REMOTE SENSING APPLIED TO IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT IN AREAS WITH LACK OF DATA: A CASE STUDY IN A CENTRAL PIVOT IN ITATINGA-SP

Abstract

Remote sensing-based tools allow the monitoring of water budgets over different spatial and temporal resolutions. Nevertheless, some models require in-situ data, preventing their application in areas with a lack of data. To address this challenge, this work presents an approach for irrigation scheduling, based on soil water budget estimation using actual evapotranspiration (ET_A) obtained by using MSI/SENTINEL-2 multispectral images and data from a public meteorological station. The study area consisted of a central pivot located in the municipality of Itatinga-SP, Brazil. For decision-making of irrigation scheduling, considering a fixed irrigation rate, the evapotranspiration fraction was interpolated between the days with available images to obtain the ET_A on the days without images using its product with the reference evapotranspiration. This approach captured essential climate variations for estimating the water budget on non-image days. Noteworthy in this joint application is its suitability to be performed not requiring crop-, microclimate- or relief-specific parameters, making it useful for regions with a lack of data.