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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #304698
Title: Use of crop specific drought indices for determining irrigation demand in the Texas High Plains

Author
item Moorhead, Jerry
item Gowda, Prasanna
item MAREK, THOMAS - Texas Agrilife Research
item PORTER, DANA - Texas Agrilife Extension
item HOWELL, TERRY - Retired Non ARS Employee
item SINGH, VIJAY - Texas A&M University
item STEWART, B.A. - West Texas A & M University

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2014
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Drought is a highly destructive natural phenomenon that affects portions of the U.S. almost every year. Severe water deficiencies can become catastrophic for agriculture and crop yields. Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component in the agricultural water budget; thus, it is strongly preferred to include ET in agricultural drought monitoring. Consequently, the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) was recently introduced to monitor agricultural drought. In this study, statistical relationships between crop-specific monthly SPEI and corresponding irrigation demand were developed using Texas High Plains ET (TXHPET) network data and evaluated for determining their usefulness in groundwater management within the Texas High Plains. Results indicate that the statistical relationship between irrigation demand and SPEI provides a relatively simple tool to estimate irrigation demand at a county or regional level for groundwater management purposes.