Variable Water Supply Research Articles

Impact of varying water supply on input use and yields of tank-irrigated rice

The direct and indirect impacts of varying irrigation water supplies on rice yields were estimated for a set of tank irrigation systems in South India. The relationships between rice yields, water supply, production inputs, and management were quantified through a simultaneous-equation model. The model captured the direct effect of varying water supplies on rice yield through the influence of moisture stress on crop growth, and indirect effects through its influence on farmer's use of complementary inputs such as fertilizer and crop management. Factors contributing to high and low on-farm rice yields were examined. In water-surplus years, sub-optimal crop management contributed about 57% to rice yield difference between low and high yielding rice farms. In water-deficit years, inadequate water supplies accounted for about 60% of the rice yield difference, with poor crop management (34%) the second most important factor.

Volume sharing of reservoir water

Previous models optimize short‐, intermediate‐, and long‐run irrigation decision making in a simplified river valley system characterized by highly variable water supplies and demands for a single decision maker controlling both reservoir releases and farm water use. A major problem in relaxing the assumption of one decision maker is communicating the stochastic nature of supplies and demands between reservoir and farm managers. In this paper, an optimizing model is used to develop release rules for reservoir management when all users share equally in releases, and computer simulation is used to generate an historical time sequence of announced releases. These announced releases become a state variable in a farm management model which optimizes farm area‐to‐irrigate decisions through time. Such modeling envisages the use of growing area climatic data by the reservoir authority to gauge water demand and the transfer of water supply data from reservoir to farm managers via computer data files. Alternative model forms, including allocating water on a priority basis, are discussed briefly. Results show lower mean aggregate farm income and lower variance of aggregate farm income than in the single decision‐maker case. This short‐run economic efficiency loss coupled with likely long‐run economic efficiency losses due to the attenuated nature of property rights indicates the need for quite different ways of integrating reservoir and farm management.

Effect of Deficit Irrigation on Yield and Quality of Sweet Corn

Abstract The yield and quality response of sweet corn (Zea mays L.) to variable water supply was evaluated in 1984 and 1985. Irrigation depths were established with sprinklers at five intervals from 0% to 100%, with the 100% treatment intended to refill the root zone to field capacity. The other treatments were considered as deficit irrigation. Irrigations were scheduled when 47–57% of the available water was depleted in the root zone of the 100% treatment level plots. Yields were similar when irrigation depths were 50% or greater in 1984 and 1985, although water application depths varied between years. Water balance measurements indicated very little deep percolation. Deficit irrigations of about 50% and 70% saved water and maintained yield. Yield, ear weight, and kernel weight decreased in the nonirrigated treatments or when water application depths were about 25%. Nonirrigated sweet corn tended to be more mature at harvest then irrigated corn.

Types of phytomass ? and leaf area index profiles in grassland vegetation

Various types of grasslands in the Netherlands were catagorized by their structure: phytomass and leaf area were measured in arbitrarily chosen vegetation layers with width intervals of 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 cm, depending on the height of the sward. Data were standardized for fixed width of layers (layer width set), and for equal numbers of layers of varying width (layer number set). Data were clustered by Ward's method as well as ordinated by Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The cluster method revealed 6 groups; those of the layer number sets could be contrasted in their vertical built-up of leaf area index (LAI) — and phytomass profiles and could be characterized ecologically. The ordinations confirmed the findings of the cluster analyses. In our data grassland structure varied mainly along a gradient from constant and sufficient to strongly varying soil water supply during the growing season, and a gradient in soil nutrients from rich to poor. Sites with constant water supply appeared more often nutrient-rich and those with a varying water supply more often poor in nutrients.

