Articles
Assessing the impact of drought on crop yields in irrigation districts using remote sensing-based evapotranspiration model and crop water productivity functions
Article number
1468_38
Pages
289 – 296
Language
English
Abstract
The Mediterranean region is warming about 20% faster than the global average, and climate change is expected to further intensify this trend by increasing potential evapotranspiration, reducing rainfall, and raising the frequency and severity of droughts.
In recent years, several irrigated areas in Spain have already faced water shortages due to depleted reservoirs, forcing strict water allocation restrictions in many irrigation districts (IDs). Since crop yield is closely tied to plant water use, these restrictions directly affect agricultural productivity, though the magnitude varies among districts depending on water availability, land use, and irrigation infrastructure.
This study presents a simulation-based approach to evaluate the effects of climate and water limitation scenarios on crop productivity at the irrigation district scale.
The analysis covers eight irrigation districts in the northeastern Ebro Basin (Catalonia, Spain), encompassing 150,028 ha of irrigated land.
Six scenarios were modeled: a control (no restrictions), two rainfall reduction cases (-25, -50%), and three irrigation limitation cases (-25, -50, -75%). Daily actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) was estimated at 20 m resolution using a remote sensing two-source energy balance model.
Results show that the TSEB model-based remote sensing approach effectively quantified spatial and temporal variability in ETa across irrigation districts, closely linked to differences in water availability.
Simulations revealed that reductions in irrigation or precipitation caused marked decreases in both ETa and crop yield, with yield losses reaching up to 70% under the most severe water restriction scenarios, particularly in water-limited districts and for sensitive crops such as maize.
In recent years, several irrigated areas in Spain have already faced water shortages due to depleted reservoirs, forcing strict water allocation restrictions in many irrigation districts (IDs). Since crop yield is closely tied to plant water use, these restrictions directly affect agricultural productivity, though the magnitude varies among districts depending on water availability, land use, and irrigation infrastructure.
This study presents a simulation-based approach to evaluate the effects of climate and water limitation scenarios on crop productivity at the irrigation district scale.
The analysis covers eight irrigation districts in the northeastern Ebro Basin (Catalonia, Spain), encompassing 150,028 ha of irrigated land.
Six scenarios were modeled: a control (no restrictions), two rainfall reduction cases (-25, -50%), and three irrigation limitation cases (-25, -50, -75%). Daily actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) was estimated at 20 m resolution using a remote sensing two-source energy balance model.
Results show that the TSEB model-based remote sensing approach effectively quantified spatial and temporal variability in ETa across irrigation districts, closely linked to differences in water availability.
Simulations revealed that reductions in irrigation or precipitation caused marked decreases in both ETa and crop yield, with yield losses reaching up to 70% under the most severe water restriction scenarios, particularly in water-limited districts and for sensitive crops such as maize.
Authors
J. Bellvert, M. Pamies-Sans, J. Casadesús, J. Girona
Keywords
crop yield, drought, evapotranspiration, remote sensing, water restriction
Groups involved
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