Learn more about the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model
The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model is a comprehensive process-based agroe-cosystem model developed and maintained by the Blackland Research Center (BREC) part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. It simulates the interactions between climate, soil, water, nutrients, and agricultural management practices to assess their impacts on crop yields, soil erosion, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. Designed for daily time step simulations, EPIC can simulate homogeneous fields, farms, or small watersheds with consistent climate, soil, land use, and topography. The model was originally developed to evaluate the effect of various land management strategies on soil erosion, but later developments extended EPIC’s scope to encompass agricultural sustainability aspects, including erosion (wind, sheet, and channel), water supply and quality, soil quality, plant competition, weather, pests, and economics. Management capabilities include irrigation, drainage, furrow diking, buffer strips, terraces, waterways, fertilization, manure management, lagoons, reservoirs, crop rotation and selection, pesticide application, grazing, and tillage.
Key Features
Crop growth
EPIC can simulate the growth of a wide range of plants, incorporating factors like air temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, soil physical and chemical characteristics, nutrients availability, and land management. It can simulate multiple plants growing simultaneously within a field.
Soil erosion
EPIC predicts water- and wind-driven soil erosion, helping in the evaluation of erosion prevention and reduction strategies.
Water quality assessment
EPIC simulates the movement of nutrients and pesticides through the soil and into water bodies, assessing agricultural impacts on water quality.
Carbon and nutrients cycling
The model tracks carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling in the soil-plant system, helping to optimize fertilizer applications and reduce nutrient losses.
The EPIC model can be used in evaluating the effects of the potential impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity, water resources, and ecosystem services or it can be applied to assess the effectiveness of various agricultural policies and management practices in addressing environmental and economic goals.
More information about the EPIC model are available here.