Satellite remote sensing-based irrigation performance assessment of the Mustafakemalpaşa irrigation area in Bursa, Türkiye

Abstract

Given the increasing pressure on water for agricultural irrigation, coupled with unpredictable climate conditions, it is critically important to improve irrigation water management for sustain crop production. Satellite remote sensing (RS)-based approaches are helpful for investigating cost-effectively spatio-temporal variations of irrigation performance at scales ranging from individual fields to the entire scheme level. Using Landsat images within the Python module for the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land model, it was investigated the spatiotemporal performance variations of the Mustafakemalpaşa irrigation area during 2020 cropping season. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa), Uniformity of Water Consumption (UWC), and Crop Water Productivity (CWP) performance indicators were evaluated. The results showed that the performance of the Mustafakemalpaşa varied depending on the geographical position in the irrigation area. Our findings highlight the opportunity to improve the uniformity of water consumption in the area. Based on this study, PySEBAL can serve as basis for improved Mustafakemalpaşa irrigation water management in decision support tools.