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Keywords = agro-hydrological systems

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23 pages, 1821 KiB  
Review
Beyond Peat: Wood Fiber and Two Novel Organic Byproducts as Growing Media—A Systematic Review
by Anna Elisa Sdao, Nazim S. Gruda and Barbara De Lucia
Plants 2025, 14(13), 1945; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14131945 - 25 Jun 2025
Viewed by 764
Abstract
Environmental concerns drive the search for sustainable organic alternatives in horticultural substrates. This review critically examines three agro-industry renewable byproducts—wood fiber, coffee silverskin, and brewer’s spent grain—as partial peat substitutes. We aimed to comprehensively analyze their origin, processing methods, current applications, and key [...] Read more.
Environmental concerns drive the search for sustainable organic alternatives in horticultural substrates. This review critically examines three agro-industry renewable byproducts—wood fiber, coffee silverskin, and brewer’s spent grain—as partial peat substitutes. We aimed to comprehensively analyze their origin, processing methods, current applications, and key physical, hydrological, and chemical properties relevant to horticultural use. In soilless culture, wood fiber can be used as a stand-alone substrate. When incorporated at 30–50% (v/v) in peat mixtures, it supports plant growth comparable to peat; however, higher proportions may restrict water and nutrient availability. Coffee silverskin demonstrates high water retention and nutrient content, but its inherent phytotoxicity requires pre-treatment (e.g., co-composting); at concentrations up to 20%, it shows promise for potted ornamental crops. Brewer’s spent grain is nutrient-rich but demands careful management due to its rapid decomposition and potential salinity issues; inclusion rates around 10% have shown beneficial effects. In conclusion, when used appropriately in blends, these bio-based byproducts represent viable alternatives to reduce peat dependence in vegetable and ornamental cultivation, contributing to more sustainable horticultural practices. Future research should optimize pre-treatment methods for coffee silverskin and brewer’s spent grain, investigate long-term stability in diverse cropping systems, and explore novel combinations with other organic waste streams to develop circular horticultural substrates. Full article
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24 pages, 16339 KiB  
Article
Modelling Current-State N- and P-Fluxes into Surface Waters in Germany
by Björn Tetzlaff, Ralf Kunkel, Max Eysholdt, Hong Hanh Nguyen, Markus Venohr, Tim Wolters, Maximilian Zinnbauer and Frank Wendland
Water 2024, 16(13), 1872; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16131872 - 29 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1328
Abstract
For the first time, the AGRUM model consortium—consisting of the agro-economic model RAUMIS, the water balance model mGROWA, the hydrological nutrient transport models DENUZ, WeKu and MEPhos, and the urban emission model MONERIS—was jointly set up throughout Germany (357,000 km2). This [...] Read more.
For the first time, the AGRUM model consortium—consisting of the agro-economic model RAUMIS, the water balance model mGROWA, the hydrological nutrient transport models DENUZ, WeKu and MEPhos, and the urban emission model MONERIS—was jointly set up throughout Germany (357,000 km2). This provided a nationwide consistent nutrient model to capture the current status of N and P inputs to surface waters from diffuse sources and urban areas. Diffuse nutrient emissions were quantified in high spatial resolution for the input pathways’ groundwater, drainage runoff, and natural interflow (100 m × 100 m), as well as for water erosion and wash-off (25 m × 25 m). The sum of diffuse nutrient inputs to surface waters is about 385,000 metric tons N/yr and ca. 11,530 metric tons P/yr. Urban emissions were quantified either as point source inputs (wastewater treatment plants, industrial direct dischargers) or at municipality scale for different collection and treatment systems, e.g., rainwater sewers or decentralized treatment plants, and sum up to ca. 95,000 t N/yr and 7500 t P/yr. As modelled, total N and P inputs into surface waters correspond well with observed N and P loads in rivers. The model results represent valuable information for water managers, being responsible for the preparation of management plans for the third management cycle of the EC Water Framework Directive spanning from 2021 to 2027. Full article
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24 pages, 3280 KiB  
Review
A Review of Nutritional Water Productivity (NWP) in Agriculture: Why It Is Promoted and How It Is Assessed?
by Katrin Drastig, Ranvir Singh, Fiorina-Marie Telesca, Sofia Zanella Carra and Jasper Jordan
Water 2023, 15(24), 4278; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15244278 - 14 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2481
Abstract
Assessment of nutritional water productivity (NWP) combines a metric of crop or livestock production per unit water consumed and human nutritional value of the food produced. As such, it can rationalize the use of scarce water for a portfolio of crop [...] Read more.
