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Kipp & Zonen LAS helps toimprove Water Management in Australia

Formulating strategies for the efficient use of water in agriculture depends on a sound appreciation of the requirements for the optimal health and productivity of crops. This has to be balanced with the water resources available, the demands of non-agricultural water consumers and the environmental impacts.

The Murray-Darling river Basin (MDB) accounts for most of the land surface in south-eastern Australia, and provides a major part of Australia’s water resources. The ongoing drought in the region, combined with climate-change expectations, has heightened and emphasised the need for improved water management at farm-regional scales. The condition of the red gum (Eucalyptus) trees along the rivers is a major political and environmental concern in the area.Satellite remote sensing methods assist in the evaluation of water use over large areas, in terms of the contributions made by different styles of land use, evapo-transpiration rate, and the water requirements of varying types of vegetation.Australian scientists are using the Kipp & Zonen Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS), and other instruments, to make local measurements of the surface energy balance components, including evapo-transpiration (ET). These measurements can then be used to ‘ground-truth’ energy flux estimates derived from satellite data, at farm-regional scales under the unique conditions experienced in the MDB.The project is supported by the Australian Government’s ‘Raising National Water Standards’ (RNWS) program of the National Water Commission and the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures, with support from the Departments of Primary Industries (DPI) and Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Managed by Dr. Des Whitfield, Senior Systems Agronomist – Horticulture of the DPI, this project aims to provide tools, information and methods for high agricultural productivity on irrigated farms in the MDB with minimal water wastage. Another objective is to provide an approach to the evaluation of the water requirements of environmental assets in irrigated catchments of the MDB.Comparisons are underway in a strategic range of land uses of the types encountered in the major irrigation districts of the MDB. These include lucerne, tomatoes, vines, and fallow land. Field validation and testing activities in major farming districts will facilitate the application of satellite remote sensing ET algorithms to the major irrigated crops of the region and, also benefit the red gum forests.
LAS measuring over lucerne irrigated by centre pivot sprinklers.The smoke in the background comes from the tragic Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009 Environmental Systems & Services (ES&S) in Melbourne supplies the tools for more effective environmental monitoring and management, providing DPI three LAS systems for these water resource and agriculture management projects. The projects will be further strengthened by research conducted at a number of Australian Universities also using LAS, including Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga and James Cook University, Townsville. For more information on activities in Australia please contactTim Cookes, Sales Manager, ES&S, tim.cookes@esands.com

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Meet the Australian team. From left; Tim Cookes, Ashtika Chand, Anna Chinnery and Adam Pascale

Passion for Precision