Estimating irrigation water use from remotely sensed evapotranspiration data: Accuracy and uncertainties at field, water right, and regional scales
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On April 5 to 7, 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) sponsored a Workshop on Evapotranspiration (ET) in Silver Spring Maryland. The workshop was a response to a recommendation in the 2009-2011 GEO (Group on Earth Observations) Work Plan that a workshop on ET should be held to discuss issues related to ET products and services and the potential for incorporating ET activities into the 2012-2015 GEO Work Plan. The workshop had a regional emphasis, although there were several excellent international and global presentations including one on the GEWEX LANDFLUX project. The different scales of these activities suggests that a framework is needed that can accommodate both regional and global ET activities. Despite limitations with the workshop's scheduling, it attracted 76 experts who contributed informative presentations and insightful discussions. The goals of the workshop involved the exchange of information and ideas and the development of plans for providing more visibility for ET issues. Specific objectives included 1) defining the needs and requirements for evapotranspiration data in weather and climate studies, in natural and agro-ecoystem monitoring, and in water resource management; 2) reviewing the methods used to measure and model evapotranspiration; 3) assessing surface and satellite observation systems required to support ET measurement, modeling and evaluation; 4) assessing the feasibility of developing a proposal for a task on evapotranspiration for the 2012-2015 GEO Work Plan, and 5) exploring the level of support and consensus for developing a strategy for establishing evapotranspiration as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) within the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) framework The workshop featured a combination of oral presentations and breakout group sessions focused on the above objectives. There were also poster presentations providing opportunities for one-on-one discussions of ET modeling and measurement techniques. Presentations by users of ET data set the tone for the workshop. In the USA at the national and regional levels water rights issues represent a major opportunity for ET applications. ET data play a major role in estimating water loss due to irrigation, the largest cause of consumptive water loss in the USA, particularly in the West. Irrigation requirements are relatively specific since the needs are clearly defined by the geometry and number of the irrigation systems and can be monitored with high resolution satellite data. There was a strong consensus that land surface temperature (LST) at high resolution is critical for monitoring irrigation. State governments have made commitments to more efficient water management in the western US, but they need full access to improved and more timely ET data and applications to implement this plan. Water managers also reported that in spite of the recent development of. new techniques, the procedures used in some of the water balance calculations in some states are out of date and do not take advantage of new observational and data assimilation systems. The development of ET forecasts for water management is also seen as a priority. Although ET forecasts are currently being produced on an experimental basis these predictions could be improved by considering ET as a dynamic prediction variable in models and by increasing the time resolution of these ET predictions.
Water scarcity is a global concern that necessitates a global perspective, but it is also the product of multiple regional issues that require regional solutions. Water markets constitute a regionally applicable non-structural measure to counter water scarcity that has received the attention of academics and policy-makers, but there is no global view on their applicability. We present the global distribution of potential nations and states where water markets could be instituted in a legal sense, by investigating 296 water laws internationally, with special reference to a minimum set of key rules: legalization of water reallocation, the separation of water rights and landownership, and the modification of the cancellation rule for non-use. We also suggest two additional globally distributed prerequisites and policy implications: the predictability of the available water before irrigation periods and public control of groundwater pumping throughout its jurisdiction.
An effort was undertaken to determine the utility of ERTS-1 MSS data, together with automatic data processing (ADP) techniques, to detect and locate surface water, and transfer the related technology to the Texas Water Rights Commission (TWRC). A test site was selected, ERTS-1 MSS and ancillary data obtained, and existent ADP classification programs applied. During the course of this effort a linear discriminant function was developed. The results were evaluated for potential candidates for a transferable procedure. A computer-aided technique using a linear discriminant function was selected and recommended, for inclusion in an operational system, which met detection and location criteria. Specifically, evaluation of the selected computer-aided procedure for the test site resulted in the detection of 100 percent of areas of surface water 10 acres or greater in areal extent and the geographic location of areas classified as water to a positional accuracy of 1000 feet or closer. The procedure was recommended for inclusion in an operational computer-aided procedure for transfer to TWRC.
