Amedeo D’AntonioRegione CampaniaAssessorato AgricolturaSettore SIRCA

Using satellite information for sustainable irrigations: hands-on experience

Francesco VuoloBOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna, AustriaAriespace, spin-off University of Naples

The context: irrigation water

managemnet

Geospatial services

Operational services in

Campania region, Southern

Italy

Transferability: A case study in

Marchfeld region, Eastern

Austria

Outlines

Technology value

Regione CampaniaAdvisory and Assistance Services in

the agriculture

Transfer of knowledge & capacity building

Implementation and support to Common Agricultural Policy

(CAP)

EU subsidies to farmers subjected to conditionality

Technical assistance

SeSIRCA CePICA CeSA

2000

2006

Regional Plan forIntegrated pest control

Regional Plan for Assistance in Soil Fertilisation practices

Regional Irrigation Advisory Plan

7.000 farms> 27.000 ha

(Campania Rural Develpment Program)

1995

Evolution of advisory services

for agriculture

Why efficient agricultural water management is

important?

A water jet sprays onto fields of potatoes.Fernand Ivaldi/Getty Images

Agricultural Water Use

Mediterranean areas:

Italy & Spain 64% Greece 88% Portugal 80%

Increasing in UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and France… more than 30%

(OECD/Eurostat,2000) (OECD, 2006)

Crop water needs

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

P,E

To

(mm

/mon

th)

Precipitation Reference Evapotranspiration

IES, JRC/ISPRA

Hydrological summer deficit

573 mm

Users' needs at different levels

Region & Water User Associations (WUA)

Individual fields &

farms

EO data covers different spatial scales

WUA & irrigation districts

Earth Observation (EO) data provides objective information

(Richter et al. 2008)

Informed water management is crucial for facing agricultural

challenges

Deliver the message

Irrigation scheme level Field/farm level

Some examples:

Crop development stage (coefficiet)

Spatial variability (within plot)

Weekly water consumption (mm)

Implementation in Campania region,

Southern ItalyAn operational service

Piano Regionale di Consulenza all’Irrigazione della Regione

Campania

2006 2007 2011201020092008 2012

From the Regional Irrigation Advisory Plan To IRRISAT

~ 300 farms & 60.000 ha under monitoring~ 3 € / ha per growing season

Piana del Volturno

Piana del Sele

Transferability of methodologies

Marchfeld region, Eastern Austria Demonstration of pre-operational services

funded by the Austria Space Application Programme

Transferability of methodologies

• Technological adoption of space-based solutions for crop & irrigation water management is a complex process.

What to consider?

• Favorable conditions depend on several technical, social and economic factors: – Validated methodologies (new environment)– Redesign systems (new users &

requirements)– Cost-benefits & sustainable funding

(evaluation)

EO4Water: a case study of satellite technology transfer

Semi-arid climate conditions: 250-300 mm from May to September

Main issues

• “…farmers in Marchfeld region are very interested to lower their costs by exact application of irrigation water” (W. Neudorfer, 2006)

• Solutions based on local measurements of soil moisture (Cepuder & Nolz, 2007) to regulate irrigation water management.

However:

• Only implemented on individual base (field or farm)

• Difficult to scale the water use at river-basin level for integrated water management applications.

Weekly EO product

generation

Advice to users

Irrigation practice

Evaluation (water applied/water suggested)

Evaluation with users

Cost-benefit analysis &

performance indicators

PILOT AREA Overview of benefits in pilot

areas (SIRIUS-GMES)Italy Range of benefits between 20 and 31 €/ha

Spain Energy and water saving & Reduction of drought effects.

Mexico Range of benefits between 18 and 27 €/ha

Turkey

With wells: Water saving up to 10% in drip irrigation, crop yield increase 5%Otherwise no obvious benefit for farmers but better resource allocation at scheme level

Brazil From 12 €/ha for beans to 24 €/ha for rice per growing season

India Increase efficiency and water allocation

Egypt Fairer allocation of water & irrigation scheduling Mapping crop acreage & crop water requirements

Romania Complementary tool for agricultural subsidies

PILOT AREA Overview of costs in pilot areas

per growing season

Italy 55-67K € up to 80 000 ha ~ 2 €/ha

Spain ~100K € 100 000 ha 1 €/ha

Mexico ~ 76K € 92 000 ha 0.8 €/ha

Turkey ~ 46K € 3 000 ha 15 €/ha

Brazil ~ 50K € 20 000 ha 2.5 €/ha

India ~ 15K € 54 700 ha 0.28 €/ha

Egypt ~ 45K € 2 500 ha 18 €/ha

Romania 59-69K € 20 000 ha ~ 3 €/ha

EO data:Data provider /

sensorPixel size

(m)Price per sq.

km Notes Cost for season

DEIMOS 22 ~ 0.15 €minimum order size

10000 sq. kmComplete coverage achieved.

15,000 €

SPOT image 10 ~ 2.0 €

Coverage: 900 sq. km - 1/4 scene The image frame would be sufficient to

cover the area of interest.18,000 €

Formosat-2 8 ~ 3 € Coverage: 576 sq. km

Part of the AOI is not covered in one acquisition.

17,280 €

RapidEye 5 ~ 1.0 € minimum order size

3500 sq. kmComplete coverage achieved.

35,000 €

Free data Landsat-8, Sentinel-2

Conclusions 1/2

From a post-evaluation of the application of the Regional Irrigation Advisory Plan since 2007 confirm that :

Subjective and empirical assessment of irrigation applications determines the utilisation of excessive amounts of water resources, compared to the maximum values needed to guarantee optimal yield;

Reduction of irrigation volumes has both direct and indirect economical and environmental benefits for farmers, water distribution bodies and local communities.

Conclusions 2/2

The essential novelty of the approach implemented in the Plan is in adding new dimensions to irrigation water management by:

spatially distributed information (via E.O. in a GIS-based framework);

wide range of stakeholders at their required space-time resolution in easy-to-use and intuitive form that encourages participation;

addressing users at farm, irrigation scheme, and river-basin scale in a nested approach, involving decision makers at all water management levels;

evaluating these new technological opportunities in the socio-cultural, political, economic, and environmental context of the stakeholders.

Dissemination and technical information by using different types of media (paper and on-line)

www.irrisat.itwww.irrieye.com

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