NB4 -relationship between SoilRatings and soil limiting factors

[maobw12]

Hello, when running the NB4 module, I use the sample data, and after running different versions of python, the results obtained are different from the sample data of the NB4 output, and the difference is very large. The output data and notebook are uploaded in the form of attachments.
NB4_mao_problems.zip
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I found that fc4 _ irr and fc4 _ rain output by NB4 notebook using tutorials are soil adaptability grades under irr and rain conditions, and are not soil limiting factors, so I want to ask what is the relationship between SoilRatings and soil limiting factors ? Is “the 1- SoilRatings =the soil limiting factor "?
In addition, I found the excel table for the NB4 sample data : the data in the surface soil and the bottom soil properties table of the crop soil are the same, and the HWSD layers are divided into 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-60 cm, 60-80 cm, 80-100 cm, 100-150 cm and 150-200 cm. Is the topsoil 0,20,40,60,80,100,150 in different soil layers, and the subsoil 20,40,60,80,100,150,200 in different soil layers ?
There is also a problem, I extracted the corresponding soil properties from HWSD in the study area, RSD, SPR, SPH, OSD, VSP and other attributes are null values, these null values should be modified according to what ?What are the columns in these corresponding HWSD databases ?
Looking forward to your reply, I wish you a happy life !

[NokuzaSezo97]

Hi @maobw12,

Please note that the soil evaluation in v2.2 is still experimental, the validation process is not done yet. I wouldn't recommend running Module 4 from v2.2 yet until further update/revision. Instead, use v2.1's Module 4 for your soil constraint assessment. Also consider that the setting of soil evaluation in v2.1 is totally different from v2.2. kindly stick to the v2.1 user-guide manual of how to set up soil properties and soil suitability rating in python script.

There's a difference between soil reduction factor and soil rating (fc4). By AEZ principle, it evaluates edaphic suitability based on seven soil qualities (each with different consideration of several physical and chemical properties). The soil reduction factors ranges from 100 (Most suitable) to 0 (Most unsuitable). There's no "1 - soil reduction factor" implementation, in GAEZ and PyAEZ. Next step is calculation of all seven soil qualities for each SMU, and depending on selection of you input/management level, the soil rating (fc4) will be calculated. Fc4 ranges from 1 (very suitable) to 0 (not suitable). Please refer to GAEZ model documentation for the soil quality and soil rating calculation for your information.

For the mentioned soil properties setting, please refer to issue link (#36). The explanation is still relevant to v2.1 and v2.2.

Warm regards,

Swun Wunna Htet