Canopy Dynamics of Eucalyptus Maculata Hook. I. Distribution and Dynamics of Leaf Populations

The canopy dynamics of a regenerated 16-year-old stand of pole and sapling E. maculata were studied for 2½ years by repetitive non-destructive measurements in tree crowns accessed from a 20 m high scaffold tower. Average canopy leaf area density over a sample plot of 36 m2 was 0.23 m2 m-3 at a leaf area index of 4.3. Some 75% of leaf area was held in the canopies of overstorey eucalypts above 10 m in height. Average size of leaves increased gradually from top to bottom of tree canopies. Foliage production was usually concentrated in the upper crowns of trees where there was a higher proportion of active shoots, more frequent growth flushes and more rapid turnover of leaves than in lower canopy layers. Leaf area in the upper canopy fluctuated widely but increased in the long term, in mid canopy was more or less maintained and in lowest canopy declined. Crops of developing flower buds present on uppermost branches delayed and/or reduced shoot growth. Foliage production occurred in all months of the year. There was a unimodal annual rhythm of growth rate reaching a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. Variable water supply, however, influenced production to peak in spring, summer or autumn. No shoot growth occurs in E. maculata at Kioloa when daily mean temperature (averaged for weekly intervals) falls below c. 10½C in winter. An upper temperature limit for growth could not be defined. The species apparently lacks dormancy mechanisms. Shoot growth is 'opportunistic' and occurs whenever environmental conditions are favourable. Patterns of leaf production and leaf fall were variable but peaks showed a general synchrony. Leaf fall, however, tended to lag behind leaf production. Leaves of all ages were shed but main losses were from older cohorts. Some 49% (s.d.±18%) of new leaves were lost while still small or immature, mainly during periods of vigorous shoot growth or low water supply. Browse of immature foliage was light. Normal senescence and leaf fall accounted for almost the entire loss of mature foliage.

Water Relations: A New Dimension for Niche Separation Between Bouteloua gracilis and Agropyron smithii in North American Semi-Arid Grasslands

SUMMARY (1) The dynamics of the leaf water status and stomatal behaviour in Bouteloua gracilis and Agropyron smithii, two of the dominant grasses of the semi-arid grasslands in North America were studied. (2) The grasses showed remarkably different stomatal behaviour. While A. smithii showed a typical behaviour B. gracilis presented maximum values of conductance before dawn and then a slow decrease until reaching a stable status around mid-morning. (3) Leaf water potential in B. gracilis was independent of leaf conductance and closely followed the pattern of atmospheric water demand. In the case of A. smithil, both leaf conductance and atmospheric water demand exerted control upon leaf water potential. (4) It was concluded that the predawn opening of stomata represented an adaptive advantage for B. gracilis allowing this species to maximize carbon fixation during the early morning, the time of day when under the most frequent steppe conditions water deficit does not impair the photosynthesis process. (5) It is proposed that B. gracilis and A. smithii have two different and complementary ecological strategies. Bouteloua gracilis is adapted to a scarce and highly variable water supply and to a precipitation pattern in which small rainfall events constitute a large portion of total water input. Agropyron smithii is adapted to a less variable water supply and to a water balance more favourable in which small precipitation events account for a smaller portion of the water input.

Long‐term N‐P Fertilizer and Climate Influences on Morphology and Yield Components of Spring Wheat1

AbstractThe long‐term availability of one‐time, high‐rate, broadcast application of P fertilizer has not been adequately evaluated in relation to variable water supplies and N fertilization for optimum production of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on dryland. Additional knowledge of the interrelationship of plant morphological characteristics, plant growth, and components of grain yield to soil fertility will be useful in the development and validation of wheat yield models.Spring wheat was grown for 12 years (winter wheat in 1 year) in two separate alternate crop‐fallow plot series on a Williams loam (fine‐loamy, mixed, Typic Argiborolls). Phosphorus fertilizer as treble superphosphate was broadcast at 0, 22, 45, 90, and 180 kg P/ha at the beginning of the study in 1967 or 1968. Ammonium nitrate was broadcast each crop year at 0, 45, and 90 kg N/ha. With relatively shallow sweep‐tillage, soluble P increased proportionate to rate of P applied and remained relatively high over the 12‐year period in the 0 to 15.2 cm soil depth. Significant grain yield responses to initial and residual P fertilization occurred up to a soluble P level of about 15 ppm independent of available water supplies. In contrast, yield responses to N fertilization increased as total available water supplies increased from 22.6 to 52.8 cm.Number of heads/m2 could be predicted more reliably from number of adventitious roots/plant than from number of tillers. Number of head/m2 accounted for 86% of the yield variance associated with years (climate) and N‐P fertilizer treatments excluding one disease‐year when number of kernels/head was significantly decreased. Combining number of heads/m2 and kernels/head accounted for 91% of the yield variance associated with fertilizer treatments over all years combined. Predicting grain yields from dry matter production at tillering or heading was unsatisfactory compared to yield predictions based on total dry matter production or straw production at maturity.

