How can I benefit from BAITSSS Desktop?
BAITSSS Desktop brings satellite, weather, soil, and field information into one continuous workflow for examining evapotranspiration, soil water, irrigation, and spatial field variability.
You can examine how water use changes across a field, follow soil-water conditions through a season, evaluate modeled irrigation behavior, compare simulation periods or management settings, rerun a field with updated Landsat and NLDAS data, and export results for research, reports, teaching, and decision support.
BAITSSS Desktop helps you understand what is happening with water in your field, where it is happening, and how it changes over time.
Can BAITSSS Desktop look at my field?
Yes. Define or import an Area of Interest (AOI) in the BAITSSS Desktop viewer. The desktop can show that saved AOI with the base information used by the project, including NLCD land cover, DEM/elevation, Soil Field Capacity, and Soil Available Water Capacity.
Can I run BAITSSS Desktop on my laptop?
Yes. BAITSSS Desktop is a Windows desktop application designed to run locally on the user's computer. A cloud computing environment is not required to run the BAITSSS model.
Performance depends on the processor, available memory, disk space, field size, and simulation length. Larger AOIs and longer simulations require more computing resources. Exact minimum and recommended hardware specifications will be published after they are formally verified.
How is BAITSSS Desktop built?
BAITSSS Desktop is written in Python using PySide6, which connects the Python interface code to the underlying Qt C++ GUI framework on Windows. PyInstaller packages the Python, PySide6, Qt, and required runtime components so BAITSSS runs as a normal Windows desktop application.
What data do I need before I can run a field?
You do not have to build the base spatial-data stack yourself. BAITSSS Desktop already works with the land-cover, elevation and soil base layers used by the BAITSSS model. The changing datasets in the current desktop workflow are Landsat and NLDAS hourly weather.
Inside BAITSSS Desktop, use File → Import → Landsat or File → Import → NLDAS. The import windows show the registered BaseData archive and provide Download Missing for data still needed by the selected project.
What accounts or credentials do I need to download Landsat and NLDAS data?
BAITSSS uses the user's own data-provider credentials for automated downloads. NLDAS downloads require the appropriate NASA Earthdata login credentials. For Landsat, the user needs a USGS account that has been accepted for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) access and an active M2M token, together with the required login details. BAITSSS then uses those credentials to request and download the required data for the project.
Can I use BAITSSS Desktop with recent data during the growing season?
Yes, with the latency of the public source data. NASA states that NLDAS-2 forcing is currently available about 3–4 days behind the current date. USGS reports that Landsat 9 Level-2 products are generally available about 3 days after acquisition. Landsat 8 requires additional tier processing and can take longer; the current USGS Collection 2 generation timeline reports approximately 4–11 days from acquisition to Level-2 generation.
The BAITSSS model does not currently forecast future ET or future irrigation demand. Instead, you can return to the same field, use the most recently available Landsat and NLDAS data, adjust the simulation period, download what is missing, and run the field again.
At what spatial resolution are BAITSSS model results produced?
The BAITSSS model produces its Landsat-based field results at 30 m spatial resolution. That allows mapped outputs such as evapotranspiration to show spatial differences across the field rather than only one field-average number.
Can I use my own satellite or weather data?
The established satellite route is Landsat 7, 8, and 9, and the established hourly weather-forcing route is NLDAS. Arbitrary satellite products or weather formats are not supported as drop-in scientific replacements.
A Local Weather Station forcing route is currently in development, including strict location, timestamp, period-completeness, conditioning, and execution checks. It is not yet presented as an established BAITSSS Desktop V1 forcing route.
Can I use my own soil maps?
Not currently as raster inputs. The present BAITSSS Desktop workflow does not support user-supplied raster soil maps for spatially varying soil properties. Instead, supported soil-related conditions can be adjusted through single-value field inputs where appropriate.
Can higher-resolution data improve BAITSSS model results?
Potentially. Higher-resolution data may improve representation of field variability that can be missed at the current 30 m Landsat scale, especially in smaller fields, field edges, mixed pixels, heterogeneous soils, or nonuniform management.
However, higher spatial resolution does not automatically mean higher model accuracy. The data must also be reliable, appropriately processed, timed correctly, and scientifically compatible with the BAITSSS model and its assumptions.
Can I use the BAITSSS model for all crops or land uses other than irrigated agriculture?
The BAITSSS model is not limited to a single crop. Its calculations use satellite observations, weather, surface-energy-balance and soil-water processes rather than a single crop-specific equation.
However, this does not mean every crop type or land-use class has been equally validated. Model performance should be evaluated for the vegetation, management, soil-water conditions, and land use where it is applied. For non-irrigated agriculture or other vegetated land uses, ET and soil-water behavior can still be investigated, while irrigation-related outputs should be interpreted according to the actual management of the site.
Can the BAITSSS model track crop growth and rooting growth?
