Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products
Although the real timing and flow rates used for crop irrigation are controlled at the scale of individual plots by the irrigator, they are not generally known by the farm upper management. This information is nevertheless essential, not only to compute the water balance of irrigated plots and to sc...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/10/1621 |
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| author | Michel Le Page Lionel Jarlan Marcel M. El Hajj Mehrez Zribi Nicolas Baghdadi Aaron Boone |
| author_facet | Michel Le Page Lionel Jarlan Marcel M. El Hajj Mehrez Zribi Nicolas Baghdadi Aaron Boone |
| author_sort | Michel Le Page |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although the real timing and flow rates used for crop irrigation are controlled at the scale of individual plots by the irrigator, they are not generally known by the farm upper management. This information is nevertheless essential, not only to compute the water balance of irrigated plots and to schedule irrigation, but also for the management of water resources at regional scales. The aim of the present study was to detect irrigation timing using time series of surface soil moisture (SSM) derived from Sentinel-1 radar observations. The method consisted of assessing the direction of change of surface soil moisture (SSM) between observations and a water balance model, and to use thresholds to be calibrated. The performance of the approach was assessed on the F-score quantifying the accuracy of the irrigation event detections and ranging from 0 (none of the irrigation timing is correct) to 100 (perfect irrigation detection). The study focused on five irrigated and one rainfed plot of maize in South-West France, where the approach was tested using in situ measurements and surface soil moisture (SSM) maps derived from Sentinel-1 radar data. The use of in situ data showed that (1) irrigation timing was detected with a good accuracy (F-score in the range (80–83) for all plots) and (2) the optimal revisit time between two SSM observations was 2–4 days. The higher uncertainties of microwave SSM products, especially when the crop is well developed (normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) > 0.7), degraded the score (F-score = 69), but various possibilities of improvement were discussed. This paper opens perspectives for the irrigation detection at the plot scale over large areas and thus for the improvement of irrigation water management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:44:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e84a457323e409abb7f6fce6d237e8a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:44:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e84a457323e409abb7f6fce6d237e8a2023-11-20T00:56:38ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-05-011210162110.3390/rs12101621Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture ProductsMichel Le Page0Lionel Jarlan1Marcel M. El Hajj2Mehrez Zribi3Nicolas Baghdadi4Aaron Boone5CESBIO, Université de Toulouse, CNRS/UPS/IRD/CNES/INRAE, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 Toulouse, CEDEX 9, FranceCESBIO, Université de Toulouse, CNRS/UPS/IRD/CNES/INRAE, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 Toulouse, CEDEX 9, FranceITK, Cap alpha, Avenue de l’Europe, 34830 Clapiers, FranceCESBIO, Université de Toulouse, CNRS/UPS/IRD/CNES/INRAE, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 Toulouse, CEDEX 9, FranceINRAE, TETIS, University of Montpellier, 500 rue François Breton, 34093 Montpellier, CEDEX 5, FranceCNRM, Université de Toulouse, Meteo-France, CNRS, 31057 Toulouse, FranceAlthough the real timing and flow rates used for crop irrigation are controlled at the scale of individual plots by the irrigator, they are not generally known by the farm upper management. This information is nevertheless essential, not only to compute the water balance of irrigated plots and to schedule irrigation, but also for the management of water resources at regional scales. The aim of the present study was to detect irrigation timing using time series of surface soil moisture (SSM) derived from Sentinel-1 radar observations. The method consisted of assessing the direction of change of surface soil moisture (SSM) between observations and a water balance model, and to use thresholds to be calibrated. The performance of the approach was assessed on the F-score quantifying the accuracy of the irrigation event detections and ranging from 0 (none of the irrigation timing is correct) to 100 (perfect irrigation detection). The study focused on five irrigated and one rainfed plot of maize in South-West France, where the approach was tested using in situ measurements and surface soil moisture (SSM) maps derived from Sentinel-1 radar data. The use of in situ data showed that (1) irrigation timing was detected with a good accuracy (F-score in the range (80–83) for all plots) and (2) the optimal revisit time between two SSM observations was 2–4 days. The higher uncertainties of microwave SSM products, especially when the crop is well developed (normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) > 0.7), degraded the score (F-score = 69), but various possibilities of improvement were discussed. This paper opens perspectives for the irrigation detection at the plot scale over large areas and thus for the improvement of irrigation water management.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/10/1621sprinklercornFranceirrigation timingFAO-56surface soil moisture |
| spellingShingle | Michel Le Page Lionel Jarlan Marcel M. El Hajj Mehrez Zribi Nicolas Baghdadi Aaron Boone Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products Remote Sensing sprinkler corn France irrigation timing FAO-56 surface soil moisture |
| title | Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products |
| title_full | Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products |
| title_fullStr | Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products |
| title_short | Potential for the Detection of Irrigation Events on Maize Plots Using Sentinel-1 Soil Moisture Products |
| title_sort | potential for the detection of irrigation events on maize plots using sentinel 1 soil moisture products |
| topic | sprinkler corn France irrigation timing FAO-56 surface soil moisture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/10/1621 |
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