CropWat 4 Windows version 4.

3 (C) 1996-1999, FAO, IIDS, NWRC ****************************** CropWat 4 Windows is a program that uses the FAO (1992) Penman-Monteith method for calculating reference crop evapotranspiration. These estimates are used in crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling calculations. The methods supersede the older FAO 24 procedures published in 1977 which are no longer recommended as they over estimate evapotranspiration. The program uses the same Penman-Monteith methodology as used in CROPWAT versions 5.7 and 7.0 and uses the same data such as the CLIMWAT climate and rainfall data files. For more information please refer to the online Help and Manual. What's new? ----------CropWat 4 Windows version 4.3 is a maintenance release for version 4.2. It mainly fixes a problem in the calculation of the irrigation requirements in version 4.2. The problem occurred when CropWat 4 Windows version 4.2 calculated the irrigation requirements of crops whose areas were less than 100% and significant rainfall was available. The irrigation requirements were calculated by considering that ALL the effective rainfall contributed to the requirements of each crop instead of considering only a fraction of the rainfall that is proportional to the crop area. Consequently, the irrigation requirements calculated in such cases were slightly lower than what they should have been. The erroneous results were produced in the CWR Table, the CWR Graph and the CWR Report. No other calculations were affected. The problem has been fixed in this release. Other changes include the distribution of the online Manual of the program with the installation package. System requirements: -------------------- A computer running Microsoft Windows 3.1x, Windows 9x or later (the program should also run under Windows NT 3.5x or later but has not been tested by the developers). - 6 MB free hard disk space to install (the program occupies only 4 MB of disk space once it is installed). - Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to be able to read the online Manual (this software can be downloaded off the Internet for free from http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/). Installation (MUST READ): ------------------------The following procedure can be used to install CropWat 4 Windows for the first time or to upgrade an older version of the program. NOTE: If you are upgrading an older version of the program, please make sure to back up all the important data files first for precaution. Run Windows if it is not already running (if you see the DOS prompt C:\> you should run Windows by typing WIN and then pressing the Enter key). IMPORTANT WARNING: Once Windows is running, it is vital that you

close down all other active Windows programs to avoid installation problems. For example, Microsoft Office version 4.x shares the same resource files as the CropWat 4 Windows installation program SETUP.EXE. If you do not close down Microsoft Office (including Office Manager "the toolbar") the CropWat 4 Windows installation may cause an error which can in some circumstances affect the performance of the components of Microsoft Office. If you received CropWat 4 Windows on disks then insert installation DISK 1 into the disk drive and run the file SETUP.EXE. If you downloaded the program off the Internet, unpack all the files in ONE temporary directory on your hard disk and then run SETUP.EXE. The rest of this procedure assumes that you are installing the program from floppy drive A. Windows 3.1x: You can run SETUP.EXE using the File Manager or by selecting Run from the File menu at the top left of the Program Manager window, and typing A:\SETUP.EXE as the Command Line. Windows 9x: Use Windows Explorer to point to the 3 1/2 Floppy and double click on the file SETUP.EXE, or choose Run from the Start menu and type A:\SETUP.EXE as the program to Open. Follow the instructions given on the screen and change disks when you are prompted. By default, the program will be installed to C:\CROPWATW, but you can change this during installation if you prefer. The installation program will also ask you whether you want a Windows program group and icons to be created. If this is the first time you install CropWat 4 Windows on your PC or if you are upgrading an older version of the program you should answer "Yes". The installation should take only few minutes. Removing the program: --------------------To remove the program, just delete the directory where it is installed using File Manager or the DELTREE DOS command. Year 2000 compliance: --------------------CropWat 4 Windows uses the system date only when producing output reports. In this manner the dates reported by the system to CropWat are used for output only and are not used as input into the program. The functioning of the program should therefore not be affected in the new millennium, subject to the compliance of the operating platform (Windows). Disclaimer: ----------This software is supplied "AS IS". Although every effort has been made to ensure that the program operates correctly, the developers accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions in the software. The developers take no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of the software.