The BAITSSS model can follow seasonal crop and canopy development through satellite-derived vegetation information, including changes in NDVI and LAI used by the model.
The BAITSSS model does not currently simulate biological root growth through time. Rooting depth is provided as a model setting rather than being predicted dynamically.
How are Landsat NDVI and LAI snapshots integrated through a BAITSSS simulation?
BAITSSS treats valid Landsat vegetation observations as temporal anchor points for each model pixel rather than as isolated snapshots. Between valid acquisition dates, the vegetation state is linearly interpolated to a daily sequence, which is then used by the hourly model.
At the beginning and end of a simulation, BAITSSS may use one nearby Landsat scene outside the requested period to extend the vegetation trajectory to the simulation boundary. The outside scene must fall within a 15-day boundary window and must be consistent with the nearest in-period vegetation state: a pre-period scene cannot be higher than the first in-period value, and a post-period scene cannot be lower than the last in-period value.
This prevents a distant or directionally inconsistent outside-period observation from forcing an unrealistic vegetation trajectory at the start or end of the simulation.
Does the BAITSSS model use thermal information?
Satellite thermal observations are not assimilated as a direct forcing of the maintained BAITSSS model trajectory. Soil and canopy temperatures are calculated internally as part of the two-source energy-balance solution.
For scientific evaluation, BAITSSS Desktop can extract an observed Landsat surface temperature at a selected model pixel and the exact scene acquisition time and preserve that observation with source and QA provenance. This allows independent comparison with modeled thermal behavior without turning the satellite thermal observation into a model input.
Does the BAITSSS model use reference evapotranspiration (ET)?
Yes, the maintained BAITSSS Desktop route includes internal reference-ET preparation as part of its supported weather and scientific workflow. However, BAITSSS total ET is not calculated by multiplying reference ET by a crop coefficient.
Model ET is produced from the coupled energy balance, resistance framework, vegetation state, soil-water state, atmospheric forcing, and hour-to-hour state progression. Reference ET therefore has a different role from the modeled BAITSSS ET result.
Can I change the irrigation scheduling settings?
Yes. The advanced irrigation settings allow the user to change management assumptions including Management Allowed Depletion (MAD), rooting depth, and other irrigation-control options. You can rerun the field with different settings to examine how the modeled irrigation and soil-water response changes.
Can I adjust the initial soil-moisture condition?
Yes. BAITSSS Desktop allows the user to adjust the initial soil-moisture condition using a single field-level value. This is intended mainly for relatively homogeneous fields, including many center-pivot applications, where one representative starting condition is appropriate.
How many simulations can I run?
You can run as many simulations as needed. BAITSSS Desktop does not impose a fixed total simulation-count limit. Each simulation stores outputs on your computer, so the practical limit is the available disk space.
Can I run multiple AOIs, Landsat datasets, or simulations at the same time?
BAITSSS Desktop currently executes one simulation at a time. You can maintain multiple independent projects, AOIs, simulation periods, and runs and execute them sequentially.
A simulation is not limited to one Landsat observation. The maintained Landsat route performs period-based scene handling and carries seasonal vegetation progression between available satellite observations. Spatial execution remains tied to the supported 30 m model grid and validated project data.
How fast can I get results?
Runtime depends on AOI size, simulation length, hardware, available memory, storage performance, and run configuration. BAITSSS Desktop V1 includes multiprocessing spatial execution, long-run recovery, disk protection, and bounded storage designed for both short diagnostic runs and long seasonal simulations.
There is no single public wall-clock time that applies to every project. Performance should be measured for the actual AOI, period, hardware, and configuration rather than inferred from an older development-machine estimate.
What do I get after a BAITSSS Desktop run?
BAITSSS Desktop runs the BAITSSS model as a continuous field-scale water and energy balance and lets the user inspect outputs including evapotranspiration, soil-water conditions, modeled irrigation behavior, spatial maps, and time-series results for the selected simulation period.
Can I export my results?
Yes. BAITSSS Desktop supports hourly CSV, run Results CSV, and PNG figure or map export. Where exposed by the Results workflow, it also provides General and Publication figure modes and Simulation Report PDF export.
Scientific tables are kept separate from detailed provenance where appropriate. Companion metadata can preserve run identity, pixel identity, source information, thermal authority, QA, and export traceability so an exported result remains connected to the simulation that produced it.
Where are my projects and results stored?
BAITSSS Desktop uses a local project workflow. Project inputs, run information, and outputs are organized with the project on the user's computer, while registered reusable environmental data are maintained in the local BaseData archive. The current modeling workflow does not depend on cloud synchronization.
How accurate are BAITSSS model results?
The BAITSSS model is a scientific model, so there is no single accuracy number that applies to every field and every period. Results should be evaluated against independent field observations whenever those observations are available. Performance can vary with the quality of the input data, field conditions, model parameters, irrigation assumptions, and the period being simulated.