Assessment of nutritional water productivity (NWP) combines a metric of crop or livestock production per unit water consumed and human nutritional value of the food produced. As such, it can rationalize the use of scarce water for a portfolio of crop and livestock production systems that jointly match human nutritional needs and reduce water scarcity impacts. However, a comprehensive search and review of 40 NWP studies highlighted that current NWP studies vary widely in terms of their methodological approaches, the data and tools used and the water flows and nutrient content accounted for. Most of the studies accounted for evapotranspiration stemming from precipitation and technical water, and/or inclusion of the withdrawn technical water. Water scarcity was only addressed in four studies. The reported NWP values also varied for accounting of macro- (energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates) and micro-nutrient (minerals and vitamins) content. The methodological differences, however, severely limit the informative value of reported NWP values. A multidisciplinary research effort is required to further develop standardized metrics for NWP, including its local environmental water scarcity impacts. A robust NWP analysis framework in agriculture should focus on the integration of assessments of NWP and water scarcity impact (WSI), and development of more field measurements and locally calibrated and validated agrohydrological and farm production models to quantify reliable NWP values and their associated WSI of agriculture production systems worldwide. Full article
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18 pages, 3862 KiB  
Article
Monitoring of Seasonal Under-Vine CO2 Effluxes in a Vineyard under Different Fertilization Practices
by Pasquale Cirigliano, Andrea Cresti, Andrea Rengo, Mauro Eugenio Maria D’Arcangelo and Elena Brunori
Horticulturae 2023, 9(10), 1107; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9101107 - 6 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1829
Abstract
Soil CO2 efflux is a pivotal component of agro-ecosystem C budgets. It is considered a proxy indicator of biological activity and a descriptor of soil quality that is strongly linked to agricultural soil management. We investigated the effects of soil fertilization practices [...] Read more.
Soil CO2 efflux is a pivotal component of agro-ecosystem C budgets. It is considered a proxy indicator of biological activity and a descriptor of soil quality that is strongly linked to agricultural soil management. We investigated the effects of soil fertilization practices (organo-mineral (OMN) versus chemical (C)) on soil under-vine CO2 efflux (TSR) in an Italian rainfed vineyard (cv Chardonnay). The TSR was measured using the chamber technique as follows: a close multi-chamber system (prototype) was placed under a vine. Data (CO2, temperature, and moisture) were acquired hourly during two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) from flowering to berry ripening. Physical–hydrological soil parameters were determined, and the seasonal trends of the TSR, soil temperature, and soil moisture were assessed. The TSR measurements fluctuated for the 2021 season, ranging from 1.03 to 1.97 µmol CO2∙m−2∙s−1 for the C treatment, while for the OMN treatment, the TSR measurements ranged from 1.24 to 1.71 µmol CO2∙m−2∙s−1. Extreme weather conditions (2022) highlighted the differences between the two agronomical practices, and a decoupling was found between the TSR and the soil water content, with the TSR being controlled primarily by the soil temperature. At the daily scale, the findings showed that the TSR reached its minimum in the early morning hours (5:00–8:00). The results promote organic–mineral nutrition as an improved practice for soil carbon storage (restoration of the organic fraction) by reducing the TSR, permitting the preservation of soil quality and stabilizing the hydrological traits by preserving the biotic activities. Full article
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26 pages, 7730 KiB  
Article
Improvements and Evaluation of the Agro-Hydrologic VegET Model for Large-Area Water Budget Analysis and Drought Monitoring
by Gabriel B. Senay, Stefanie Kagone, Gabriel E. L. Parrish, Kul Khand, Olena Boiko and Naga M. Velpuri
Hydrology 2023, 10(8), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10080168 - 10 Aug 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3898
Abstract
We enhanced the agro-hydrologic VegET model to include snow accumulation and melt processes and the separation of runoff into surface runoff and deep drainage. Driven by global weather datasets and parameterized by land surface phenology (LSP), the enhanced VegET model was implemented in [...] Read more.