One objective of rover missions is exploring the geological context of the surroundings. Over the years, igneous petrology and sedimentology have been disconnected, the first investigating magmatic processes and volcanic activities, and the second seeking environmental conditions in the past and assessing the habitability of the planet. Although different, one is related to the other: igneous rocks are altered and broken down, leading to the formation of sedimentary rocks, which can in turn be used to back out the nature of their magmatic source. The Curiosity rover that landed in the 3.7 Gyr old impact crater Gale is traveling through sedimentary rocks. About fifty float rocks have been observed, and several of them with ambiguous texture and composition have been classified as igneous or sedimentary depending on studies such as Jake_M. The composition of several unambiguous igneous rocks has been analyzed [4- 6] but their heterogeneity at a larger instrumental (measurement size < 2 cm) scale prevents the measurement of a bulk composition as performed on Earth. An original approach avoiding these two last issues is to consider igneous mineral chemistry analyzed within igneous and sedimentary rocks to assess magmatic processes that could have formed them. Most Curiosity data are used to explore ancient environmental conditions, and a significant number of compositional analyses are under-explored for constraining magmatic activities. We will present how we can make use of sedimentary data for investigating igneous processes in the vicinity of Gale crater. Geological Context: We focus on the first 750 martian days, corresponding to measurements in a coherent lacustrine sedimentary unit called Bradbury, because all sedimentary rocks were sourced from the same watershed and appear to have a consistent source with minimal alteration [2-3]. Igneous detrital minerals including feldspar and pyroxene, are observed in sedimentary rocks. Monte Carlo models showed that minimal cation loss is observed based on the composition of all Bradbury rocks, implying negligible weathering [3]. Although clay minerals are detected in few rocks [7], chemical compositions of rocks can be explained by a mixture of primary igneous minerals [3]. Variation of composition within Bradbury rocks can be explained by mineral sorting and one distinct source component. While a common magmatic source is suggested, Bradbury sediments likely come from several volcanic eruptions from a single magmatic chamber [9- 10]. The occurrence of alkali minerals like sanidine and K-rich rocks throughout Bradbury supports the presence of a potassic component, likely trachytic, while plagioclase and a mafic composition suggest a basaltic component [8-9]. Instruments: Mineral chemistry can be estimated by three instruments onboard Curiosity. The CheMin instrument enables detection of mineral assemblages using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Using Rietveld refinement, each mineral is identified according to their 1D XRD pattern [11]. Note that distinction between pyroxene minerals is challenging with the CheMin instrument due to overlapping peaks on XRD patterns and low angular resolution of the instrument [12]. Then, using least square regression and optimization algorithms based on unit-cell parameters, mineral chemistry has been estimated by [11]. Plagioclase composition has been estimated using the NaAlSi3O8- CaAl2Si2O8 system and alkali feldspar is based on the NaAlSi3O8-KAlSi3O8 system (stars in Fig.1). Two mudstone samples (John Klein and Cumberland) and one sandstone sample (Windjana) were analyzed by CheMin at Yellowknife Bay and Kimberley, respectively. Figure 1. Ternary diagrams of feldspars (top) and pyroxene (bottom) quadrilateral. Stars correspond to CheMin composition and the gray patches to ChemCam composition. The colored dots are the composition of feldspar and pyroxene that crystallized during fractional crystallization at FMQ+1 of a melt extracted at distinct melting degree during the adiabatic ascent of a primitive mantle composition, without any water (left panels) and with 0.5 wt.% of water (right panels) at distinct pressure. The ChemCam instrument enables the analysis of the chemical compositions of rocks at hundreds of micrometer scale (350-550 μm) using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which may provide the composition of minerals when they are larger than the beam spot (>550 μm) [13]. Within >5000 LIBS points, we performed a typical stoichiometric filtering allowing us to distinguish 56 feldspar and 10 pyroxene mineral compositions (grey patches in Fig. 1). Finally, the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) analyzes the composition of rocks with a 1.6 cm diameter spot size. Monte Carlo mass balance modeling allowed [3] to decipher a feldspar range varying between An30 and An40 (Fig. 