IrriSAT is a weather based irrigation scheduling service which is used to inform farmers how much water their crop has used and how much how much irrigation they need to apply. Information is produced daily, and can work across large spatial scales.
The IrriSAT methodology uses satellite images to determine the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for each field, from which the plant canopy size can be determined and a specific crop coefficient (Kc) can be estimated. By combining Kcwith daily reference Evapotranspiration (ET0) observations from a nearby weather station, the crop water usage can be determined and advice can be provided regarding the amount of irrigation to be applied.
This project is funded by the European Community Erasmus programme.