Articles | Volume 19, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2551-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2551-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Model description paper
| 
31 Mar 2026
Model description paper |
| 31 Mar 2026
| 31 Mar 2026
Advancing crop modeling and data assimilation using AquaCrop v7.2 in NASA's Land Information System Framework v7.5
Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Louise Busschaert
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Michel Bechtold
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Niccolò Lanfranco
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Politecnico di Torino, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Shannon de Roos
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Water and Climate, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussel, Belgium
Zdenko Heyvaert
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
ECMWF, Research Department, Reading, RG2 9AX, United Kingdom
Martynas Bielinis
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Jonas Mortelmans
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Samuel A. Scherrer
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Maxime Van den Bossche
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
KU Leuven ICTS, Facilities for Research, HPC Support, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Sujay Kumar
NASA/GSFC, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
David M. Mocko
NASA/GSFC, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Science Applications International Corporation, Reston, VA, USA
Eric Kemp
NASA/GSFC, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Lee Heng
formerly at: International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
retired
Pasquale Steduto
formerly at: Land and Water Division, FAO, Rome, Italy
retired
Dirk Raes
KU Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
retired
Data sets
LIS source code and input for showcase simulations with AquaCrop v7.2 (De Lannoy et al., 2026, GMD) Michel Bechtold et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18458265
Model code and software
AquaCrop v7.2 Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy et al. https://github.com/KUL-RSDA/AquaCrop
LIS source code and input for showcase simulations with AquaCrop v7.2 (De Lannoy et al., 2026, GMD) Michel Bechtold et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18458265
AquaCrop v7.2 L. Busschaert et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17140665
Short summary
The AquaCrop model has been incorporated into the NASA Land Information System, to advance regional crop growth simulations at any spatial resolution, with a range of different input sources for meteorology, soil and crop parameters. This system also facilitates the assimilation of satellite data to update the crop and water conditions during model simulations. We present three exploratory applications to highlight pathways for future research on regional-scale crop estimation.
The AquaCrop model has been incorporated into the NASA Land Information System, to advance...