1). Discussion: Although there could be a more complex history and other ways to form the whole compositional range of igneous minerals analyzed within the Bradbury formation, we are presenting here simple magmatic pathways commonly occurring on Earth using the thermodynamical softwares pMELTS and rhyoliteMELTS [14]. The objective is to find reasonable igneous processes that produce minerals that parallel the compositions of feldspar and pyroxene analyzed by the Curiosity rover. As commonly observed for mid-ocean ridge basalts, the adiabatic ascent of a primitive mantle composition [15] partially melting at 2 GPa has been modeled, followed by the extraction of a liquid at distinct degrees of partial melting, which undergoes fractional crystallization at an oxygen fugacity +1 log unit above the fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ) buffer within the crust (0.02-0.4 GPa) with H2O = 0- 0.5 wt. %. These latter conditions correspond to those recorded within igneous clasts from the Noachian martian breccia NWA 7034 and paired and within Gale igneous rocks (colored dots in Fig. 1) [16-17]. To check the reliability of these 2-step models, we also tested fractional crystallization at similar conditions (FMQ+1; P=0.02-0.4 GPa; H2O = 0-0.5 wt. %) of starting compositions corresponding to that of magmas with distinct melting degrees obtained from isobaric experiments at 2 GPa [18]. Mineral compositions obtained from both models are similar. As shown on Fig. 1, the whole range of observed feldspar compositions cannot be reproduced by fractionation of one magma only. Indeed, while alkali feldspar and Na-plagioclase likely crystallized from fractional crystallization of a low-degree melt (here <15%), plagioclase and pyroxene can only be formed by fractional crystallization of a higher degree melt (here >19%). The corresponding liquid descent lines are broadly in agreement with compositions estimated by ChemCam corresponding to float igneous rocks (Fig. 2) [4-6]. Figure 2. Silica versus alkali content. Lines show the liquid lines of descent from magmas with distinct degrees of melting. Gray patches represents the composition of Gale igneous rocks [4-6]. Trachytic to rhyolitic magmas crystallize alkali feldspar, and andesite to dacite magmas likely form plagioclase. Therefore, at least two starting magmas at distinct melting degrees, which could easily come from a single mantle source, are necessary to explain the whole compositional range of feldspar and pyroxene analyzed within Bradbury rocks. Conclusion: Because rocks from the Bradbury formation are likely originating from the same magmatic source with minimal weathering as supported by several studies using different approaches, igneous mineral chemistry analyzed by CheMin and ChemCam allows us to back out reasonable magmatic pathways that could have crystallized them. Fractional crystallization of at least two starting magmas originating from distinct melting degrees of a single mantle source can explain the whole range of feldspar and pyroxene composition. Both alkaline and sub-alkaline liquids can be produced, with compositions corresponding to those of the igneous rocks analyzed by ChemCam within the Bradbury formation, highlighting the complexity of Mars magmatism.
A flash drought refers to the rapid onset or intensification of drought-like conditions. Within the Southeastern United States, flash droughts are made worse by the presence of consumptive vegetation and poor water-holding soils. According to the United States Drought Monitor, a 2016 flash drought occurred with roughly 92% of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee experiencing “severe drought” or worse in the fall of that year. The event resulted in widespread wildfires, reservoir shortages that led to interstate disputes over water rights, significant deterioration of pasture and rangeland, and crop sale losses. The occurrence of a flash drought similar to that listed above can cost the Southeast hundreds of millions of dollars, with effects lasting for several years. For this reason, the development of flash drought monitoring, forecasting, and communication tools is needed to alert both states and their practitioners of possible flash drought events, offsetting the potential loss caused by a flash drought event. This research employed NASA's Short-Term Prediction and Transition Center-Land Information System, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager and other datasets to determine climatological trends during peak growing season from 2000-2022. These products can help partners at the Alabama Office of the State Climatologist, National Integrated Drought Information System, and National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network better manage agricultural lands inside drought-prone zones and monitor crop sensitivity during different growing seasons.
