SIAS : Satellite Irrigation Advisory Services
Many irrigation areas have experienced during recent years a reduction of water availability due to the contemporary decrease of water resources and a larger demand of water for civil and industrial uses. We know that even in arid regions, the percentage of water wastes in the agricultural sector can be as high as 40% and in most cases this is due to excessive irrigation. A more rational use of limited water resources needs the detailed knowledge of the crop water requirements and their evolution during the irrigation season at both farm and basin level. Earth Observation techniques are able to provide crop water requirements by taking into account the actual development of crops, as a results of environmental conditions and agricultural practices.
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SIAS aims at providing end-users with real-time information on crops water requirements at different spatial (cadastral lot, reclamation district, etc.). SIAS helps a better allocation of irrigation water thanks to the evaluation of actual crop development from satellite observations. Excessive irrigation can be avoided, to save water and improve the quality of agricultural products. SIAS is designed in order to meet the requirements of: - Farmers as an Irrigation Advisory Service - Local and national governmental boards needing to monitor spatial and temporal distribution of crop water demand, to support their decision-making process and to check irrigation efficiency at farm and district scale.
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An example of SIAS is visible at:
Campania Region Irrigation Advisory Services (Italian only)
The conceptual model of the service is split up into the following steps:
1. Crop growth monitoring through weekly acquisition and analysis of high resolution satellite images in the visible and infrared spectrum;
2. Local agro-meteorological data acquisition (e.g. temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun radiation, rainfall);
3. Field validation through measurements in selected areas;
4. Elaboration of crop water requirements at field scale by means of standard bio-physical models (F.A.O. approach);
5. Data quality check and integration in a dedicated Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for irrigation management from field to district and hydrological basin scale
6. Real-time distribution of personalized irrigation advices on a weekly basis directly to farmers by means of different communication systems (Internet, text and graphical messages by using GSM/UMTS handset)
7. Real-time distribution of aggregated information (irrigation secondary units, district and basin level) to end-users such as water users associations and/or water authorities via a dedicated WebGIS system.
Brochure Regional consulting plan for irrigation results 2007
Brochure Regional consulting plan for irrigation results 2007 (Spanish)
