6533b7d7fe1ef96bd1269049

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Assessing the performance of a large-scale irrigation system by estimations of actual evapotranspiration obtained by Landsat satellite images resampled with cubic convolution

Giuseppe CiraoloMiguel Angel Moreno HidalgoHassan AwadaAntonino MalteseGiuseppe ProvenzanoJuan Ignacio Córcoles

subject

SEBALIrrigation010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences0211 other engineering and technologies02 engineering and technologyManagement Monitoring Policy and Law01 natural sciencesSurface energy balanceIrrigation system performanceComputers in Earth ScienceEvapotranspirationSettore AGR/08 - Idraulica Agraria E Sistemazioni Idraulico-ForestaliComputers in Earth SciencesWater-use efficiency021101 geological & geomatics engineering0105 earth and related environmental sciencesEarth-Surface ProcessesHydrologyGlobal and Planetary ChangeSettore ICAR/02 - Costruzioni Idrauliche E Marittime E IdrologiaRemote sensingIrrigation districtLatent heat fluxThematic MapperWater savingEarth-Surface ProcesseResampling methodEnvironmental scienceSatelliteScale (map)Settore ICAR/06 - Topografia E Cartografia

description

Abstract Remote sensing techniques allow monitoring the Earth surface and acquiring worthwhile information that can be used efficiently in agro-hydrological systems. Satellite images associated to computational models represent reliable resources to estimate actual evapotranspiration fluxes, ETa, based on surface energy balance. The knowledge of ETa and its spatial distribution is crucial for a broad range of applications at different scales, from fields to large irrigation districts. In single plots and/or in irrigation districts, linking water volumes delivered to the plots with the estimations of remote sensed ETa can have a great potential to develop new cost-effective indicators of irrigation performance, as well as to increase water use efficiency. With the aim to assess the irrigation system performance and the opportunities to save irrigation water resources at the “SAT Llano Verde” district in Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was applied on cloud-free Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images, processed by cubic convolution resampling method, for three irrigation seasons (May to September 2006, 2007 and 2008). The model allowed quantifying instantaneous, daily, monthly and seasonal ETa over the irrigation district. The comparison between monthly irrigation volumes distributed by each hydrant and the corresponding spatially averaged ETa, obtained by assuming an overall efficiency of irrigation network equal to 85%, allowed the assessment of the irrigation system performance for the area served by each hydrant, as well as for the whole irrigation district. It was observed that in all the investigated years, irrigation volumes applied monthly by farmers resulted generally higher than the corresponding evapotranspiration fluxes retrieved by SEBAL, with the exception of May, in which abundant rainfall occurred. When considering the entire irrigation seasons, it was demonstrated that a considerable amount of water could have been saved in the district, respectively equal to 26.2, 28.0 and 16.4% of the total water consumption evaluated in the three years.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2019-03-01
10.1016/j.jag.2018.10.016http://hdl.handle.net/10447/338740