irrisat – irrigation advice based on satellite ...€¦ · irrisat wouldn’t have been possible...
TRANSCRIPT
IRRISAT – Irrigation advice based on satellite technologies
Guido Bonati - CREA
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Tokyo – November 6th 2019
International Workshop on Scaling up and out of climate-smart technologies and practices for sustainable agriculture
Outline of use case
• The challenge: how much water and when• The climate smart solution: irrigation advice using remote
sensing• What was the main purpose, in conducting the project/trial
etc. with farmers and/or other stakeholders in the society?• What is the key role of research institutes in identifying
and designing suitable measures/policies/schemes to facilitate adoption and dissemination of new technologies/practices?
• What is the key role of research institutes in sharing “lessons learned” among different countries and regions?
How much water and when?
The challenge
A common problem, but …The Mediterranean basin ia a climate change hotspot
Crop water balance
What the farmer normally does
Look atthe crop
Look atthe soil
Look at the weather
Use of satellites for crop monitoring
Look atthe cropwith special eyes
Use of satellites for soil monitoring
How we take intoaccount soil water content
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 =1 − 𝜌𝜌𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆
2
𝜌𝜌𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆
Look atthe soil
Weather forecast
PERSIANN-CCS dataset,
Irvine (UCI)
IRRISAT: a combination of technologiesSC
REE
NSH
OT
OF
SER
VIC
E
(1) Easy to use web-app which combines Earth Observation and meteorological forecast for monitoring Irrigation and Nutrient Status.
(2) All data can be aggregated by plot or pixel bases.
(3) The key-points of these tools are: personalized advice; timely delivery of information; visual representation of in-field
variability in crop development and water demand.
Web-GIS platform integrating water and nitrogen management
Main purpose in conducting the project
• Initially it was mainly a pure research effort, to benefit from satellite technology
• After a few years of tests, IRRISAT was introduced as a policy measure to support farmers
• To its initial scope (irrigation advice to farmers) a few more uses have been identified
• Carry out check on authorized and unauthorized abstractions• Verify the respect of the limitations on the use of water resources in case of
drought
Key role of research institutes
• Since the beginning, IRRISAT has been funded withinresearch programs
• The company managing the service is a spin-off if the University of Naples
• The product is the result of a partnership between:• An academic institution (University of Naples)• A private company (Ariespace)• A national research institute (CREA)• Regional governments (in charge of implementing water management policies)
IRRISAT wouldn’t have been possible without thisenabling environment
Sharing lessons learned
• A climate smart innovation can be extrenely expensive (in economic terms, but also in pure scientific aspects) and failures are part of the game
• Innovation as such may not the unique key success factor
Sharing lessons learned (both positive and negative) iskey to the role of public research institutes
From applied research to policy implementation
