Summary of all experiments and data

Summary of all experiments and data

Summary of data available from e-RA for the Rothamsted long-term experiments, June 2023

The eight original 'Classical' field experiments started by Lawes and Gilbert in the 1840s and 1850s are underlined.

This is a work in progress, as datasets are continually being added.

††† Published complete Open Access 'frictionless' dataset, with full metadata, all plots and years
†† e-RA data, no metadata, all plots and years
† Summary Open Access data / simple spreadsheets, documents, selected plots and years
# Data in preparation
## Raw data only, not currently available

TGW = thousand grain weight
HFN = Hagberg falling number
HLWT = hectolitre weight

Long-term experiment
(see link for description)

Yields

Crop nutrients

Plant and disease surveys

Grain quality

Soil

Agronomy

Rothamsted (Harpenden)

Broadbalk Wheat (1843 -)

Continuous winter wheat / wheat in rotation with beans, potatoes, oats, forage maize or fallow

††† wheat

†† other crops

††† wheat

†† other crops

†† weeds (Section 8 no herbicides)

†† disease (take-all, eyespot, Fusarium)

†† Thousand grain weight (TGW), Hagberg falling number (HFN), Hectolitre weight (HLWT)

†† %SOC, %N, pH, Olsen P,

# exchangeable cations, bulk density

## drainage water composition

††† lime, cropping, cultivars, fertilizer, FYM composition, dates

† plans

Barnfield (1843-2001)

roots and other arable crops

##

##

 

 

##

Agdell (1848-1990)

arable rotation

##

##

 

 

##

Hoosfield Barley (1852 -)

spring barley;
potatoes and beans (1968-78)

†† barley

## other crops

††

 

†† TGW, HLWT

† %SOC,

# %N, pH, Olsen P, exchangeable cations, bulk density

† cultivars, fertilizer, dates, plan, FYM composition

Garden clover (1854 -)

red clover

##

##

 

 

##

Park Grass (1856 -)

permanent grassland

††† 1903-2018

†† 1856-1902

##

††† / †† botanical composition

 

 

† pH

# %SOC, %N, Olsen P, exchangeable cations bulk density

††† lime, fertilizer treatments, dates

† plans, FYM composition

Alternate wheat and fallow (1856-2015) wheat

††

##

 

 

##

† cultivars, fertilizer, dates, plans

Exhaustion Land (1856 -) cereals

P and K tests

††† 1856-2008

## others

††† barley P

## others

 

††† HLWT

## TGW

††† soil P

## others

††† cultivars, fertilizer, dates,

† plans

Acid strip (1850s -)

wheat on pH gradient

 

 

 

 

††† pH, soil P

 

† description

 

Wilderness expts (1880s -) regenerative woodland Broadbalk and Geescroft wilderness

† biomass

† carbon

## others

† vegetation

 

† carbon

† dates and description

 

Fosters ley-arable (1948 -) cereals and leys

#

 

 

## TGW

† /# %SOC, %N

# cultivars, fertilizer, dates

Highfield ley-arable (1948 -) cereals and leys

#

 

 

## TGW

† / # %SOC, %N

# cultivars, fertilizer, dates

Highfield bare fallow (1959 -) no crop

 

 

 

 

††† %SOC, %N, pH, soil weight

††† dates

 

Highfield conversion (2008 -) grass, arable, bare fallow

#

 

 

 

#

Long-term liming (1962-1996) arable crops

†††

†††

 

 

 

††† pH, Olsen P

# exchangeable cations

††† lime, crops fertilizers, dates

† plans

Amounts of straw (1987-2017) wheat

##

##

 

 

## %SOC

Continuous maize (1997-2015) forage maize

##

##

 

 

##

Long-term Miscanthus (1993-) Miscanthus

##

##

 

 

##

Woburn (Bedfordshire)

Woburn ley-arable (1938 -) cereals and leys

††† wheat

# others

## %N

 

## TGW

††† %SOC, %N

††† cropping

† plans, treatments, dates

Woburn continuous barley (1876-1966) barley

†††

 

 

 

††† pH, %SOC, %N, P, exchangeable Ca

††† lime, fertilizers, dates

† plans

Woburn continuous wheat (1876-1966) wheat

†††

 

