Abstract
Smart-irrigation systems are a hot topic in irrigation management. Satellite imaging, sensors and controls, communication technologies and irrigation decision models are readily available. The price of the required technology is being reduced year after year, and its implementation in agriculture gives real-time information that allows for more accurate management of water resources. Even so, the adaptation of existing technologies to particular situations that the irrigation management is facing in different agro-environmental contexts is needed. This Special Issue addresses the application of different smart-irrigation technologies in four different research areas: (1) remote sensing-based estimates of crop evapotranspiration, (2) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for smart-irrigation, (3) precision irrigation models and controls, and (4) the price of natural resources. The nine papers presented in this special issue cover a wide range of practical applications, and this editorial summarizes each of them.
Highlights
Smart-irrigation systems provide attractive instruments and methodologies for saving water and improving soil conservation in view of mitigating the impacts of climate change as well as increasing agricultural production
The authors propose a method based on the integration and harmonization of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) obtained from Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 sensors in order to obtain a single NDVI time series as a means to estimate evapotranspiration through specific adjustment equations for each type of crop, which allows one to continuously characterize the demand for water during an irrigation season
Once calibrated for a district of 1000 ha using meteorological, hydrological and land-use data of a four-year period, the model was used to assess four different irrigation management scenarios: (1) wet seeding and continuous flooding until few weeks before harvest (WFL), (2) dry seeding and delayed flooding (DFL), (3) alternate wetting and drying (WDA), and (4) WFL followed by post-harvest winter flooding (WFL-W)
Summary
Smart-irrigation systems provide attractive instruments and methodologies for saving water and improving soil conservation in view of mitigating the impacts of climate change as well as increasing agricultural production. Smart-irrigation systems that aim to adopt single or combined automation and Information Communication Technologies at the farm/district scale, as well as customized and integrated model approaches at larger scales, would appear to be a farsighted way to promote future resilient irrigation management. Within this framework, the Special Issue “Managing and Planning Water Resources for Irrigation: Smart-Irrigation Systems for Providing Sustainable Agriculture and Maintaining Ecosystem Services”. Pros and cons of marginal water use in irrigated agriculture
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