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SUMMARYStatistical models allow the representation of data sets and the estimation and/or prediction of the behavior of a given variable through its interaction with the other variables involved in a phenomenon. Among other different statistical models, are the autoregressive state-space models (ARSS) and the linear regression models (LR), which allow the quantification of the relationships among soil-plantatmosphere system variables. To compare the quality of the ARSS and LR models for the modeling of the relationships between soybean yield and soil physical properties, Akaike's Information Criterion, which provides a coefficient for the selection of the best model, was used in this study. The data sets were sampled in a Rhodic Acrudox soil, along a spatial transect with 84 points spaced 3 m apart. At each sampling point, soybean samples were collected for yield quantification. At the same site, soil penetration resistance was also measured and soil samples were collected to measure soil bulk density in the 0-0.10 m and 0.10-0.20 m layers. Results showed autocorrelation and a cross correlation structure of soybean yield and soil penetration resistance data. Soil bulk density data, however, were only autocorrelated in the 0-0.10 m layer and not cross correlated with soybean yield. The results showed the higher efficiency of the autoregressive space-state models in relation to the equivalent simple and multiple linear regression models using Akaike's Information Criterion. The resulting values were comparatively lower than the values obtained by the regression models, for all combinations of explanatory variables.Index terms: autocorrelation, cross correlation, linear regression, state-space model, soil and plant properties.(1) Extracted from the dissertation of the first author.

A way to compare two or more measurements for the same random variable can be achieved by using a negligible error reference measurement, which is called the gold standard, obtained by consolidated measurement methods. This paper presents a new methodology for comparing measurements in the presence of a gold standard with random variables from the multivariate three-parameter (shape, scale, and location) gamma distribution. The errors between gold standard measures and approximate measures have a gamma difference distribution with the same three parameters of the gamma distribution. The concordance measurements were obtained by mean of a coefficient, which measures the degree of agreement as a ratio between the variances of the gold standard and the errors. The developed methodology is illustrated with climatic data which is divided into four ranges. The measurements analyzed are rainfall forecasts of the following four national centers: Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC), European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC). The forecast range was 240 hours for the West mesoregion of Paraná – Brazil, and in the October 1–March 31 period of the 2010/2011 –2015/2016 harvest years. The period was selected because it is related to soybean crop development in the region and because several crop estimation models use rainfall forecast data in this period. The methodology applied spatially indicated the center to be selected in each geographical location according to each rainfall range interval. The gamma model fit well with the data and is an alternative to the normal one for modelling rainfall, in particular to estimate concordances between rainfall forecasts and the gold standard, which are used to improve the selection of rainfall forecast centers.

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