Known issues:
- Data:
- Population of the core database underlying the software is
an ongoing process. As yet data are not available for all crop and livestock enterprises.
Use the 'check for updates' facility within the software to download the latest updates
for the database.
- Soil type:
- There are number of different soil type classifications
used within the software for different calculations. This is because different scientific
studies that underpin the data have used different classifications. We have tried to
rationalise them where possible, but at this stage of development it has not been possible
to develop a single classication. Therefore you may be asked for several descriptions of
soil type, please select those which best match the soil for the farm.
- Only one soil type can be selected for the farm. It is
acknowledged that a farm can have different soil types in different fields. For this
prototype we have simplified the approach to have only one soil type for the farm. This is
not ideal, but ok for this initial prototype. We are exploring some ideas on how this
could be improved in the future, for example using a percentage for each soil type.
However, we want to avoid a situation where the user has to enter details for each field
on the farm, as then the tool would become very time consuming to complete. If you do wish
to assess part of the farm which has a different soil type, then you could create one or
more separate assessment files for different parts of the farm. This is not ideal, as the
outputs would need to be examined alongside each other to see the emissions profile for
the whole farm, but it would allow for a more accurate assessment of the farm as a whole.
- Processing time:
- The processing time required to calculate mitigation
options for farm has been one of the more significant technical challenges. It should be
remembered that this is a prototype that has been rapidly developed, so it is not fully
optimised with respect to how data is handled and processed. We will continue to seek to
improve the processing time where possible.
- In the meantime, you can reduce the processing time by
changing some of the options on the screen prior to the calculation, e.g. removing any
components that have little or no mitigation potential (upper list of the options screen)
and/or fixing some of the modifiers (lower list on the screen), e.g. fixing the energy
sources for buildings or machinery. This can significantly reduce the number of
permutations and calculations that need to be undertaken, and thus the processing time.
- "Invalid Equation" and "Type mismatch"
errors:
- In some instances you may find that the software crashes
and you get an "Invalid Equation" error or "Type mismatch" error. If
this happens it may be due to the Regional Settings on your PC. To temporarily resolve
this error please set your Regional Settings (in Control Panel) to "English (United
Kingdom)". If the problem persists please report the problem to aeru@herts.ac.uk.
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