We enhanced the agro-hydrologic VegET model to include snow accumulation and melt processes and the separation of runoff into surface runoff and deep drainage. Driven by global weather datasets and parameterized by land surface phenology (LSP), the enhanced VegET model was implemented in the cloud to simulate daily soil moisture (SM), actual evapotranspiration (ETa), and runoff (R) for the conterminous United States (CONUS) and the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA). Evaluation of the VegET model with independent data showed satisfactory performance, capturing the temporal variability of SM (Pearson correlation r: 0.22–0.97), snowpack (r: 0.86–0.88), ETa (r: 0.41–0.97), and spatial variability of R (r: 0.81–0.90). Absolute magnitudes showed some biases, indicating the need of calibrating the model for water budget analysis. The seasonal Landscape Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (L-WRSI) for CONUS and GHA showed realistic depictions of drought hazard extent and severity, indicating the usefulness of the L-WRSI for the convergence of an evidence toolkit used by the Famine Early Warning System Network to monitor potential food insecurity conditions in different parts of the world. Using projected weather datasets and landcover-based LSP, the VegET model can be used not only for global monitoring of drought conditions, but also for evaluating scenarios on the effect of a changing climate and land cover on agriculture and water resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Hydrology and Water Resources in Agriculture and Ecology)
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21 pages, 4514 KiB  
Article
Effect of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and Other Irrigation Management Strategies on Water Resources in Rice-Producing Areas of Northern Italy
by Giulio Luca Cristian Gilardi, Alice Mayer, Michele Rienzner, Marco Romani and Arianna Facchi
Water 2023, 15(12), 2150; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15122150 - 6 Jun 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3628
Abstract
In rice areas with shallow aquifers, an evaluation of alternative irrigation strategies should include the interactions between irrigation and groundwater recharge and reuse, which influence the overall irrigation efficiency. A modelling system composed of three sub-models within a MATLAB framework (a physically based, [...] Read more.
In rice areas with shallow aquifers, an evaluation of alternative irrigation strategies should include the interactions between irrigation and groundwater recharge and reuse, which influence the overall irrigation efficiency. A modelling system composed of three sub-models within a MATLAB framework (a physically based, semi-distributed agro-hydrological model and two empirical models, the former for the channel network percolation and the latter for the groundwater level) was applied to a 1000 ha rice district in the Padana Plain, Italy. The calibrated framework estimates the daily time series of the water supply needed and of the groundwater level for a given irrigation management, based on the inputs provided (agro-meteorology, crop data, soil data, irrigation practices, groundwater table depth upstream of the study area). Five irrigation management strategies, relevant to the area, were compared: (i) wet seeding and continuous flooding (WFL), (ii) wet seeding and alternate wetting and drying (AWD), (iii) dry seeding and delayed flooding (DFL), (iv) dry seeding and fixed-turn irrigation FTI), (v) early dry seeding and delayed flooding (DFLearly). Due to economic advantages, dry-seeded techniques (DFL, FTI) are replacing the traditional WFL in northern Italy. Simulations show that dry seeding leads to a drastic decrease of the water table in April/May, reducing the overall irrigation efficiency of the area, and that DFL (widely adopted in the area) also causes a spike in rice irrigation needs in June when other crops increase their water demand, exposing the area to water scarcity. All the cited management strategies are assessed in the paper and AWD turned out to couple smaller irrigation needs (from June onwards) compared to continuous flooding techniques with a maintenance of the groundwater recharge, especially in the first part of the irrigation season, thus being a recommendable rice management alternative for the study area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture)
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19 pages, 2196 KiB  
Article
Agricultural Practices for Hillslope Erosion Mitigation: A Case Study in Morocco
by Jean Marie Vianney Nsabiyumva, Ciro Apollonio, Giulio Castelli, Andrea Petroselli, Mohamed Sabir and Federico Preti
Water 2023, 15(11), 2120; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15112120 - 2 Jun 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3266
Abstract
In the last decades, the Rif area in Morocco has been frequently affected by soil erosion due to intense rainfall events. In order to help farmers improve their lives and avoid damages caused by this phenomenon, a management project (the MCA Project) aiming [...] Read more.
