AN EARTH OBSERVATION ASSISTED TOOL FOR IRRIGATION WATER MANAGEMENT

Water is a critical issue worldwide and water conflicts are arising in many regions, with available resources diminishing in quantity and quality, and the range of uses in competing sectors increasing. Water for food production and, hence, water for irrigation, represents by far the largest share among all uses, while water demand is still growing with increasing population, especially in developing countries. This paper focuses on newly developed technologies for irrigation water management within a research and technological development project funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, entitled PLEIADeS (Participatory multi-Level Earth observation-assisted tools for Irrigation water management and Agricultural Decision-Support). PLEIADeS aims at improving the technical, environmental and economic performance of irrigation schemes by means of a range of measures while addressing the efficient and sustainable use of water for food production in water-scarce environments. A key feature of the project is a set of systems and services integrated with the comprehensive space-time coverage of Earth observation (EO) data, and the interactive networking/connecting capabilities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is also the basis for technical and social learning that enables farmers to act responsibly by fine-tuning their on-farm irrigation management, in accordance with the river-basin water status and management decisions. In the presented study, the tool introduced and tested by PLEIADeS Project is briefly explained, while discussing the capabilities of the new technique for irrigation water management, and its role in improving the performance of irrigation schemes along with potential measures.