Overview of Advances in Water

Management in Agriculture
Huihui Zhang
Research Agricultural Engineer

IFDC- Technology Advances in Agricultural Production, Water and

Nutrient Management
August 19, 2019
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific in-
house research agency.

Our job is finding solutions to

agricultural problems that affect
Americans every day from field to
table.

• 690 research projects within 15

National Programs
• 2,000 scientists and post docs
• 90+ research locations,
including overseas laboratories
• $1.2 billion fiscal year budget
USDA-ARS
Aerial Application
Technology Research Unit
• Integrated crop monitoring system
• Glyphosate efficacy evaluation
• Crop variety/stages differentiation
• Multisensor fusion of ground and
aerial image data
Water Management Research Unit
USDA-ARS, Parlier, CA
5
 Irrigated Agriculture in U.S.
Average farm size ~ 440 acre
> 57% of irrigated land is
with sprinkler systems
CORN
Corn Soybean

Farmers are
Sorghum
managing multiple
Wheat fields
Challenges:
Climate Variability
Cotton Limited water resources
Pressure to improve efficiency, prevent
environmental degradation
Irrigation is shifting to the Eastern and
Northern Areas in the U.S.
Ogallala Aquifer
• World’s largest fresh-water aquifer
• Saturated thickness declines north
to south
• Surrounding region hosts a
concentrated population of
livestock

• Non-replenishing

• Continual decline
 Climate Change
• Colorado climate will become warmer and
perhaps drier.
• By 2070, the spring snowmelt runoff could
begin up to 17 days earlier than today, while
one of Denver’s most significant sources of
water, the South Platte River, could see a
decline in streamflow by up to 35 percent,
according to the 2012 (Joint Front Range
Climate Vulnerability Study)

The snowpack along Trail Ridge Road in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National The snowpack along Trail Ridge Road had nearly disappeared by May 21,
Park is typically 10 to 20 feet deep in some places by the time the National 2012, when this photo was taken in the middle of Colorado's devastating
Park Service clears the road in May. This is what the snowpack looked like drought.
along Trail Ridge on May 24, 2010. Credit: Photos by Bobby Magill
10
Gravity - Furrow

G.P. Irrigation Methods

by Area (NASS 2012)
23%

Sprinkler – Center Pivot

Drip

76%
1%
Benefits of Scientific Irrigation Management

• Meet crop ET demand to maximize yields

• Control soil water depletion at the rootzone
- Reduce ET during non-critical growth stages
- Water conservation
• Reduce runoff
- Prevent non-point source pollution
- Eliminate water wastage
• Decrease deep percolation
• Prevent nutrient leaching
• Optimize crop water productivity

Howell and Evett, 2005. Pathways to effective applications.

Sensor-based Irrigation Scheduling
Soil Water Sensing
TDR- horizontal installation
Neutron Moisture Meter

Plant sensing
Thermal, Ultrasonic, Spectral
reflectance

Weather-based
Reference evapotranspiration (ETo ), apply
regional and crop specific coefficients (Kc ) to
estimate ET
ET based Irrigation scheduling
• Penman Monteith equation to calculate
reference ET and crop coefficients (Kc) (ASCE-
EWRI- 2005; FAO-56)

• Kc values accurately determined using weighing

lysimeters. (Photo of lysimeters in bushland, tx)

• NDVI (correlates well with % canopy cover) from

satellite or ground-based sensors is being used
to estimate Kc values

Trout, T. New developments in irrigation scheduling. 2008. In Proceedings, Central

Plains Irrigation Conference.
Eddy Covariance System

• Used to estimate ET

• Data is collected at the

datalogging unit and a software
program is available to calculate
ET
 Soil Water Sensors
Time Domain Methods
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and Time Domain Transmission (TDT) -
travel time of a broadband step pulse along a transmission line with travel
time evaluated using waveform analysis

 Conventional TDR – use of coaxial

cables & multiplexers - impractical
for irrigation management

 Acclima TDT Moisture Sensor ($150.00) –

all electronics in probe head; digital Neutron Probe
implementation of waveform analysis

 InstroTek 503 ELITE

Hydroprobe
SWD (mm)= FC - SWC
Continuous Infrared Thermometer (IRT)
35

30 LIMITED

25
FULL
Canopy temperature (oC)

20

15

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hour
 Commercial Infrared (a)
Thermometers

(b)

Manufacturer Bandwidth Communication Image (c)

Protocol

Apogee Wired (a)

Campbell Scientific 900 MHz Proprietary (b)

Exergen/Omega Wired/Wirel (c)

ess
(d) (e)
Dynamax 2.54 GHz 802.15.4; Zigbee (d)

SmartField 780 MHz Proprietary (e)

Courtesy of Susan O’Shaughnessy
 THERMAL IMAGING (~1pm)
Trt: 100/100 (full irrigation) Trt: 40/40 (limited irrigation)

