Satellite Remote Sensing for Estimating Productivities of Land and Water: Fid-Bau Portal

Satellite Remote Sensing for Estimating Productivities of Land and Water

Bastiaanssen, W. G. M. / Thiruvengadachari, S. / Sakthivadivel, R. / Molden, D. J.

Satellite remote sensing offers the capability of objectively measuring spatiotemporalland surface parametersthat can provide information critical to irrigation performance studies. This study demonstrates the use of satellite remote sensing to identify the spatially distributed patterns of wheat yield and crop evapotranspirationfor the Bhakra command area (1.2 million ha), in the Haryana State of north-west India. For the first time, satellite remote sensing has been used to obtain estimates of productivity per unit of water consumed by crop evapotranspiration,a key indicator of the performance of irrigated agriculture. It is shown that areas with the highest grain yield correspond to the areas having the highest evapotranspiration.Consequently, the spatial variations in crop production per unit evapotranspiration are less (cv = 0.10) than spatial variations in productivity of land (cv = 0.17). Whereas head- and tail-end differences in three major branch canals were found for productivity of land, this trend was not detected for the productivity of water consumed. Causal factors for the spatial patterns of productivity need to be more thoroughly investigated. While calculation approaches are suggested to estimate productivity of land and water using satellite remote sensing, further research is required to refine these techniques. Better estimations of the productivity of land and water will allow for more detailed and objective performance studies at a range of scales from individual farm fields to entire irrigation schemes. It will help scientists understand productivity issues better, and enable water managers and policy makers to support improvements in the utilization of land and water resources.