Effects of irrigation frequency on germination and on root and shoot yields ofAcacia species

Maximum germination response and root + shoot yields of Acacias were obtained at daily irrigation. Any deviation from daily irrigation resulted in variations of performance (germination and growth yield) between the six Acacia species studied. Species of relatively dry habitse.g. A. nubica andA. seyal were more sensitive to water supply compared with those of relatively wet habitatse.g. A. nilotica andA. albida. This was reflected at the establishment phase by the greater production of root + shoot yields of species of drier zones than by those of wetter ones. It is concluded that variations in water supply may account for species adaptation and distribution in semi-arid zones.

Biomass production of C3- and C4-plant species in pure and mixed culture with different water supply.

Pure and mixed cultures of the dicotyledons Atriplex hortensis L. (C3 plant) and Amaranthus retroflexus L (C4) on the one hand and of the grasses Avena sativa L (C3) and Panicum miliaceum L. (C4) on the other hand were maintained in a standard soil with different ground water tables. After 12 weeks the length, dry weight and nitrogen-content of the aboveground and belowground parts of the plants, and in addition the carbon-and ash-content and the δ13C value of the aboveground parts were determined. It turned out that the length and the dry weight of the shoots of the C3 species showed on increasing tendency with increased water supply, while the values of the C4 species were drastically diminished at the highest water level only. The roots showed in most cases an increased length and dry weight at drier conditions, more pronounced in the C4 than in the C3 species. The nitrogen content of the shoots was mostly higher in the shoots of the C3 plants and in the roots of the C4 plants; it changed in a non-regular manner with variations in water supply. Since the carbon content did not change markedly, the C/N ratio was variable. There was a slight tendency for a higher carbon content and mostly also for a higher C/N-ratio in the shoots of C4 plants. The δ13C values of both C3 as C4 plants were in general not at all influenced by the water supply; they were fixed genetically. The ash content of the analyzed species did not show a clear relationship to the type of photosynthetic CO2-fixation or to the water regime.The influence of light intensity was studied with mixed cultures of all four plant species, again with different water supply. There was a strong effect of light intensity on the competitive behaviour of the C3 and C4 plants under modified water conditions. The wild C3 plant Atriplex hortensis was most successful under conditions of relatively low light intensity and high water availability, while the cultivated 'artificial' species Avena sativa showed much less differences between full-light grown and shadow plants. The C4 plant Amaranthus retroflexus is most successful under competitive conditions at high water stress in full light. The C4 grass Panicum miliaceum showed maximum shoot growth in light, but was successful under competitive conditions especially also with good water supply. The light intensity had no effect on the δ13C values. - There was no indication that the soil-type as such has a distinct influence on the success of C3 or C4 plants in mixed cultures.

Responses of grain sorghum to variable water supply under two irrigation frequencies

Two experiments were conducted with Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench Cv. “Pioneer 846” in a deep loam soil in the 1977 season. Experiment I consisted of two line-source sprinkler plots, one irrigated at two-day intervals (HF) and the other every 10 to 14 days (NF). In comparable treatments of both regimes, the seasonal amount of water applied was the same. Since the subsoil was very dry at planting, the different amounts of water applied led to the development of a range of water stresses from none to severe. Experiment II was conducted in an adjacent area with a fully wetted soil profile. The treatments were irrigated every week (I) and nonirrigated (NI). Applied water was measured after each irrigation. Soil water content, leaf water potential, leaf-area index, ground cover and dry-matter accumulation were measured at frequent intervals, and yields were taken at the end of the growing season. Linear relations were found between both total dry-matter production and grain yield and seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) in both HF and NF regimes. With seasonal values of ET near the potential, grain yield and dry-matter production did not differ between irrigation frequencies. At low seasonal ET values, however, the NF regime gave greater yields of dry-matter and grain than did the HF regime.

