IrriSAT – weather based scheduling and benchmarking technology

IrriSAT is a weather based irrigation management and benchmarking technology that uses remote sensing to provide site specific crop water management information across large spatial scales. Developed in partnership with the CRC for Irrigation Futures, IrriSAT uses satellite imagery to estimate crop coefficients (Kc) at a 30 m resolution. IrriSAT calculates Kc from a linear relationship with satellite derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Daily crop water use is determined by simply multiplying Kc and daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) observations from a nearby weather station. A seven day forecast of ETo is also produced. A delivery platform is being developed using the Google App Engine. The app will provide easy access to the IrriSAT crop water use data, which coupled with weather and crop water use (ETc) forecasts will enable irrigators to track their soil moisture deficit and better manage irrigation schedules. Spatial crop water use information determined by IrriSAT is also available through the IrriSat app and will allow users to investigate water use difference within and between fields. This information can be used for changing management decisions along with investigating the impacts of these decisions.