The long-term agrometeorological field experiment at Berlin-Dahlem, Germany

In order to investigate the relationships between atmospheric influences and crop yields, long-term observations of meteorological and agronomic parameters are necessary. The agrometeorological field experiment at Berlin-Dahlem (Germany), which was established in autumn 1952, is a unique basis for such studies. The original aim of this experiment was to show how the variability of weather affects the growth, development and yield formation of different crops. On eight plots, potatoes, winter rye, field beans, oats, sugar-beet, maize, spring barley, and yellow lupin are grown on a permanent crop rotation. The crop management from year to year is constant so that the annual variability of crop yield is only the result of climatic fluctuations. In this paper, the long-term experiment is described and the observed crop yields are briefly discussed. Following papers will present results of relationships between atmospheric influences and crop yields for spring and winter cereal, root crops and legumes in detail. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.