In the last decades, the Rif area in Morocco has been frequently affected by soil erosion due to intense rainfall events. In order to help farmers improve their lives and avoid damages caused by this phenomenon, a management project (the MCA Project) aiming to grow fruit trees has been realized. The objective of this study was to evaluate, in three provinces of Morocco, the effect on the hydrological response of selected erosion control management techniques combined with olive tree plantations. The investigated variables were the final infiltration (If), the imbibition of rainwater (Pi), the runoff coefficient (Kr), and the soil detachment (D). In particular, for each investigated soil utilization, three replications of a rain simulation test (80 mm/h) and soil sampling were conducted. Results for surface conditions demonstrate that under vegetation in matorral and fallow, the surface is covered at more than 75% with a high content of organic matter (OM) at 4.5% and 2.6%, respectively. Despite the compaction observed in those land uses, the surface area opened exceeded 90% in the study area. Regarding the soils physical properties, they were rich in silt at more than 40%; the rate of porosity is high where bulk density is low. At the Taounate site, low porosity was at 62% in fallow and at 55% in plowing, with high densities of 1.01 g/cm2 and 1.2 g/cm2, respectively. Tests also demonstrate that vegetation has an important role in moisture conservation in the depths of 0 to 10 cm at all sites with macroagregate stability (MA%) compared to plowing sites. In terms of soil hydrology, vegetation reduces the runoff because, under matorral (it was at 0%), it avoids soil erosion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Erosion Measurement Techniques and Field Experiments)
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20 pages, 2803 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Irrigation Efficiency by Coupling Remote Sensing and Ground-Based Data: Case Study of Sprinkler Irrigation of Alfalfa in the Saratovskoye Zavolgie Region of Russia
by Anatoly Mikhailovich Zeyliger, Olga Sergeevna Ermolaeva and Viktor Vladimirovich Pchelkin
Sensors 2023, 23(5), 2601; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23052601 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2422
Abstract
Nowadays, the leading role of data from sensors to monitor crop irrigation practices is indisputable. The combination of ground and space monitoring data and agrohydrological modeling made it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of crop irrigation. This paper presents some additions to recently [...] Read more.
Nowadays, the leading role of data from sensors to monitor crop irrigation practices is indisputable. The combination of ground and space monitoring data and agrohydrological modeling made it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of crop irrigation. This paper presents some additions to recently published results of field study at the territory of the Privolzhskaya irrigation system located on the left bank of the Volga in the Russian Federation, during the growing season of 2012. Data were obtained for 19 crops of irrigated alfalfa during the second year of their growing period. Irrigation water applications to these crops was carried out by the center pivot sprinklers. The actual crop evapotranspiration and its components being derived with the SEBAL model from MODIS satellite images data. As a result, a time series of daily values of evapotranspiration and transpiration were obtained for the area occupied by each of these crops. To assess the effectiveness of irrigation of alfalfa crops, six indicators were used based on the use of data on yield, irrigation depth, actual evapotranspiration, transpiration and basal evaporation deficit. The series of indicators estimating irrigation effectiveness were analyzed and ranked. The obtained rank values were used to analyze the similarity and non-similarity of indicators of irrigation effectiveness of alfalfa crops. As a result of this analysis, the opportunity to assess irrigation effectiveness with the help of data from ground and space-based sensors was proved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Smart Agriculture)
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23 pages, 4589 KiB  
Article
Fertigation Strategies to Improve Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Surface Irrigation System in the North China Plain
by Xiulu Sun, Yizan Li, Marius Heinen, Henk Ritzema, Petra Hellegers and Jos van Dam
Agriculture 2023, 13(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010017 - 21 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3204
Abstract
Irrigation and fertilisation are often over-applied, which exceeds crop requirements. Surface fertigation, a technique of applying pre-dissolved fertilisers together with irrigation water, seems to be a viable way to improve the on-farm performance in the North China Plain (NCP). Thus, we conducted a [...] Read more.