Rats with either bilateral electrolytic or sham lesions of the ventrolateral portion of the lateral parabrachial nucleus (VLLPBN) were implanted with latex balloons that lay at the right superior vena cava/atrial junction (RSVC/AJ). Water intake in response to isoproterenol was measured both with and without inflation of the balloon. Water intake of the sham-lesioned rats was significantly depressed by balloon inflation during the first hour of the experiment. In contrast, water intake in the VLLPBN-lesioned rats was unaffected by balloon inflation. These results suggest that the VLLPBN is involved in the processing of afferent input from stretch-activated RSVC/AJ receptors.
A study was made to establish the requirements for an integrated state-wide information management system for water quality control and water quality rights for the State of California. The data sources and end requirements were analyzed for the data collected and used by the numerous agencies, both State and Federal, as well as the nine Regional Boards under the jurisdiction of the State Board. The report details the data interfaces and outlines the system design. A program plan and statement of work for implementation of the project is included.
Scientists have been making summer-‐time geodetic measurements in south central Alaska for decades to estimate the rate at which a continental-‐ocean terrane is accreting to the North American continent. Southern Alaska has big earthquakes every century and large, rapidly changing glaciers. In the last decade, primarily as part of the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory project, continuous GPS measurements have recorded the response of sites such as the near-‐coastal geodetic site, AB35 to competing processes: uplift and movement to the northwest due to tectonic forces and the response of the solid Earth to seasonal and longer-‐term changes in the cryosphere (snow and ice) surrounding the site. Which process causes the largest displacements of the site? Figure 1 (Blewitt, Nevada Geodetic Lab, 2015) shows the Northward, Eastward, and Upward motion of AB35 between 2007 and 2015. The site is moving rapidly to the north and west reflecting the tectonic convergence of site toward interior Alaska but there is small wiggle on the North component reflecting seasonal displacements of the site associated with snow loading and unloading. However, the Up component, shows a large seasonal signal due to snow loading in the winter (down) and ice and snow melting in the warmer months (site goes up). Between 2007 and the present, the site position is slowly moving upward, due to tectonic forcing but probably associated with longer-‐ term ice melting as well. We are using the CIG finite element modeling (FEM) program Pylith to estimate the surface displacements and stresses associated with seasonal loading changes (top figure and Figure 2 far right) for water year 2012, 2011.8 - 2012.8) and the longer-‐term retreat of the surrounding glaciers.
Indoor plants are automatically watered by the Aqua Trends watering system. System draws water from building outlets or from pump/reservoir module and distributes it to the plants via a network of tubes and adjustable nozzles. Key element of system is electronic controller programmed to dispense water according to the needs of various plants in an installation. Adjustable nozzle meters out exactly right amount of water at proper time to the plant it's serving. More than 100 Aqua/Trends systems are in service in the USA, from a simple residential system to a large Mirage III system integrated to water all greenery in a large office or apartment building.