 

 

††† pH, %SOC, %N, P, exchangeable Ca

††† lime, fertilizers, dates

† plans

Woburn intensive cereals (1966-1990) cereals

##

##

 

 

##

Woburn market garden (1942-2006) various crops, heavy metals / sewage sludge studies

##

##

 

 

##

Woburn green manuring rotation (1936-1963)

arable crops

##

##

 

 

##

summary data and description in papers

Woburn organic manuring (1964 -) arable crops

##

##

 

## TGW

## %SOC, %N

Long-term liming (1962-1996) arable crops

†††

†††

 

 

††† pH, Olsen P

# exchangeable cations

††† lime, crops fertilizers, dates

† plans

Woburn long-term sludge experiments (1994- ) wheat

##

##

 

 

##

Amounts of straw (1987-2017) wheat

##

##

 

 

## %SOC

Continuous maize (1997-2015) forage maize

##

##

 

 

##

Erosion experiment (1988-1998) arable rotation

#

 

 

 

# soil loss, runoff, P and C loss

summary data and description in papers

Saxmundham (Suffolk)

Saxmundham rotation 1 (1965-2010) arable crops

##

##

 

 

##

Saxmundham rotation 2 (1965-2010) arable crops

† P uptake

 

 

† %SOC, pH, exchangeable K

† plans, treatments, papers

Summary of weather data

Long-term daily meteorological data available from e-RA recorded at Rothamsted (since 1853), Woburn (since 1928) and Brooms Barn (since 1982).

Variable   Rothamsted Woburn Brooms Barn

 

Unit

Start

End date

Start

End date

Start

End date

Rainfall

mm

1853

current

1928

current

1982

current

Rainfall 1/1000th acre gauge

mm

1853

current

 

 

 

 

Drainage from 20, 40 and 60 inch rain gauges

inches

1870

current

 

 

 

 

Rainfall duration

hours

1931

current

1988

1999

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maximum temperature

°C

1878

current

1928

current

1982

current

Minimum temperature

°C

1878

current

1928

current

1982

current

Grass minimum temperature

°C

1909

current

1929

current

1982

current

Wet bulb temperature

°C

1915

2014

1928

2009

1982

2009

Dry bulb temperature

°C

1915

current

1928

current

1982

current

Dew point (derived)

°C

1915

current

1968

current

1982

current

Soil temperature under grass, various depths

°C

1931

currenta

1928

currenta

2012

current

Soil temperature under bare soil, various depths

°C

1931

current

1968

current

1982

current

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunshine

hours

1890

current

1928

current

1982

current

Total solar radiationb

Mj m-2

1931

current

1981

current

1982

current

Net solar radiation

Mj m-2

 

 

 

 

1997

current

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wind direction

0-360°

1853

current

1928

current

1982

current

Wind force/speed

m s-1

1915/1960

current

1928/1968

current

2012

current

Wind run

km

1946

current

1968

current

1982

current

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barometric pressure

Mb

1915

2003a

1928

1999a

 

 

Vapour pressure (derived)

mb

1946

current

1928

currenta

1982

2009

Relative humidity (derived)

%

1925

2014

1928a

2009

1982

2009

Relative humidity (recorded)

%

2014

current

2009

current

2009

current

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloud cover

Oktas

1915

2007

1928

1999

 

 

Visibility

code

1923

2007

1928

1999

 

 

Days with hail occurring

code

1960

2007a

1968

1999a

 

 

Days with thunder occurring

code

1960

2007a

1968

1999a

 

 

Days with snow occurring

code

1960

2007a

1968

1999a

 

 

Depth of fresh snow

mm

1960

1978

1968

1978

 

 

Total depth of snow

mm

1960

2007

1968

1999

 

 

Snow lying

Code

1960

1978

1968

1978

 

 

Days with fog occurring

code

1960

1978

1968

1978

 

 

State of ground

code

 

 

 

 

1982

1996

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily met data for schools

6 variables

1990

current

 

 

 

 

Monthly met data for schools

4 variables

1878

current

 

 

 

 

 

a Data not measured in all years

b J cm-2 at Rothamsted

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For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk