Help us help you (while learning)

[Luca Doro]

Dear EPIC/APEX users,

This message is for all of you but probably the new users and those learning how to use the model will benefit the most.

As a team member supporting the EPIC/APEX users, I decided to write this message because I noticed a trend in the messages posted here or by direct email. More and more often I see messages where the user asks for help because the model underestimating plant yield or is overestimating the surface runoff or the nutrient losses. There were cases where the user did not provide information on the model or the interface used in the simulation (remember that the forum is for both EPIC and APEX and that on top of the stand-alone version, several interfaces are available for EPIC and APEX). These messages usually continue with the question "what can I do to improve the results"?

Here is my point. It would be great to receive a message where the user describes the problem (e.g., underestimated yield), provides information on the analysis already done (something like "the possible reason for the low simulation yield is high water stress as reported in the XYZ output file), and gives details on what was already done trying to increase the simulated yield (for instance "because the water stress could be caused by high runoff/low infiltration, the following adjustments were tested... but none of them was successful"). Only at this point, the user should ask, "what ELSE can I do to improve the results"?

In this way, you will learn more about the model (learning by doing) and it would be much more effective than just us providing you with the solution.

Moreover, keep in mind that the calibration is often a time-consuming process and we cannot do all the work for you (this is my opinion and not the opinion of all my colleagues).

So, please, when you post a question asking for help/support

• provide information on the model and interface you are using
• provide an analysis of what can be the cause of the problem
  
• provide information on what was already tested to solve the problem

Happy modeling,

Luca

[Jaehak]

I can't agree more. Excellent point.

[Luca Doro]

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[Luca Doro]

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