9000
8000 A33 (100/100)
7000
A13 (40/40)
6000
Frequency

5000
Tmin = 18.9 4000 Tmin = 20.9
Tmean = 23.3 3000 Tmean = 25.8
Tmax = 43.3 2000 Tmax = 52.4
1000
SD = 1.7 0
SD = 2.6
15 20 25 30 35 40
Temp (oC)
 Thermal imagers and Infrared thermometers

58.1°C

50

40

I0%: 0.84
I67%: 0.10
I100%: 0.13 I33%: 0.52

30

25.9°C

Remote detection of abiotic and biotic stress

Courtesy of Susan O’Shaughnessy

Goal: Improving the Sustainability of Irrigated Farming Systems in
Semi-Arid Regions with Limited Irrigation Supply
• Improve water use efficiency by identifying plant traits, mechanisms, and
agronomic practices that increase productivity per unit of water used by the
crop.
• Develop methods to quantify evapotranspiration (ET) in agricultural systems
under limited water availability to improve the efficiency of irrigation
scheduling.
- Why ET is important?
• Irrigation scheduling: water out = water (needed) in
• Highly correlated with yield
LIRF 2012-2016

Bowen
Ratio

Weather
Station

Sunflower

corn
 How to Monitor Crop Water Stress?
• When stressed, plants use less water than the maximum
amount possible for well water conditions.

Corn 8/4/2008
Well water corn Water stressed corn
Irrigation: 12” Irrigation: 4 ½” (114
(305 mm) mm)
Precip: 1.6” (41 Precip: 1.6” (41 mm)
mm)
ETc: 6” (153 mm)
ETc: 12” (305 mm)

25
Crop Response - Stress Leaf Water Potential

Photosynthesis
(gas exchange)

Stomatal Conductance
Sap Flow and Root Biomass
2500

Root length per viewing area, mm cm -2

Full
Deficit
2000

1500

1000

500

0
Z. mays H. annuus

0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
60-70
70-80
80-90

Soil depth, cm
90-100

0-10
Jun 6 10-20 Jun 21 Jul 2
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
60-70
70-80
80-90 Full
Deficit
90-100

Jul 17 0 1000
Jul 30 2000 3000

Root length per viewing area, mm cm-2

4000
Aug 14
Crop Response - Stress Leaf Water Potential

Photosynthesis
(gas exchange)

Stomatal Conductance
Ground-Based Remote Sensing

Fully Irri: 91% Limited Irri: 63%

Tmin = 18.9 Tmin = 20.9

Tmean= 23.3 Tmean= 25.8
Tmax = 43.3 Tmax = 52.4
SD = 1.7 SD = 2.6
Estimating maize water stress by
standard deviation of canopy
temperature in thermal imagery
Canopy Temperature vs. Plant Water
Stress
LIRF
2013 2015
Determine Kcb and Ks Using Remote Sensing?

ETref (Kcb Ks + Ke) = ETc

Computed from Crop coefficient Stress Evaporation

climatic data (weighted by coefficient coefficient
canopy cover)

Transpiration

▪ Kcb from canopy ground cover/NDVI

Kcb = 1.10 x fc + 0.17; fc = 1.26 x NDVI - 0.18 (Trout et al, 2008)

▪ Ks from canopy temperature based Crop Water

Stress Indicators, like CWSI. Ks = 1 - CWSI

Trout, T.J., Johnson, L.F., Gartung, J., 2008. Remote sensing of canopy cover in horticultural crops. HortScience 43 (2), 333–337.
Canopy Ground Cover (fc) vs. Crop
Coefficient (Kcb)

Trout and DeJonge. 2018. Crop water use and crop coefficients of maize in the Great Plains. Journal
of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 144(6): 04018009
Han, M., H. Zhang, K.C. DeJonge,
L. Comas, S. Gleason. 2018.
Comparison of three crop water
stress index models with sap flow
measurements in maize.
Agricultural Water Management.
203: 366-375.
 Evaluating UAV-Based
Remote Sensing for
Crop ET
• DJI S900-Diagonal Size
(Propellers Excluded) ~35.4in
(90cm)
• Total Weight (Battery and
Payload Excluded) ~7.3lbs
• Horizontal Speed ~35mph
• Flight Time ~18 min. (12000mAh
& 15lbs Takeoff weight)
• Payload Weight ~7.7 lbs
• Recommended Max Wind Speed
~10mph
• Operating Temp. 14° to 104°F
DJI Spreading Wings
S900
• Battery
• 13500mAh MaxAmps 13500XL 6S
100C 22.2v LiPo Battery
• Battery Weight ~4.2lbs
• Pixhawk Flight Controller
• Ground Control Station
• RC controller for manual/semi
autonomous control
• Toughbook with Mission Planner
Ground Control software for
autonomous control
• Payload Cameras
• Tetracam Mini-MCA6 6-band
Multispectral Camera 490, 530,
570, 680, 720, 860nm
(Bandwidth : 10 nm)
• Flir Tau2 25mm 640 LWIR Camera
8-14µm; 640x480 Pixels
 Fractional Canopy Cover

RGB

NDVI Fc (Otsu algorithm)

