Quantifying Evapotranspiration and Drainage Losses in a Semi-Arid Nectarine (Prunus persica var. nucipersica) Field with a Dynamic Crop Coefficient (Kc) Derived from Leaf Area Index Measurements

Quantifying evapotranspiration and drainage losses is essential for improving irrigation efficiency. The FAO-56 the most popular method computing crop evapotranspiration. There is, however, a need locally derived coefficients (Kc) with high temporal resolution to reduce errors in water balance. aim of this paper introduce dynamic Kc approach, based on Leaf Area Index (LAI) observations, balance computations. Soil moisture meteorological data were collected terraced nectarine (Prunus persica var. nucipersica) orchard Cyprus, from 22 March 2019 18 November 2021. was as function canopy cover fraction (c), biweekly situ LAI measurements. use resulted estimates bias 17 mm mean absolute error 0.8 mm. Evapotranspiration (ET) ranged 41% rainfall (P) (I) wet year (2019) 57% P + I dry (2021). Drainage (DR_I) 44% total irrigation. efficiency field could be improved by reducing amounts increasing frequency. Future studies should focus approach linking observations remote sensing adding ground observations.