Why might BAITSSS model results differ from my field observations even when the inputs are correct?
The BAITSSS model represents field processes through mathematical and physical assumptions. A real crop and field can behave differently because of physiological conditions, crop stress, disease, nutrient limitations, cultivar differences, rooting behavior, canopy condition, management, or other field-specific factors that are not fully represented by the model.
A mismatch should first be checked against the AOI, dates, Landsat coverage, weather data, soil properties, irrigation settings, rooting depth, MAD, and other model inputs. But even when those inputs are correct, the field can still behave differently from the model assumptions.
How is the BAITSSS model different from free ET products?
Free ET products can be very useful when the main question is simply, "What was ET here?" The BAITSSS model is not designed only to provide an ET map.
ET is one part of a continuous field simulation that connects Landsat, hourly weather, surface energy balance, soil-water balance, crop conditions, and irrigation logic. This allows the user to examine how ET, soil water, and modeled irrigation change together through time, change management assumptions such as MAD or rooting depth, rerun the field, and inspect the model response.
Can I get software similar to BAITSSS Desktop?
Several scientific tools address satellite evapotranspiration, soil-water modeling, or irrigation support, but they do not necessarily combine the same processes or workflow. BAITSSS Desktop integrates the BAITSSS model with 30 m remote sensing, hourly weather, two-source energy balance, two-layer soil-water dynamics, modeled irrigation, run recovery, Results, and scientific provenance within one maintained desktop system.
BAITSSS Desktop V1 is now in first-release validation and final software cleanup. The core desktop system is implemented; current work is concentrated on final validation, authority cleanup, human workflow checks, release acceptance, documentation, and controlled packaging.
How do I get started after installing BAITSSS Desktop?
Open BAITSSS Desktop, create or reopen a project, locate and define the field in the AOI Viewer, choose the simulation period, then use the Landsat and NLDAS import tools to verify or download the required changing data. Once the project is ready, run the model and inspect the Results page.
Can I manage more than one field or project?
Yes. The Project Manager can hold multiple BAITSSS Desktop projects that can be created, reopened, and managed separately. Each project keeps its own AOI, simulation period, project data, runs, and results. The current desktop workflow runs projects individually rather than as a multi-field batch job.
Is BAITSSS Desktop simply the original research code with a desktop interface?
No. BAITSSS Desktop was rebuilt from the earlier research implementation into a maintained desktop system with structured projects, validated data preparation, controlled scientific execution, provenance, restart and recovery, Results, export, and packaged runtime.
The scientific model remains continuous with the earlier BAITSSS research, but the software around it is a different product-level implementation designed to make long hourly, spatial simulations practical and reproducible.
Can I still run the old BAITSSS model research code?
Earlier research versions may still be useful for historical comparison or specialized scientific work, but current BAITSSS Desktop development is centered on the desktop software.
The desktop is intended to provide the maintained workflow for project setup, supported data, simulation, Results, provenance, reproducibility, and scientific export.
Can I edit the BAITSSS Desktop code and work with it on my local machine?
BAITSSS Desktop runs locally on your computer, but the current desktop distribution is intended to be used as packaged scientific software rather than as an editable source-code project.
If source-code access is provided for a research, development, or collaboration purpose, that access is handled separately from normal software access.
Who developed BAITSSS?
The published BAITSSS model record begins with Ramesh Dhungel as first author of the 2016 methodology paper that introduced the model framework, with Richard G. Allen, Ricardo Trezza, and C.W. Robison. That work originated at the University of Idaho.
Dhungel continued as first author on subsequent BAITSSS development, evaluation, and application studies with collaborators at Kansas State University, USDA, and other research institutions. The model therefore has a named scientific lineage as well as an institutional one.
The current BAITSSS Desktop generation is a later software stage built on that published scientific lineage. See Scientific History & Publications for the peer-reviewed record.
How can students and faculty use BAITSSS Desktop and the BAITSSS model?
Students can use BAITSSS Desktop for education, thesis or dissertation work, research training, and field-scale analysis of ET, soil water, and irrigation. Faculty can use BAITSSS Desktop for teaching, research, student supervision, BAITSSS model evaluation, and academic field studies. Software access is governed through the responsible institution or organization.
Where do I go for support or to report a problem?
Use the BAITSSS Contact page for software questions, troubleshooting, or problem reports. When reporting a software issue, include the BAITSSS Desktop build or version, the project step where the problem occurred, and enough information to reproduce the behavior when possible.
Is BAITSSS Desktop free?
Public information, publications, evidence, and demonstrations are available without software access. Use of BAITSSS Desktop is provided through an approved institutional or organizational agreement; an individual request does not by itself establish access.
Still have a question?
Contact BAITSSS. Questions about the science, software, data, simulations, results, access, or troubleshooting will be directed to the appropriate BAITSSS contact.