Digital computer simulation for solving management problems of conjunctive groundwater and surface water systems

In river basins where aquifers are intimately associated with streams, the unrestricted development of groundwater can reduce streamflows and hence jeopardize the rights to the flow of surface water. A simulation model to aid in the solution of such problems was developed. The model is composed of (1) a hydrologic model that represents the physical response of the stream‐aquifer system to changes in river flows, diversions, and pumping and treats streamflow as a stochastic input and (2) an economic model that represents the response of irrigation water users to variations in water supply and cost. These elements were incorporated into a decision framework so that the net income to the water resource system associated with alternative management schemes could be measured. The results of operating the model with parameters representing conditions in the South Platte Valley of eastern Colorado under alternative institutional and hydrologic conditions are reported.

Título en español.

A plantas inmaduras de caña de azúcar se les suministró una cantidad variable de agua y fósforo (P), aplicándoseles luego una aspersión foliar de ácido giberélico (AG). Las plantas se cultivaron en arena y recibieron tratamientos iniciales de agua y de P a los 83 días de edad. El suministro de agua se reguló, calificándose de inadecuado, adecuado y abundante, con 1, 2 y 4 litros de agua por día, respectivamente. El P variable consistió de 0, 6 y 30 meq. por litro. El AG foliar se suministró en soluciones al 0, 0.01 y 0.10 por ciento. Fueron tres los objetivos: 1, Determinar la eficacia del AG como estimulante del crecimiento y regulador de las relaciones azúcar-enzima al restringirse el agua y el P; 2, explorar los límites fisiológicos dentro de los cuales las relaciones AG-enzima persisten; y 3, explorar la base enzimática de la acción del agua y el P bajo condiciones extremas de crecimiento estimulado por el AG. Se registraron los siguientes resultados: 1. Cinco semanas después del tratamiento con AG, tanto el agua como el AG habían aumentado grandemente el peso de la caña y la longitud del entrenudo. 2. El suministro de agua afectó marcadamente el efecto del AG sobre el crecimiento. Las plantas carentes de agua fueron proporcionalmente más estimuladas por el AG que las que recibieron agua en abundancia. Sin embargo, el crecimiento máximo requirió tanto AG como agua en abundancia. 3. El AG pareció aumentar la eficiencia de las plantas en utilizar el agua, independientemente de la cantidad suministrada. 4. El suministro variable de agua transformó seriamente los patrones de comportamiento de la ATP-asa, la amilasa, la invertasa y la oxidasa de polifenol. 5. La aplicación de AG a plantas con un suministro restringido de agua pareció hacer aún más severa la escasez de agua. La acción de las enzimas hidrolíticas fue retardada severamente por el AG cuando el suministro de agua fue bajo, pero no así cuando la cantidad de agua disponible fue adecuada o abundante. A base de los datos que se obtuvieron sobre el crecimiento y la acción de las enzimas, se propone que el AG causó una redistribución interna del agua de tal suerte que la cantidad neta disponible para la función enzimática disminuyó. Se propone, además, que el AG puede disminuir el suministro interno de agua mientras aumenta el crecimiento, en contraste con la práctica comercial de restringir externamente el agua, lo cual reduce el crecimiento. 6. Las cantidades bajas de P fueron inadecuadas para inducir un crecimiento máximo pero no causaron una seria deficiencia de P. El AG fue proporcionalmente más efectivo en aumentar el peso fresco de la caña y en alargar el entrenudo cuando el suministro de P fue bajo. 7. El AG aumentó moderadamente el contenido de P en la hoja cuando el suministro de P fue bajo. El aumento fue primordialmente de P orgánico (PO), lo cual puede atribuirse a la supresión de la fostatasa y la ATP-asa por el AG. Se discute el significado de la alteración orgánica del P por el AG. 8. Se evidenció una disminución del PO inducida por el AG, mediante un aumento en la actividad de la amilasa. 9. La peroxidasa foliar fue extremadamente sensitiva al suministro de P, y al de AG en aquellas plantas deficientes en P. Esta enzima actuó vigorosamente en las plantas que recibieron cantidades bajas tanto de P como de AG. 10. Se demuestra que el crecimiento de la caña y su enzimología son más sensitivos al P que lo que revelan los experimentos de campo. Se señala la importancia del PO, la fosfatasa y la fosforilasa, al contrastarse con el contenido total de P.