Irrigation and fertilisation are often over-applied, which exceeds crop requirements. Surface fertigation, a technique of applying pre-dissolved fertilisers together with irrigation water, seems to be a viable way to improve the on-farm performance in the North China Plain (NCP). Thus, we conducted a field experiment based on farmers’ practices from 2017 to 2019. Moreover, we calibrated and validated SWAP-WOFOST-N, a seasonal integrated agro-hydrology and crop growth model, to assess the effects of different practices on yield, water and nitrogen use efficiency (WUE and NUE) and resource loss. Lastly, we developed various scenarios using the model to determine improved strategies. The results showed that the SWAP-WOFOST and extended Soil-N model offered satisfactory accuracy when compared with field measured data for the tested domain of the hydrological and nitrogen cycle; farmers’ current irrigation and fertilisation practices resulted in low WUE and NUE, but the practice of split top-dressing nitrogen did not show significant improvement in the surface irrigation system; WUE, NUE and nitrogen loss were closely related to irrigation practices. We further concluded that an optimised irrigation practice combined with an optimal fertigation scenario is the feasible strategy to achieve sustainable crop yield, high WUE and NUE and reduced nitrogen loss. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Agricultural Water Management)
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26 pages, 6594 KiB  
Article
Evolution and Trends of Meteorological Drought and Wet Events over the Republic of Djibouti from 1961 to 2021
by Omar Assowe Dabar, Abdi-Basid Ibrahim Adan, Moussa Mahdi Ahmed, Mohamed Osman Awaleh, Moussa Mohamed Waberi, Pierre Camberlin, Benjamin Pohl and Jalludin Mohamed
Climate 2022, 10(10), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10100148 - 12 Oct 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4992
Abstract
Drought is a meteorological and hydrological phenomenon affecting the environment, agriculture, and socioeconomic conditions, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. A better understanding of drought characteristics over short and long timescales is therefore crucial for drought mitigation and long-term strategies. For the first [...] Read more.
Drought is a meteorological and hydrological phenomenon affecting the environment, agriculture, and socioeconomic conditions, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. A better understanding of drought characteristics over short and long timescales is therefore crucial for drought mitigation and long-term strategies. For the first time, this study evaluates the occurrence, duration, and intensity of drought over the Republic of Djibouti by using a long-term (1961–2021) rainfall time series at Djibouti Airport, completed by the CHIRPS precipitation product and local records from 35 weather stations. The drought is examined based on the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, and 24-month timescales, so as to document short-, medium-, and long-duration events. The SPEI and SPI showed a significant drying tendency for the indices computed over 12 and 24 months at Djibouti Airport. The eastern coastal region of the Republic of Djibouti was the most affected by the increased drought incidence in recent decades, with more than 80% of the extremely and severely dry events occurring within the period 2007–2017. In contrast, the western regions recorded a positive trend in their SPIs during the period 1981–2021, due to the dominance of the June–September (JJAS) rains, which tend to increase. However, in the last few decades, the whole country experienced the droughts of 2006/2007 and 2010/2011, which were the longest and most intense on record. Large-scale climate variability in the Indo-Pacific region partially affects drought in Djibouti. The SPI and SPEI are significantly positively correlated with the Indian Ocean Dipole during October–December (OND), while for JJAS the SPI and SPEI are negatively correlated with Nino3.4. The wet event in 2019 (OND) causing devastating floods in Djibouti city was linked with a positive IOD anomaly. This study provides essential information on the characteristics of drought in the Republic of Djibouti for decision-makers to better plan appropriate strategies for early warning systems to adapt and mitigate recurrent droughts that put the country’s agro-pastoral populations in a precarious situation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate and Weather Extremes: Volume II)
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21 pages, 4069 KiB  
Article
Influence of Land Use Changes on the Longaví Catchment Hydrology in South-Center Chile
by Héctor Moya, Ingrid Althoff, Carlos Huenchuleo and Paolo Reggiani
Hydrology 2022, 9(10), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9100169 - 28 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3167
Abstract
During recent decades, the South-Central part of Chile has shown strong vulnerability due to the effects of land use change (LUC). The interaction of these changes with local hydrology has not been adequately investigated and is poorly understood, especially in mountainous areas under [...] Read more.
