Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture
Study region: The Heihe River Basin, China. Study focus: Irrigation data are often from census surveys at coarse administrative or river basin scale, and as such, the amount of water used for agricultural irrigation difficult to quantify. We improve the Soil Moisture to Rain (SM2RAIN) method to esti...
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825003490 |
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| author | Lirong Huo Qiaoyun Xie Liang Sun Lisheng Song Sinuo Tao Shaomin Liu Zuo Wang Yan Li |
| author_facet | Lirong Huo Qiaoyun Xie Liang Sun Lisheng Song Sinuo Tao Shaomin Liu Zuo Wang Yan Li |
| author_sort | Lirong Huo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Study region: The Heihe River Basin, China. Study focus: Irrigation data are often from census surveys at coarse administrative or river basin scale, and as such, the amount of water used for agricultural irrigation difficult to quantify. We improve the Soil Moisture to Rain (SM2RAIN) method to estimate irrigation water use in the Heihe River Basin from 2003 to 2020 using thermal infrared and microwave satellite data. The results showed that this approach has satisfactory performance in estimating the annual irrigation water volume (mean volume=0.657 km3/year, R2=0.83, RMSE=0.03 km3/year) when compared with the field measurements at irrigation district administrative scale, due to its reliability in determining the infiltrated water around the root zone used by crops. New hydrological insights for the region: Through an analysis of irrigation water use trends, the results indicate that most farmland areas exhibited a declining trend in water use per hectare (-55 m³/ha/yr). Interestingly, we observed that while water use efficiency improved significantly at the field scale, overall irrigation efficiency showed a decreasing trend. This study reveals a paradox in the Heihe River Basin, where enhanced irrigation efficiency rarely translates into reduced total water consumption at river basin scale. Our study advances agricultural irrigation volume estimation and irrigation mapping across district and river basin scales in arid and semi-arid areas, which should assist in irrigation scheduling and water resource management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-03d45e09bf154802ae0388db69bdb94b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2214-5818 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-03d45e09bf154802ae0388db69bdb94b2025-08-20T03:25:52ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182025-08-016010252410.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102524Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moistureLirong Huo0Qiaoyun Xie1Liang Sun2Lisheng Song3Sinuo Tao4Shaomin Liu5Zuo Wang6Yan Li7Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Regional Response in the Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin, Anhui Province，School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, 241002, ChinaSchool of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, AustraliaState Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Regional Response in the Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin, Anhui Province，School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, 241002, China; Corresponding author.Chongqing Jinfo Mountain Karst Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Regional Response in the Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin, Anhui Province，School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, 241002, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaStudy region: The Heihe River Basin, China. Study focus: Irrigation data are often from census surveys at coarse administrative or river basin scale, and as such, the amount of water used for agricultural irrigation difficult to quantify. We improve the Soil Moisture to Rain (SM2RAIN) method to estimate irrigation water use in the Heihe River Basin from 2003 to 2020 using thermal infrared and microwave satellite data. The results showed that this approach has satisfactory performance in estimating the annual irrigation water volume (mean volume=0.657 km3/year, R2=0.83, RMSE=0.03 km3/year) when compared with the field measurements at irrigation district administrative scale, due to its reliability in determining the infiltrated water around the root zone used by crops. New hydrological insights for the region: Through an analysis of irrigation water use trends, the results indicate that most farmland areas exhibited a declining trend in water use per hectare (-55 m³/ha/yr). Interestingly, we observed that while water use efficiency improved significantly at the field scale, overall irrigation efficiency showed a decreasing trend. This study reveals a paradox in the Heihe River Basin, where enhanced irrigation efficiency rarely translates into reduced total water consumption at river basin scale. Our study advances agricultural irrigation volume estimation and irrigation mapping across district and river basin scales in arid and semi-arid areas, which should assist in irrigation scheduling and water resource management.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825003490Agricultural water managementImproved soil moisture to rain (SM2RAIN) methodologySoil moisture coupled two-source energy balance modelRemote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Lirong Huo Qiaoyun Xie Liang Sun Lisheng Song Sinuo Tao Shaomin Liu Zuo Wang Yan Li Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies Agricultural water management Improved soil moisture to rain (SM2RAIN) methodology Soil moisture coupled two-source energy balance model Remote sensing |
| title | Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| title_full | Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| title_fullStr | Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| title_short | Estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the Heihe River Basin, China, using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| title_sort | estimation of agricultural flood irrigation water consumption in the heihe river basin china using satellite based daily land surface evapotranspiration and soil moisture |
| topic | Agricultural water management Improved soil moisture to rain (SM2RAIN) methodology Soil moisture coupled two-source energy balance model Remote sensing |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825003490 |
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