The Status of Ground‐Water Development in the Republic of Koreaab

AbstractThe Republic of Korea shares the world‐wide problems of water supply variability in time and space ‐ they have too little water at some time and in some places, and too much water in others. Drouth is a recurring threat; floods occur nearly every summer. The floods of July 1965 are reported to have been the most costly in history. The population is increasing at a rapid rate and material things are in short supply. However, the people of Korea are making a tremendous effort to modernize facilities, construct an industrial base, improve agricultural practices, control the rivers and develop water supplies, and in general, improve the standard of living. With a per capita income of about $80 per year, Korea has a long way to go in its climb up the economic ladder, but the people are able, intelligent, energetic and avid for learning and progress. They enjoy one of the highest literacy rates in the Far East, and have a trained core of professionals in most fields, except they lack a trained cadre of specialists in ground‐water studies and have very few experienced water well drillers. During the Japanese occupation of Korea systematic ground‐water studies were begun, and ground‐water development followed soon afterwards. But the limited staff of Japanese geologists employed in the effort returned to Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. In the uncertainty of the next 8 years, which included the Korean War, it was impossible to develop trained manpower and an organization.Presently, there is widespread interest on the part of the Korean Government to develop ground water wherever it may be for such uses as irrigation, industrial supply and development, municipalities, villages, and sanitary rural supply. As a result of this interest the author spent four months in Korea in the fall of 1964 and the spring of 1965 at the request of the Agency for International Development, U. S. Department of State, to review the situation and report on the feasibility of a United States supported effort to help the Korean Government to make systematic studies that would lead to ground‐water development, and to any necessary improvement of their methods of hydrologic data acquisition and utilization.

Studies in Cereals-Structure in Relation to Drought Resistance

The principal rainfed cereals of South India are the Millets which during their growth pass through frequent failure of rainfall. During droughty seasons they are found to withstand drought in varying degrees. It is obvious that these cultivated species have developed variations in adaptations which appear to have servival value in coping with a varying water supply. The earlier workers probing into the cause of drought resistance studied the structure of the leaves alone instead of considering the other component parts of the plant. In this work on the rainfed cereals, detailed studies on the structure of the whole plant have been made and presented.

Reservoirs to Match our Climatic Fluctuations 1

Alternating wet and dry periods, each of several years' duration, are suggested by the records of precipitation at several localities in the southwestern United States, and they are indicated also by the records of natural streamflow. In some regions, the precipitation and runoff since 1930 have been at a significantly lesser rate than in the quarter-century prior to 1930, and in most of the Southwest drought has been prevalent since about 1945. A large proportion of the precipitation stations and stream-gaging stations in the Southwest have been established subsequent to 1930, and records from them are likely to be too short to indicate the climatic norm. Reservoirs, both surface and subsurface, can smooth out the marked daily, seasonal, and annual variations in water supply from precipitation, and can furnish water at rates more nearly in accordance with human needs. Many ground-water reservoirs, and some surface reservoirs, after being well filled during years of abundant precipitation and runoff, have provided an adequate supply of water during several successive years of drought. In the protracted drought periods that have been recorded in the Southwest, however, storage in most reservoirs has been depleted seriously, and the actual yield of some of them has been significantly less than the computed long-term average yield. Maintenance of a relatively constant yield throughout protracted wet and dry periods would require reservoirs having large storage capacity and losing as little water as possible by evaporation or other natural discharge; accurate evaluation of the long-term average inflow is a prerequisite to successful utilization of the reservoirs.

The Use of Statistics in Reservoir Operations

Statistics can be very useful in reservoir operations as an assessment of the operational chances involved, particularly with respect to water supply. Operating plans must consider the probaLility of a variation in water supply from that considered to be most likely; in fact, the extreme variations frequently form the controls for a particular operation, rather than the most probable su'pply. The development of annual operating plans for reservoir systems deriving their primary water supply from snowmelt, as well as progressive, seasonal modifications to these plans, is demonstrated herein. Particular emphasis is given to the importance of probability analyses in determining limits for the development of the operational plans.

