I am working with the Modeling and Monitoring Vegetation Systems lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to create a numerical model derived from forecast weather models and satellite data capable of simulating soil water flow and crop growth dynamics at spatial and temporal scales. The initial model will simulate soil water flow and crop growth dynamics in Israel, but the methods used to create the model will translate to anywhere in the world were weather data is available.

In a world with an exploding population and increasingly limited resources, maintaining an efficient agriculture industry is of utmost importance to our livelihood as a species. For thousands of years, farmers have learned their given environments and learned how to best use their land, however, thanks to climate change, factors incredibly important to agriculture like temperature and the water cycle have become extremely variable and inconsistent. The best way to combat variability is by better understanding the environment, and numerical models are a powerful tool for doing so.

In the end, the goal for the project is that the model we create can help farmers better make decisions about which crops to grow and were to allocate resources in a given year.