Estimation of Actual Evapotranspiration, Water productivity, and Irrigation Efficiency of Wheat Fields in Surface and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems Using Remote Sensing

In arid and semi-arid regions, water resource management and optimization of applying irrigation water are particularly important. For optimization of applying irrigation water, the estimated values of actual evapotranspiration are necessary for avoiding excessive or inadequate applying water. The estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration is not possible in large areas using the traditional methods. Hence, it is recommended to use remote sensing algorithms for these areas. In this research, actual evapotranspiration of wheat fields was estimated using METRIC algorithm (Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration), using ground-based meteorological data and satellite images of Landsat8 at the Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, in 2016-2018. In the process of METRIC execution, cold pixels are located in well-irrigated wheat fields where there is no water stress and maximum crop evapotranspiration occurred. The estimated maximum values of evapotranspiration using the METRIC algorithm were validated favorably using the obtained values by the AquaCrop model with NRMSE (Normalized Root Mean Square Errors) equal to 0.12. Finally, the values of water productivity (grain yield per unit volume of evapotranspiration) and irrigation efficiency were estimated using the values of predicted actual evapotranspiration using remote sensing technique. The values of measured irrigation water and produced wheat grain yield in 179 ha were estimated at 0.86 kg m-3 and 75%, respectively.