Estimation of spatial distribution of irrigated crop areas in Europe for large-scale modelling applications

Abstract

Regional-to-global studies of hydrology, water availability and water use, and their interaction with agricultural production and food security require accurate information on the location and extent of irrigated croplands. In this study, we derive the European Irrigation Map for the year 2010 (EIM2010) - underpinned by the agricultural census conducted in the European Union in 2010. The map contains 14 irrigated crop classes as well as total irrigable and irrigated areas centred on the year 2010. The thematic resolution of the map is tailored specifically to European agriculture, and contains most relevant staple crops (e.g. maize, rice, potato, other cereals) as well as major permanent crops (e.g. irrigated olive orchards and vineyards). The map was created using a consistent methodology and data gathered across the European Union Member States and the UK, and therefore provides comparable and representative information across the continental domain. The input data used to construct the map consisted of farm-level records on irrigated areas and total crop areas, collected during the 2010 agricultural census and aggregated to 10 km x 10 km grid, as well as regional-level statistics (at NUTS2 level) on irrigated areas by crop type. A custom-developed disaggregation algorithm was used to distribute the regional-level statistics into the 10 km x 10 km grid. Evaluation of the map against independent reference geospatial data indicated satisfactory agreement for both large-scale spatial patterns as well as specific grid cell values for the main crop production regions. The EIM2010 is publicly available and provides valuable inputs for large scale modelling applications involving irrigated agriculture.