During recent decades, the South-Central part of Chile has shown strong vulnerability due to the effects of land use change (LUC). The interaction of these changes with local hydrology has not been adequately investigated and is poorly understood, especially in mountainous areas under irrigated agriculture. We applied the SWAT + agrohydrological model to study the effects of LUC on hydrological fluxes in the Longaví catchment, Maule region, South-Central Chile. Land use maps (LUMs) from 1997, 2009, and 2016 were used in conjunction with a 41-year (1979–2019) hydro-meteorological series of daily observations as forcing data. The dominant changes in land use during the study period relate to agriculture, shrublands, forestry of exotic species, and urban sprawl. First, the LUM of 1997 was used for model setup, sensitivity analysis, calibration, and validation. Second, the impact of LUC documented through LUMs 2009 and 2016 was analyzed. Our analysis clearly reveals that the overall water balance and internal moisture redistribution in the Longaví catchment have been considerably affected by decreases in precipitation, changes in land use and water use practices. Unless a comprehensive regulatory system is introduced that addresses current climatic conditions and territorial use, it is likely that the decrease in water resources will persist and worsen through climate changes. Full article
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37 pages, 14586 KiB  
Article
Monitoring System of the Mar Menor Coastal Lagoon (Spain) and Its Watershed Basin Using the Integration of Massive Heterogeneous Data
by Francisco Javier López-Andreu, Juan Antonio López-Morales, Joaquín Francisco Atenza Juárez, Rosa Alcaraz, María Dolores Hernández, Manuel Erena, Jose Antonio Domínguez-Gómez and Sandra García Galiano
Sensors 2022, 22(17), 6507; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22176507 - 29 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4491
Abstract
The tool created aims at the environmental monitoring of the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (Spain) and the monitoring of the land use of its watershed. It integrates heterogeneous data sources ranging from ecological data obtained from a multiparametric oceanographic sonde to agro-meteorological data [...] Read more.
The tool created aims at the environmental monitoring of the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (Spain) and the monitoring of the land use of its watershed. It integrates heterogeneous data sources ranging from ecological data obtained from a multiparametric oceanographic sonde to agro-meteorological data from IMIDA’s network of stations or hydrological data from the SAIH network as multispectral satellite images from Sentinel and Landsat space missions. The system is based on free and open source software and has been designed to guarantee maximum levels of flexibility and scalability and minimum coupling so that the incorporation of new components does not affect the existing ones. The platform is designed to handle a data volume of more than 12 million records, experiencing exponential growth in the last six months. The tool allows the transformation of a large volume of data into information, offering them through microservices with optimal response times. As practical applications, the platform created allows us to know the ecological state of the Mar Menor with a very high level of detail, both at biophysical and nutrient levels, being able to detect periods of oxygen deficit and delimit the affected area. In addition, it facilitates the detailed monitoring of the cultivated areas of the watershed, detecting the agricultural use and crop cycles at the plot level. It also makes it possible to calculate the amount of water precipitated on the watershed and to monitor the runoff produced and the amount of water entering the Mar Menor in extreme events. The information is offered in different ways depending on the user profile, offering a very high level of detail for research or data analysis profiles, concrete and direct information to support decision-making for users with managerial profiles and validated and concise information for citizens. It is an integrated and distributed system that will provide data and services for the Mar Menor Observatory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Control and Automation in Smart Agriculture)
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25 pages, 649 KiB  
Review
Remote Sensing, Geophysics, and Modeling to Support Precision Agriculture—Part 2: Irrigation Management
by Arya Pradipta, Pantelis Soupios, Nektarios Kourgialas, Maria Doula, Zoi Dokou, Mohammad Makkawi, Mohammed Alfarhan, Bassam Tawabini, Panagiotis Kirmizakis and Mohamed Yassin
Water 2022, 14(7), 1157; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14071157 - 4 Apr 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5554
Abstract
Food and water security are considered the most critical issues globally due to the projected population growth placing pressure on agricultural systems. Because agricultural activity is known to be the largest consumer of freshwater, the unsustainable irrigation water use required by crops to [...] Read more.
Food and water security are considered the most critical issues globally due to the projected population growth placing pressure on agricultural systems. Because agricultural activity is known to be the largest consumer of freshwater, the unsustainable irrigation water use required by crops to grow might lead to rapid freshwater depletion. Precision agriculture has emerged as a feasible concept to maintain farm productivity while facing future problems such as climate change, freshwater depletion, and environmental degradation. Agriculture is regarded as a complex system due to the variability of soil, crops, topography, and climate, and its interconnection with water availability and scarcity. Therefore, understanding these variables’ spatial and temporal behavior is essential in order to support precision agriculture by implementing optimum irrigation water use. Nowadays, numerous cost- and time-effective methods have been highlighted and implemented in order to optimize on-farm productivity without threatening the quantity and quality of the environmental resources. Remote sensing can provide lateral distribution information for areas of interest from the regional scale to the farm scale, while geophysics can investigate non-invasively the sub-surface soil (vertically and laterally), mapping large spatial and temporal domains. Likewise, agro-hydrological modelling can overcome the insufficient on-farm physicochemical dataset which is spatially and temporally required for precision agriculture in the context of irrigation water scheduling. Full article
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18 pages, 3955 KiB  
Article
Knowledge-Based Optimal Irrigation Scheduling of Agro-Hydrological Systems
by Soumya R. Sahoo, Bernard T. Agyeman, Sarupa Debnath and Jinfeng Liu
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1304; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031304 - 24 Jan 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3108
Abstract
Agricultural irrigation consumes about 70% of freshwater globally every year. To improve the water-use efficiency in agricultural irrigation is critical as we move toward water sustainability. An irrigation scheduler determines how much water to irrigate and when to irrigate for an agricultural field. [...] Read more.
