Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale

In Italy, irrigated agriculture is often managed by Reclamation Consortia, but they generally lack the proper tools for monitoring the irrigation water requirements (IWR), forbidding the required sustainability level by the European Water Framework Directive. In this context, the study aims at moni...

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Main Authors: Giuseppe Longo-Minnolo, Alessandro D’Emilio, Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta, Daniela Vanella, Serena Guarrera, Giacoma Manerchia Maserà, Simona Consoli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PAGEPress Publications 2024-10-01
Series:Journal of Agricultural Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.agroengineering.org/jae/article/view/1623
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author Giuseppe Longo-Minnolo
Alessandro D’Emilio
Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta
Daniela Vanella
Serena Guarrera
Giacoma Manerchia Maserà
Simona Consoli
author_facet Giuseppe Longo-Minnolo
Alessandro D’Emilio
Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta
Daniela Vanella
Serena Guarrera
Giacoma Manerchia Maserà
Simona Consoli
author_sort Giuseppe Longo-Minnolo
collection DOAJ
description In Italy, irrigated agriculture is often managed by Reclamation Consortia, but they generally lack the proper tools for monitoring the irrigation water requirements (IWR), forbidding the required sustainability level by the European Water Framework Directive. In this context, the study aims at monitoring the IWR of citrus orchards of a Sicilian irrigation district by implementing a satellite-based methodological approach, during the irrigation seasons 2019 and 2020. Firstly, neural networks were implemented to map the citrus orchards, by using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index time series as input, and obtaining accuracy values of 94% and 87%, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Then, the satellite-based ArcDualKc model was used to estimate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) over the identified citrus orchards. The estimated ETc rates were validated at the farm scale in terms of irrigation volumes and compared to those obtained by the traditional FAO-56 approach. Then, the spatially distributed irrigation volumes estimated at district level were compared with those declared by the Reclamation Consortium, obtaining absolute error values of 3.28 Mm3 (294%) and 7.08 Mm3 (647%) for the years 2019 and 2020, respectively. The results of the study confirmed the usefulness of the satellite-based methodological approach for determining spatial distributed IWR estimates.
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spelling doaj-art-b44c5da5635641bc9762bff46d8fde8f2025-08-20T01:47:26ZengPAGEPress PublicationsJournal of Agricultural Engineering1974-70712239-62682024-10-0110.4081/jae.2024.1623Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scaleGiuseppe Longo-Minnolo0Alessandro D’Emilio1Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta2Daniela Vanella3Serena Guarrera4Giacoma Manerchia Maserà5Simona Consoli6Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of CataniaDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of CataniaDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of CataniaDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of CataniaDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of CataniaInternational Doctorate in Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science (Di3A), University of CataniaDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania In Italy, irrigated agriculture is often managed by Reclamation Consortia, but they generally lack the proper tools for monitoring the irrigation water requirements (IWR), forbidding the required sustainability level by the European Water Framework Directive. In this context, the study aims at monitoring the IWR of citrus orchards of a Sicilian irrigation district by implementing a satellite-based methodological approach, during the irrigation seasons 2019 and 2020. Firstly, neural networks were implemented to map the citrus orchards, by using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index time series as input, and obtaining accuracy values of 94% and 87%, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Then, the satellite-based ArcDualKc model was used to estimate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) over the identified citrus orchards. The estimated ETc rates were validated at the farm scale in terms of irrigation volumes and compared to those obtained by the traditional FAO-56 approach. Then, the spatially distributed irrigation volumes estimated at district level were compared with those declared by the Reclamation Consortium, obtaining absolute error values of 3.28 Mm3 (294%) and 7.08 Mm3 (647%) for the years 2019 and 2020, respectively. The results of the study confirmed the usefulness of the satellite-based methodological approach for determining spatial distributed IWR estimates. https://www.agroengineering.org/jae/article/view/1623Sentinel-2supervised classificationagro-hydrological modelsirrigation volumes
spellingShingle Giuseppe Longo-Minnolo
Alessandro D’Emilio
Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta
Daniela Vanella
Serena Guarrera
Giacoma Manerchia Maserà
Simona Consoli
Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
Journal of Agricultural Engineering
Sentinel-2
supervised classification
agro-hydrological models
irrigation volumes
title Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
title_full Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
title_fullStr Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
title_full_unstemmed Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
title_short Satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
title_sort satellite remote sensing for monitoring citrus orchards water requirements at the irrigation district scale
topic Sentinel-2
supervised classification
agro-hydrological models
irrigation volumes
url https://www.agroengineering.org/jae/article/view/1623
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AT danielavanella satelliteremotesensingformonitoringcitrusorchardswaterrequirementsattheirrigationdistrictscale
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