Monitoring cotton crop evapotranspiration based on satellite data

Abstract

The water demand to meet seasonal and long-term water needs in Thessaly, central Greece, is related to historical semi-Arid conditions in the region, which is the main agricultural area of the country. In this paper irrigation water requirements are assessed through the estimation and monitoring of crop evapotranspiration ETc for cotton fields in Thessaly. Remotely sensed data are used to delineate the spatial and temporal variability of crop coefficient Kc and crop ETc. Cotton crop production is examined for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Weekly ground based measurements carried out throughout the growing season and satellite images (Landsat TM) were processed for the corresponding time period. Satellite data provide the cover capability of large scale areas and monitoring of crop during growth stages. Methodology can be applied in large scale areas for the calculation of Kc and extend to other crops using satellite data. The results are in good agreement with ground-truth observations.