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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #352494
Research Project: Response of Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Watersheds to Changes in Water Availability, Land Use, Management, and Climate

Location: Water Management and Systems Research

Title: Determining Crop Soil Water Deficit with an UAS

Author
item CHAVEZ, JOSE - Colorado State University
item Zhang, Huihui

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Central Plains Irrigation Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Remote sensing (RS) techniques have been used to identify crops grown during different seasons and to estimate crop bio-physical characteristics and water use. Images from satellites such as Landsat 5, 7, and 8 have been used extensively to map crop evapotranspiration rates (ET) using a suite of algorithms. However, Landsat satellites have a fixed revisit frequency (e.g., 16 days) and pixel spatial resolution of 30 m for the visible (VIS) and mid-infra-red (MIR ) bands while the thermal infra-red (TIR) band pixel size is 100-120 m. Furthermore, some RS of ET algorithms require that the TIR band be corrected for atmospheric effects (not trivial). These characteristics limit the application of satellites to generate frequent ET maps (every three or four days) to be used in soil water balance methods to help manage scarce water resources more efficiently. Therefore, there is a need to investigate alternatives to produce higher spatial and temporal resolution maps. With the advent of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) capable of carrying multispectral (i.e., VIS, TIR) cameras it may be possible to monitor ET more effectively. Thus, this study evaluates the use of ET techniques that can be used with an UAS to estimate soil water content.