% ET
 3 1 1 1 3 Medium irrigation - 75% ET
 4 1 1 1 4 High irrigation - 100% ET

4) Cultivars

@N CULTIVARS
@N CR INGENO CNAME
SB UF000001 McCurdy 84aa

5) Fields

@N FIELDS
@N ID_FIELD WSTA....  FLSA  FLOB  FLDT  FLDD  FLDS  FLST
UFGA0001 UFGA2024      0     0 DR000  100    0    0
@N  SOIL_ID
UFGA0001

6) Initial soil conditions

@N INITIAL CONDITIONS
@N PCR ICDAT  ICRT  ICND  ICRN  ICRE  ICWD  ICRTILL
MA 2024180  1000   -99     1     0    15   -99
@N  ICBL  SH2O  SNH4  SNO3
  5 0.25  1.5  8.2
 15 0.27  1.2  7.8
 30 0.30  1.0  6.5
 60 0.32  0.8  5.2
 90 0.35  0.6  4.1

7) Planting details

@N PLANTING DETAILS
@N PDDATE EDATE  PPOP  PPOE  PLME  PLDS  PLRS  PLRD  PLDP  PLWT  PAGE  PENV  PLPH  SPRL
2024181   -99   12.   -99     S     R    61    -99     5   -99   -99   -99   -99   -99

8) Irrigation

@N IRRIGATION
@N IMDATE IMTYPE  IMCOD  IIRRI  IMDEP  IMTHR  IMAMT  IMEA  IMEV  IMRO
2024190     IR     1      25    30    0.50    25     1.0   0.0   0.0
2024200     IR     1      25    30    0.50    25     1.0   0.0   0.0
2024210     IR     1      25    30    0.50    25     1.0   0.0   0.0

9) Fertilizers

@N FERTILIZERS
@N FDATE  FMCD  FACD  FAMN  FAMP  FAMK  FAMC  FAMO  FLIT  FMDEP  FMTHR
2024180 FE005 AP002    30     0     0     0     0     0    10   -99
2024190 FE005 AP002    40     0     0     0     0     0    10   -99

10) Harvest details

@N HARVEST DETAILS
@N HDATE  HASTC  HCOM  HPC  HBPC HPLW  HPLD  HPWD HARVNO
2024300     M     C    0     0   -99   -99   -99   -99

Validation and testing

Syntax checklist

* section headers present
@ variable headers present
Proper spacing and alignment
Missing values use -99
Dates in YYYYDDD format

Common issues

Treatment levels don’t match section entries
Invalid date sequences
Missing required sections
Inconsistent units
Broken file references

Best practices

Use consistent naming conventions and version control
Validate before running, check parameter ranges
Share standard formats and document metadata

Resources

ICASA v2.0 Standards: https://dssat.net/data/standards_v2/
ICASA Standards Paper: https://dssat.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/White2013ICASA_V2_standards.pdf
Master Variable List: https://agmip.github.io/ICASA.html