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Climate change

Irrigation Alleviates Drought in Croplands: New Research Reveals Accurate Monitoring of Irrigated Areas Crucial for Food Security

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Research conducted by investigators in Beijing, People's Republic of China, has led to new findings in agriculture, highlighting the importance of irrigation in alleviating drought in croplands and maintaining or increasing crop yields. The accurate monitoring of irrigated areas is crucial for regional water resource management, food security, climate change, drought monitoring, and emergency disaster relief. The research, supported by The Jiangsu Water Conservancy Science And Technology Project, proposes a method to map spring irrigation areas using historical meteorological data, main crop phenological characteristics, irrigation regimes, and MODIS land-surface temperature products.

Key Takeaways:

  • The research, conducted in northwestern China, demonstrated the feasibility of irrigated area mapping using land-surface temperature and proposed a method to map spring irrigation areas using historical meteorological data, main crop phenological characteristics, irrigation regimes, and MODIS land-surface temperature products.
  • The distribution of irrigation intensity, spring irrigated areas (SIA), and total area of spring irrigation (STIA) were monitored by the proposed method for the Donglei Irrigated District (Phase II) in northwestern China from 2011 to 2018.
  • The results showed that most of the croplands in the study area were irrigated once or twice, and the SIA in most years varied between 55,900 and 73,100 ha, but in 2016, the irrigation area reached 100,200 ha.
  • The STIA accounted for 60-70% of the irrigated area except in 2016, and the average accuracy of SIA monitoring was satisfactory and above 94% for years when sufficient and reliable data was available.
  • The research was conducted by Yizhu Lu and his colleagues from the Sate Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.

Statistics:

  • The study area was irrigated for 16 January-23 February, 24 February-24 March, and 25 March-31 May, with temperature thresholds of 12 °C, 15 °C, and 11 °C, respectively.
  • The average accuracy of SIA monitoring was above 94% for years with sufficient and reliable data.
  • The total area of spring irrigation (STIA) accounted for 60-70% of the irrigated area except in 2016.
  • The irrigation area in 2016 reached 100,200 ha, a significant increase from the usual range of 55,900 to 73,100 ha.

Sources:

  • A New Method to Map Spring Irrigated Areas Using MODIS LST Products and Ancillary Data in an Agricultural District of Northwest China. Water, 2022,14(2628):2628. (Water - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/water/)
  • Yizhu Lu, Sate Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, People's Republic of China.
  • The Jiangsu Water Conservancy Science And Technology Project.
  • China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.

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