In the event that humans return to the moon, utilizing the local materials will be beneficial for extended stays. Rather than transporting resources, such as oxygen, from Earth, NASA is investigating methods of extracting it from lunar regolith. One promising process is hydrogen reduction. In the hydrogen reduction process, lunar regolith is heated to 1000 C in the presence of hydrogen. The iron oxide (Fe-O) bonds, found in lunar material, are broken and the hydrogen attracts the oxygen to produce water vapor [Allen et al., 1996]. FeO + H2 (right arrow) Fe +H2O. The water vapor is then captured, cleaned, and electrolyzed. The hydrogen is recycled back to the reduction process and the oxygen is stored until consumed by an end user (propulsion, life support, etc.). To obtain a good oxygen yield, the majority of lunar regolith must be exposed to the hydrogen gas and have a high rate of heat transfer from heat source to particle. This is achieved with good solids mixing via fluidization or mechanical agitation. In Generation II of the ROxygen program, the ROxygen Team at Johnson Space Center (JSC) investigated the feasibility of gas only pulsed fluidization as the only means to mix synthetic lunar regolith (simulant) at high temperatures. Fluidized beds have been used in industry to effectively process powders for decades. They consist of gas flowing upward through a bed of particles. The stirring action continuously moves the grains around to achieve uniform mixing of gas, solids, and heat [Geldart, 1986]. A transparent furnace unit was developed by Thoughventions Unlimited LLC (TvU) to aid in the qualitative observation of the fluidization behavior at high temperatures. Multipoint thermocouples and pressure sensors provided quantitative information regarding the quality of mixing. The water produced was measured using humidity sensors and captured using a NASA designed and built condenser. Once the simulant was processed, pneumatically transporting the 'hot' simulant out of the furnace was investigated.
Hydrodynamic impact simulated by impacting rigid, right circular cylinder on smooth water surface, and computer program
Doping of hydrogen with CO and CO2 was developed to reduce hydrogen permeation in Stirling engines by forming a low permeability oxide coating on the inner surface of the heater head tubes. Although doping worked well, under certain circumstances the protective oxide could be chemically reduced by the hydrogen in the engine. Some oxygen is required in the hydrogen to prevent reduction. Eventually, all the oxygen in the hydrogen gas - whatever its source - shows up as water. This is the result of hydrogen reducing the CO, CO2, or the protective inner surface oxides. This water can condense in the engine system under the right conditions. If the concentration of water vapor is reduced to a low enough level, the hydrogen can chemically reduce the oxide coating, resulting in an increase in permeability. This work was done to define the minimum water content required to avoid this reduction in the oxide coating. The results of this testing show that a minimum of approximately 750 ppm water is required to prevent an increase in permeability of CG-27, a high temperature metal alloy selected for Stirling engine heater tubes.
In southern Africa, widespread agricultural fires produce substantial biomass burning (BB) emissions over the region. The seasonal smoke plumes associated with these emissions are then advected westward over the persistent stratocumulus cloud deck in the southeast Atlantic (SEA) Ocean, resulting in aerosol effects which vary with time and location. Much work has focused on the effects of these aerosol plumes, but previous studies have also described an elevated free tropospheric water vapor signal over the SEA. Water vapor influences climate in its own right, and it is especially important to consider atmospheric water vapor when quantifying aerosol–cloud interactions and aerosol radiative effects. Here we present airborne observations made during the NASA ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) campaign over the SEA Ocean. In observations collected from multiple independent instruments on the NASA P-3 aircraft (from near-surface to 6–7 km), we observe a strongly linear correlation between pollution indicators (carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol loading) and atmospheric water vapor content, seen at all altitudes above the boundary layer. The focus of the current study is on the especially strong correlation observed during the ORACLES-2016 deployment (out of Walvis Bay, Namibia), but a similar relationship is also observed in the August 2017 and October 2018 ORACLES deployments. Using reanalyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and specialized WRF-Chem simulations, we trace the plume–vapor relationship to an initial humid, smoky continental source region, where it mixes with clean, dry upper tropospheric air and then is subjected to conditions of strong westward advection, namely the southern African easterly jet (AEJ-S). Our analysis indicates that air masses likely left the continent with the same relationship between water vapor and carbon monoxide as was observed by aircraft. This linear relationship developed over the continent due to daytime convection within a deep continental boundary layer (up to ∼5–6 km) and mixing with higher-altitude air, which resulted in fairly consistent vertical gradients in CO and water vapor, decreasing with altitude and varying in time, but this water vapor does not originate as a product of the BB combustion itself. Due to a combination of conditions and mixing between the smoky, moist continental boundary layer and the dry and fairly clean upper-troposphere air above (∼6 km), the smoky, humid air is transported by strong zonal winds and then advected over the SEA (to the ORACLES flight region) following largely isentropic trajectories. Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT) back trajectories support this interpretation. This work thus gives insights into the conditions and processes which cause water vapor to covary with plume strength. Better understanding of this relationship, including how it varies spatially and temporally, is important to accurately quantify direct, semi-direct, and indirect aerosol effects over this region.
