ADVANCED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT USING AUTOMATED IRRIGATION AND REMOTE SENSING

SITE SPECIFIC CROP MANAGEMENT (SSCM) IS THE SOLUTION TO MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS CAUSED BY SPATIAL VARIABILITY WITHIN A FIELD. IN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE, SPATIAL VARIABILITY CONTRIBUTES TO SUBOPTIMUM MANAGEMENT RESULTING IN INEFFICIENT WATER AND CHEMICAL USE AND CONTAMINATION OF SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER SUPPLIES. AN AUTOMATED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR CENTER-PIVOT IRRIGATION MACHINES HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WHICH ENABLES SSCM USING IRRIGATION AND CHEMIGATION BY VARYING WATER APPLICATION ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE LATERAL. AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF SSCM IS DATA ON SPATIAL VARIABILITY. WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF MULTI-SPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT ZONES WITHIN A FIELD. THE END RESULT WILL BE A VARIABILITY MAP WHICH WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH THE CONTROL SYSTEM TO VARY WATER AND CHEMICAL APPLICATIONS TO THE DIFFERENT MANAGMENT ZONES WHEREVER THEY ARE LOCATED. A PROGRAM OF FIELD TESTING USING A COMMERCIAL CENTER-PIVOT TOGETHER WITH CONTROLLED IRRIGATION AND NITROGEN MANAGEMENT PLOTS WILL ENABLE US TO INVESTIGATE AERIAL REMOTE SENSING AS A COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO SUBDIVIDE A FIELD INTO MANAGEMENT ZONES FOR USE BY THE SSCM CONTROL SYSTEM. APPROPRIATE GROUND TRUTH MEASUREMENTS WILL BE MADE. ALSO, RESEARCH ON INTEGRATING THE MAPS WITH THE CONTROL SYSTEM AND THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF SYSTEM USE WILL BE CONDUCTED.