Agricultural irrigation consumes about 70% of freshwater globally every year. To improve the water-use efficiency in agricultural irrigation is critical as we move toward water sustainability. An irrigation scheduler determines how much water to irrigate and when to irrigate for an agricultural field. To get a high-resolution irrigation-scheduling solution for a large-scale agricultural field is still an open research problem. In this work, we propose a knowledge-based optimal irrigation-scheduling approach for large-scale agricultural fields that are equipped with center pivot irrigation systems. The proposed scheduler is designed in the framework of model predictive control. The objective of the proposed scheduler is to maximize crop yield while minimizing irrigation water consumption and the associated electricity usage. First, we introduce a structure-preserving model reduction technique to significantly reduce the dimensionality of agro-hydrological systems. Then, based on the reduced model, an optimization-based scheduler is designed. In the design of the scheduler, knowledge from farmers is taken into account to further reduce the computational complexity of the scheduler. The proposed approach explicitly considers both the irrigation time and the irrigation amount as decision variables to keep the crop within the stress-free zone considering the weather uncertainty and heterogeneous soil types for large agricultural fields. The proposed approach is applied to three different scenarios with different soil types, crops, and weather uncertainty. The results show that in all the conditions, the scheduler is capable of keeping the crops stress-free, which results in maximum yield and, at the same time, minimizes water consumption and irrigation events. Full article
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19 pages, 3916 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Trend Analysis of Temperature and Rainfall over Ziway Lake Basin, Ethiopia
by Aster Tesfaye Hordofa, Olkeba Tolessa Leta, Tane Alamirew and Abebe Demissie Chukalla
Hydrology 2022, 9(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9010002 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4920
Abstract
Rainfall and temperature trends detection is vital for water resources management and decision support systems in agro-hydrology. This study assessed the historical (1983–2005) and future (2026–2100) rainfall, maximum temperature (Tmax), and minimum temperature (Tmin) trends of the Ziway Lake [...] Read more.
Rainfall and temperature trends detection is vital for water resources management and decision support systems in agro-hydrology. This study assessed the historical (1983–2005) and future (2026–2100) rainfall, maximum temperature (Tmax), and minimum temperature (Tmin) trends of the Ziway Lake Basin (Ethiopia). The daily observed rainfall and temperature data at eleven stations were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia, while simulated historical and future climate data were obtained from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) datasets under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) of 4.5 and 8.5. The CMIP5 datasets were statistically downscaled by using the climate model data for hydrologic modeling (CMhyd) tool and bias corrected using the distribution mapping method available in the CMhyd tool. The performance of simulated rainfall, Tmax, and Tmin of the CMIP5 models were statistically evaluated using observation datasets at eleven stations. The results showed that the selected CMIP5 models can reasonably simulate the monthly rainfall, Tmax, and Tmin at the majority of the stations. Modified Mann–Kendall trend test were applied to estimate the trends of annual rainfall, Tmax, and Tmin in the historical and future periods. We found that rainfall experienced no clear trends, while Tmax, and Tmin showed consistently significant increasing trends under both RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. However, the warming is expected to be greater under RCP 8.5 than RCP 4.5 by the end of the 21st century, resulting in an increasing trend of Tmax and Tmin at all stations. The greatest warming occurred in the central part of the basin, with statistically significant increases largely seen by the end of the 21st century, which is expected to exacerbate the evapotranspiration demand of the area that could negatively affect the freshwater availability within the basin. This study increases our understanding of historic trends and projected future change effects on rainfall- and evapotranspiration-related climate variables, which can be used to inform adaptive water resource management strategies. Full article
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