Water Stress Regime of Irrigated Crops Based on Remote Sensing and Ground-Based Data

Anatoly Mikhailovich Zeyliger,Olga Sergeevna Ermolaeva

doi:10.3390/agronomy11061117

Abstract

In the past few decades, combinations of remote sensing technologies with ground-based methods have become available for use at the level of irrigated fields. These approaches allow an evaluation of crop water stress dynamics and irrigation water use efficiency. In this study, remotely sensed and ground-based data were used to develop a method of crop water stress assessment and analysis. Input datasets of this method were based on the results of ground-based and satellite monitoring in 2012. Required datasets were collected for 19 irrigated alfalfa crops in the second year of growth at three study sites located in Saratovskoe Zavolzhie (Saratov Oblast, Russia). Collected datasets were applied to calculate the dynamics of daily crop water stress coefficients for all studied crops, thereby characterizing the efficiency of crop irrigation. Accordingly, data on the crop yield of three harvests were used. An analysis of the results revealed a linear relationship between the crop yield of three cuts and the average value of the water stress coefficient. Further application of this method may be directed toward analyzing the effectiveness of irrigation practices and the operational management of agricultural crop irrigation.

Highlights

Water availability for the roots of irrigated agricultural crops (IACs) is a limiting factor in water management
This study revealed that the water stress level of irrigated alfalfa crops had an effect on their yield
Linear relationships were established between irrigated alfalfa crop yield and the averaged values of the water stress coefficient

Summary

Introduction

Water availability for the roots of irrigated agricultural crops (IACs) is a limiting factor in water management. The concepts used in water management play a crucial role in determining the efficiency of irrigation in the agriculture sector, which represents the largest consumer of freshwater resources in the word [1]. Water storage in the soil root zone may lead to a high temporal and spatial variability of CWS. This spatial variability of CWS in IACs represents a limiting factor in irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). In this regard, some technologies have been introduced for dealing with variable rate irrigation (VRI) [2]. Irrigation machines implementing VRI are not widespread and there is room for improvement in their efficiency in the near future, along with progress in irrigated field delineation linked to crop water requirements

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion