The Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VB 2000) Reference Manual - ECORC- July 2000
by W. Baier (Honorary Research Associate, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed
Research Centre), J. B. Boisvert (Program Director, Eastern Region) and J. A. Dyer
(Private Consultant)
Since its introduction in 1966, the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VB) has been widely
used under variety of soil and climatic conditions in Canada and abroad. Based on these
extensive applications and additional tests, several improvements were partially
incorporated in earlier versions but these were not fully documented.
The present VB 2000 version was redesigned to include effective modifications and to make
the computer program Year 2000 compliant.
Two major features were added: a dynamic root growth and a water table function,
but the fundamentals that make the VB versatile and simple were kept.
The VB can be employed in dry and moist soils and under a variety of environmental
conditions. It simulates variations in soil moisture distribution, drainage and actual
evapotranspiration.
For a review of the VB concept and applications see:
Wolfgang Baier and Geo. W. Robertson, 1996. Soil moisture modelling - conception and
evolution of the VSMB. Can. J. Soil Sci. 76: 251-261.
The current reference manual is divided into three parts:
Part A describes the fundamentals of the conceptual model;
Part B explains how to use the software;
and Part C deals with technical aspects relating to programming.
Copies of the manual and of the software are now available free of charge from the
corresponding author:
Dr. Johanne Boisvert, Program Director, Eastern Region, Central Experimental Farm,
Room 761 SJC Building, Ottawa, Ont., K1A 0C6, Canada.
Fax: (613) 759 7771,
e-mail: boisvertj@em.agr.ca.