The utility of Landsat MSS classification methods in the case of small, highly urbanized hydrological basins containing complex land-use patterns is limited, and is plagued by misclassifications due to the spectral response similarity of many dissimilar surfaces. Landsat MSS data for the Conley Creek basin near Atlanta, Georgia, have been compared to thematic mapper simulator (TMS) data obtained on the same day by aircraft. The TMS data were able to alleviate many of the recurring patterns associated with MSS data, through bandwidth optimization, an increase of the number of spectral bands to seven, and an improvement of ground resolution to 30 m. The TMS is thereby able to detect small water bodies, powerline rights-of-way, and even individual buildings.
Ammonium perchlorate is widely used throughout the aerospace, munitions, and pyrotechnics industries as a primary ingredient in solid rocket and missile propellants, fireworks, and explosive charges. This highly soluble salt has tainted soils and water sources all over the world, and is believed to be an endocrine disrupter, adversely affecting the growth patterns of a fetus or a young child. UMPQUA Research Company (URC), once a small drinking water testing laboratory and a research and development contractor for NASA's manned spaceflight applications, has evolved to become a leader in water purification and analysis. With a total of 11 patents issued for new technologies created by URC under NASA SBIR contracts and a 25-year commitment to water recycling, the company clearly possessed the qualifications necessary to tackle the presence of perchlorate in water. An SBIR contract with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center that concentrated on the stringent water quality requirements of long-term, manned spaceflight was the source for URC's process and catalyst to facilitate the destruction of perchlorate and nitrate in water. URC licensed the rights of its unique reduction reaction process to Calgon Carbon Corporation for use with the company's perchlorate/nitrate remediation process, otherwise known as ISEP(R).
From elements formed in interstellar furnaces to humans peering back at the stars, the evolution of life has been a long, intricate and perhaps inevitable process. Life as we know it requires a planet orbiting a star at just the right distance so that water can exist in liquid form. It needs a rich supply of chemicals and energy sources. On Earth, the combination of chemistry and energy generated molecules that evolved ways of replicating themselves and of passing information from one generation to the next. Thus, the thread of life began. This chart traces the thread, maintained by DNA molecules for much of its history, as it weaves its way through the primitive oceans, gaining strength and diversity along the way. Organisms eventually moved onto the land, where advanced forms, including humans, ultimately arose. Finally, assisted by a technology of its own making, life has reached back out into space to understand its own origins, to expand into new realms, and to seek other living threads in the cosmos.
We examine the relevance of tidal heating for large Trans-Neptunian Objects, with a focus on its potential to melt and maintain layers of subsurface liquid water. Depending on their past orbital evolution, tidal heating may be an important part of the heat budget for a number of discovered and hypothetical TNO systems and may enable formation of, and increased access to, subsurface liquid water. Tidal heating induced by the process of despinning is found to be particularly able to compete with heating due to radionuclide decay in a number of different scenarios. In cases where radiogenic heating alone may establish subsurface conditions for liquid water, we focus on the extent by which tidal activity lifts the depth of such conditions closer to the surface. While it is common for strong tidal heating and long lived tides to be mutually exclusive, we find this is not always the case, and highlight when these two traits occur together. We find cases where TNO systems experience tidal heating that is a significant proportion of, or greater than radiogenic heating for periods ranging from100 s of millions to a billion years. For subsurface oceans that contain a small antifreeze component, tidal heating due to very high initial spin states may enable liquid water to be preserved right up to the present day. Of particular interest is the Eris-Dysnomia system, which in those cases may exhibit extant cryovolcanism.