The main features of BAHUS — biometeorological system for messages on the occurrence of diseases in fruits and vines

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for providing a high level of production of wholesome plant food but without losing its quality from the consumer’s point of view. In this regard, it is required to provide reliable information about the occurrence of plant diseases so as to ensure their efficient control. The reliability of this information increases substantially if both the meteorological and the biological quantities, measured or modelled, are properly integrated in a prognostic system. By the joint efforts of the authors’ institutions the biometeorological system BAHUS for messages on the occurrence of the most important diseases in fruits and vines has been developed. This system has been developed in Microsoft FoxPro 2.6(X) following standards of analysis of a large amount of data. It consists of two modules. The first provides input for prediction in the form of the measured or modelled meteorological and biological data, while the second, on the basis of available input data, selects the corresponding method for messages on the occurrence of disease. Depending on the method selected, the meteorological data can be assimilated either from weather stations, atmospheric models or software packages LAPS (land–air parameterization schemes providing 10 min prognostic values) and KARLOS (providing their climatological values) integrated in the system as a whole. The BAHUS has been designed as an open system giving a wide range of possibilities for increasing its level of sophistication.