CIR
RGB & Thermal Imagery (Jul 26, 2017)
UAS Data (Aug 30, Sept 11, 2017) vs. Sap
Flow Measurements
• TUAS = Kcb*Ks*ETr
• Kcb ~ F (cc)
~F (NDVI)
• Ks = 1-CWSI

Transpiration Transpiration Transpiration

UAS-fc UAS-NDVI-fc WB
R2_Adj 0.78 0.76 0.77
RMSE (mm) 0.65 0.66 0.77
MBE (mm) 0.43 0.23 -0.25
 Larger Scale Irrigated Field

Limited Irrigated Full Irrigated

Treatment : Plot 1 Treatment : Plot 2

UAS (left red colored

image) vs. Landsat satellite
(right gray scale image)
pixels. Imagery acquired on
19 July 2017 at USDA
ARS LIRF near Greeley,
CO.
Surface reflectance imagery
from UAS data collected on 22 Sept 2017

UAV ET algorithm has the potential to

be used in VRI to produce irrigation prescription
maps. Corn transpiration rates (mm/d) on August
13th, 2017.
“Extracting Maize Canopy
Temperature Based on Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle Thermal and RGB
Imagery and Its Application to Water
Stress Monitoring”
Zhang, L, Y Niu, H Zhang, W Han
-Frontiers in Plant Science
Remote Sensing Based Irrigation Support
Systems
Monitoring Output
Information
Canopy temperature Cloud data storage
Spectral reflectance Automated processing Irrigation decision
Soil water content Remote access Irrigation maps
Weather parameters Control/Alarm
Operation inputs Data Management
Acknowledgement
Supporting staffs
Scientists Garrett Banks Grad/Undergrad Students
Louise Comas Joshua Wenz Alex Olsen-Mikitowicz
Kendall DeJonge Ross Steward Bobby Baxter
Sean Gleason Kevin Yemoto Brianna Trottor
Huihui Zhang Lucretia Sherrod Cameron Hunter
Kyle Douglas -Mankin Gerry Buchleiter Cullen McGovern
Tom Trout (retired) Liam Cummins Jace Heryford
Dustin Wiggans Katie Ascough
Jason Young Nora Flynn
 Commercial Variable Rate Irrigation Sprinkler System
Hardware & software for zone control:
• Program logic controller →electronic solenoids →PWM of hydraulic
valves controls the irrigation depth of each management zone
• GPS unit is essential to the system
• Prescriptive VRI software provides instructions for watering rates as a
function of management zone and sector

Commercial prescriptive
graphic showing 10
management zones
 Wireless Sensor Network of Soil Water and Meteorological
Sensors

Wireless sensor network to monitor soil water status and weather data of a cropped
field in ARS Crop Production Research Unit, Stoneville, MS.
 ISSCADA System Overview
Wireless sensor network systems are integrated with
Valley VRI center pivots using a client/server program
for data management, irrigation scheduling and sprinkler
control.

Plant • Provides
large area
Sensing coverage

Weather

Soil
Water • Provides closed
Sensing loop feedback
Dynamic
Prescriptio
Farmer can interact with the prescription map n Maps &
Ease of Use
We are combining plant with soil water sensing and VRI sprinkler system to address variable
crop water needs spatially and over the irrigation season

58.1°C

50

40

I0%: 0.84
I67%: 0.10
I100%: 0.13 I33%: 0.52

30

25.9°C

Crop water stress can be variable across a SCADA system quantifies the stress level
field and throughout the irrigation season. using canopy temperature and weather data.

Dynamic prescription maps are built throughout the growing season to manage
irrigation using stress index thresholds.
 Variable Rate Irrigation Sprinkler
Hydraulic
Valves

Infrared Thermometers
GPS Receiver

Low Elevation Spray

 Data for Corn (P1151AM) Grown
at Bushland, Texas

iCWSIs iCWSIs
July 2nd (DOY 184) July 5th (DOY 187)
Prescription map
July 3rd (DOY 185)
 Summary
• Wireless infrared thermometers are used to provide plant feedback for
smart irrigation scheduling. Pre-established integrated crop water stress
threshold levels and corresponding irrigation amounts are used to
recommend timing and irrigation amounts for producers (crop and region
specific).

• Recently, our research indicates that soil water sensing feedback + plant
feedback is more robust than plant feedback alone to increase crop water
use efficiency.

• Our system has been tested in more humid climates than Bushland, Texas,
e.g. in South Carolina, Missouri and Mississippi over corn, soybean and
cotton. Results in terms of high crop water use efficiency have been very
promising especially for cotton (over the past two years) and soybean (in
the 2018 cropping season).
 Acknowledgements:

• National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural

Development Administration (RDA)

• RDA-ARS Virtual Laboratory (RAVL) Agreement

• Cooperative Research & Development Agreements
with:
– Dynamax, Inc.
– Valmont Industries
– Acclima
• National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA,
award number 2016-67021-24420

Susan O’Shaughnessy., Agricultural engineer, USDA-ARS, Bushland

E-mail: Susan.O’Shaughnessy@usda.ars