THE EFFECTS OF VARYING THE WATER SUPPLY OF PLANTS ON THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INFECTION WITH VIRUSES

Increasing the amount of water supplied to plants before they were inoculated with viruses greatly increased their susceptibility to infection; plants that received unlimited water produced 10 or more times as many local lesions as plants that received only enough to prevent wilting. Susceptibility was increased throughout the year, but the full response occurred in 2 weeks in winter and 4 weeks in summer. Plants that received unlimited water for the 2 weeks immediately preceding inoculation were no more susceptible than those that received it during the previous 2 weeks, although the external appearance of the plants differed at the time of inoculation. Varying water supply after inoculation did not affect the numbers of lesions.The differences in susceptibility to infection produced by differential watering were decreased, but not abolished, by growing plants under shade or by incorporating a diatomaceous earth in the inoculum.Increasing water produced plants with larger and more succulent leaves; the cuticular layer was thinner, and the palisade tissue was less regularly arranged than in the plants kept dry. The increased susceptibility caused by an abundant water supply may be at least partly due to these structural differences, which allow the leaf to be damaged more easily when rubbed with inocula and so present more entry points for virus particles.

EFFECTS OF WATER SOURCE ON TOXICITY OF MERCURIAL POISONS

Journal Article EFFECTS OF WATER SOURCE ON TOXICITY OF MERCURIAL POISONS: I. Standardization of Procedure in Tests Using Allium Roots Get access EILEEN W. E. MACFARLANE, EILEEN W. E. MACFARLANE Institutum Divi ThomaeCincinnati, Ohio and Palm Beach, Florida Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar ALMA MARIE MESSING, SISTER, O.P., ALMA MARIE MESSING, SISTER, O.P. Institutum Divi ThomaeCincinnati, Ohio and Palm Beach, Florida Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar M. HILAIRE RYAN, SISTER, O.P. M. HILAIRE RYAN, SISTER, O.P. Institutum Divi ThomaeCincinnati, Ohio and Palm Beach, Florida Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Heredity, Volume 42, Issue 2, March 1951, Pages 95–99, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a106175 Published: 01 March 1951

Some Effects of Altitude and Water Supply on the Composition of Derris elliptica

1. Derris elliptica was grown in Puerto Rico at elevations ranging from 50 to 2400 feet above sea level and in Guatemala at altitudes ranging from 910 to 4888 feet. 2. The temperature factor of altitude correlated positively with rotenone and inversely with reserve carbohydrates in derris roots. 3. At elevations favorable to growth of derris plants, the accumulation of rotenone was influenced by major variations in water supply, but reserve carbohydrates were altered by relatively minor variations in available moisture. 4. The varietal selection of Derris grown in Guatemala appeared to be more adapted to higher elevations, in an ecological sense, than the Sarawak Creeping variety grown in Puerto Rico. 5. The normal effect of age on the percentage of rotenone was apparently obscured at high altitudes. 6. Soil pH, ranging from values of 4.7 to approximately neutral, had no measurable effect on rotenone or carbohydrate reserves. 7. At favorable altitudes, derris plants flourished in soils having good physical structure and belonging to several distinct soil types.

The obstacles to the progress of meteorology

Drought assessment is a complex undertaking, requiring monitoring of deficiencies in multiple components of the hydrologic budget. Precipitation anomalies reflect variability in water supply to the land surface, while soil moisture, groundwater and surface water anomalies reflect deficiencies in moisture storage. In contrast, evapotranspiration (ET) anomalies provide unique yet complementary information, reflecting variations in actual water use by crops – a useful diagnostic of vegetation health. Here we describe a remotely sensed Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) based on anomalies in actual-to-reference ET ratio. Actual ET is retrieved from thermal remote sensing data using a diagnostic soil-plant-atmosphere modeling system forced by measurements of morning land-surface temperature (LST) rise from geostationary satellites. In comparison with vegetation indices, LST is a relatively fast-response variable, with the potential for providing early warning of crop stress reflected in increasing canopy temperatures. Spatiotemporal patterns in ESI have been compared with patterns in the U.S. Drought Monitor and in standard precipitation-based indices, demonstrating reasonable agreement. However, because ESI does not use precipitation as an input, it provides an independent assessment of evolving drought conditions, and is more portable to data-sparse parts of the world lacking dense rain-gauge and Doppler radar networks. Integrating LST information from geostationary and polar orbiting systems through data fusion, the ESI has unique potential for sensing moisture stress at field scale, with potential benefits to yield estimation and loss compensation efforts. The ESI is routinely produced over the continental U.S. using data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, with expansion to North and South America underway. In addition drought and ET monitoring applications are being developed over Africa and Europe using land-surface products from the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) platform.