Using the Unified Modeling Language to develop soil waterbalance and irrigation-scheduling models

Many water-balance and irrigation-scheduling models have been developed as research and/or management tools. These models continue to be modified or re-used by other research groups. A method for developing and documenting these models, using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is presented. This method simplifies documentation of model requirements, assumptions and calculations and provides a template for implementing the model in programming languages. Using the template can simplify the processes of code re-use and model modification.