Ask LENNART: Decision support in multiple environments

LENNART is a net-based decision support system (DSS) that has been designed to evaluate the costs of various agronomic measures for reducing leaching of nitrogen from arable land. Both the calculated cost and the reduced leaching in kg ha-1 are presented, as well as the cost per kg reduced N leached per hectar. The model can be adjusted by the user to reflect local conditions. The base unit of this model is the field level (hectare). Farms, sub-catchments, catchments or other regions of interest are built up from a field level. The system (LENNART) has been designed to serve as decision support under several different decision environments. While these uses are not exclusive they give some idea of the flexibility and utility of the model for different types of decision makers. This paper describes how the system may be used for support in three types of decision environments associated with the implementation of agro-environmental policy. The three environments are defined through characterization of the users in that environment. In the problem, defined here, the implementation of measures to reduce the leaching of nitrogen from cultivated land, the users identified are farmers, authorities and researchers. The paper begins with a description of the background to the problem, the next section describes the methodology used to develop the DSS. This is followed by a description of the decision environments, the structure of the model LENNART and ends with conclusions and further development plans for the model.