Getting Started with Almopol

ALMOPOL is a web-based model that is used to investigate the relationship between the many variables encountered in pollinating almonds by using Honeybees or Osmia.
This program gives you full control over your model of your orchards, your scenarios, your weather, and your model parameters. When you first get started, you will define your orchards and then you can start running scenarios.

Just Logging In Now

If you have just created a new account, there is a process you need to go through in order to prepare for your pollination analysis. First, you will have to define the orchard or orchards you want to evaluate. You will notice that the menu items on the top will not let you select Analyze Pollen if you have just created this account. Don't worry, you can always come back and modify your orchards or create new ones.

Press here to see a video explaining how to create your first orchard.

Once you have defined an orchard you can run the model by selecting Analyze Pollen. Before we go there though lets look at some of the other things you can do with ALMOPOL

My Profile

There are some model parameters that do not change often but you may want to adjust them occasionally. These parameters can be modified for your account by selecting this menu item. If you find that you would like to revert back to the default values for these, simply select the "Restore Default Values" button on the My Profile page.

My Orchards

You can create new orchards edit your existing orchards or delete existing orchards with this section. When you select this menu option, you will be shown a screen with one of your current orchards displayed (if one exists). You can switch between different orchards by making a selection from the drop-down box at the top of the page.

You can begin creating a new orchard by entering a name in the Enter New Orchard Name box at the bottom of the page. Once you enter the Create button, your orchard's name will be displayed in the drop-down list at the top of the page and a default number of 10 acres will be shown as the size. You can change this default value by typing in another number (decimals allowed) and pressing the "Update" button.

Your orchard is described by creating a number of rows. To add a row, just enter the information in the fields in the Add Orchard Rows section and press the "Add" button. You can select the row's cultivar from the defined cultivar list in the drop-down list. You enter the average width and height of the row's tree canopy in meters.

The multi-edit controls allow you to duplicate one or more rows a specified number of times so you don't have to enter a repetitive pattern manually. To use this feature, just check the Select check box next to the rows you want to duplicate. You will notice the "Duplicate" button in the Multi-Edit box becomes active. If you press "Duplicate" you will be promped to choose which row the duplicated rows will be placed after and how many copies. For example, you may want to duplicate 3 rows 10 time and insert them after row 5.

Finally, you have the ability to delete an orchard by selecting its name in the Delete Orchard drop-down list at the bottom of the page then press "Delete". You can learn more about how your orchards are created and edited by going to My Orchards

Analyze Pollen

This is the workhorse of the model. When you select this menu item, you will be shown the Almond Grower Dashboard. You define the scenario conditions such as which weather, which orchard, and the bee strength which you would like to investigate. Pressing the "Run Model" button causes the model to execute and after a short time, charts are displayed representing the data generated. You can save, print, and change some of the display characteristice of the charts.

My Weather

This section allows you to update and manage weather information.

Reports

ALMOPOL will eventually have several pre-defined reports which you can save to your computer. You will also be able to download comma-separated-variable (CSV) files for further manipulation in other programs such as Microsoft Excel.

Help

The help system includes information on the operation of the ALMOPOL model as well as some of the theory behind it.