QUANTIFICATION OF GROWING AND NON-GROWING SEASON CROP EVAPOTRANSPIRATION, SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE FLUXES, AND CROP COEFFICIENTS FOR MAJOR VEGETATION SURFACES IN WYOMING

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1012949
• Project No.: WYO-590-18
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2017
• Project End Date: Jan 29, 2020

Project Director
Sharma, VI, .

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE DEPARTMENT 3434
LARAMIE,WY 82071-2000

Performing Department
Plant Sciences

Non Technical Summary
Maximizing the benefits of irrigated crop production through an efficiently designed agriculturalwater management program is of growing importance. As Wyoming growers facesignificant climatic and management changes with regardto the conservation of irrigation water, questions such ashow to make maximum use of available water need to be addressed. The efficient use of water resources in agriculture requires adequate quantification of growing season water use and other energy balance components such asnet radiation, sensible heatand soil heat flux, and their relationshipsare integral to our understanding of crop water productivity. Reliable data regarding these relationships are vital to our understanding of in-season water management, scheduling of irrigation, predicting the status of soil water supplies, long-term estimates of water supply, and design and management of water management infrastructures. To obtain this data, experiments will be conducted at the Powell Research and Extension Center in Powell, Wyoming to develop techniques to improve our knowledge and quantify data related to agricultural water use for different crops in Wyoming, and to understand the impact of climate on crop water productivityin order to enhance the efficient use of water resources.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

90%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
111	0210	2020	30%
102	2410	2020	70%

Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;

Keywords

water management

irrigated agriculture

evapotranspiration

energy balance

water use efficiency

crop water productivity

sugarbeet

dry beans

remote sensing

Goals / Objectives
Major Goals: To collect data, disseminate information, and promote collaboration on evapotranspiration and other energy balance components for irrigation water use conservation.To study the impact of micro-climate on agricultural crop water productivity.Specific Objectives:Measure growing season crop evapotranspiration (ETc), transpiration (T), evaporation (E), and crop coefficients (Kc) for key vegetative surfaces, including sugarbeet and drybeans in Northwest Wyoming.Quantify evaporative losses and surface coefficients during non-growing (dormant) season.Quantify and analyze short and long-term surface energy balance components (i.e. latent heat, net radiation, sensible heat, and soil heat flux) to understand the interaction between surface, water and energy fluxes.Assess the performance of the METRIC and SEBS algorithm to estimate ETc and other energy fluxes using Landsat imagery with respect to Bowen Ratio Energy Balance Systems (BREBS) measured surface energy variables for several vegetation surfaces in Northwest Wyoming.Quantify and evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of ETc in Northwest Wyoming.Develop Extension, educational and outreach materials to disseminate project progress and outcomes and publish project findings in scientific refereed journals.

Project Methods
Improved techniques are required for accurate quantification of ETc and other energy balances fluxes. We are proposing to develop a long-term database for growing season ETc, and other energy balance fluxes using a deluxe version of a Bowen Ration Energy Balance System (BREBS) for key vegetative surfaces that include sugarbeet, barley, and dry-beans. In addition, non-growing (dormant) season evaporative losses will also be measured in this project. This information can be very important to quantify non-growing season water balances on the availability of water resources for the growing season and make projections on the water resources.A BREBSwill be installed in the middle of the crop production field at Powell Research and Extension Center (PREC) to measure hourly and daily values of energy balance components. Hourly and daily estimates of ETc will further be used in relation to reference evapotranspiration (ETref) to evaluate Kc values for different cropping systems. A non-stressed grass and alfalfa ETref will be calculated using ASCE-EWRI standardized Penman-Monteith equation on daily time step.In addition, satellite images from Landsat 7 and 8 and MODIS images will be used to quantify and evaluate the spatial and temporal variability in ETc and related energy balance fluxes using Mapping Evapotranspiration with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) and Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) algorithms. The Model Maker tool of ERDAS imagine processing software (Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging, LLC) will be used to code the METRIC and SEBS algorithmand subsequently be used to process the Landsat images and check the performance of the SEBS algorithm for different vegetation conditions.To further partition ETc into evaporation and transpiration components using Penman-Monteith model, irrigation application (time and amount), crop height, leaf area index, leaf stomatal resistance to water vapor transfer (to measure transpiration component of ETc), soil moisture dynamic and yield will be measured.We will also synthesize these data to develop the relationship between the crop water productivity and evapotranspiration for different vegetative surfaces across Wyoming. A web-based Wyoming water user interface will be developed to provide information to producers with a robust and easy-to-use technology, which will enable them to use evapotranspiration data to schedule irrigation.

Progress 10/01/17 to 01/29/20

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:Project Director Sharma no longer at University of Wyoming. Terminating without final report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? n/a

Publications

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Information on crop evapotranspiration (ETc), crop coefficient and related energy balance components (i.e. net radiation, Rn; soil heat flux, G; and sensible heat flux, H) are extremely important to growers/irrigators, their advisors, water regulatory and management agencies, and other irrigation-related professionals. Further, crop yield relationships to water and microclimate parameters helps in refining crop recommendations and development plans. The data, information, and knowledge gained from this ongoing project disseminated to growers, extension educators, extension specialists, researchers at different technical and extension platforms. We foresee project output and deliverables being incorporated into management, recommendations and development worksheets, with any desired partnership from the project team, by NRCS. In total, this project resulted 18 extension publications, 6 magazine and newspaper articles, 9 technical presentations, 6 invited talks, 8 extension presentations, and 11 research and extension poster, 2 undergraduate internships, and currently 2 MS graduate students are working on this project. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One-on-one training was provided on soil moisture sensor installation in a producer's field as part of the Wyoming Agricultural Water Management Program (Number of Producers Participated in 2017: 4; Number of Producers Participated in 2018: 15). In addition, four field days were conducted on practical tools for efficient irrigation water management. The major emphasis of these field days was on soil moisture sensors and irrigation scheduling. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Data, information, and knowledge gained from this project was disseminated to producers, extension educators, extension specialists, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and other stakeholder via field days, extension and research presentations, and extension articles. In total, the project resulted 18 extension publications, published in University of Wyoming Extension and University of Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station annual field days bulletins, 6 magazine and newspaper articles were published in Western Farmer-Stockman, University of Wyoming AGADEMICS, Northern Wyoming Daily News, Powell Tribune, Farm and Ranch, and Wyoming Livestock Roundup. PI and his M.S graduate student presented 9 technical presentations at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineers (ASABE), American Society of Agronomy (ASA), and Western Society of Crop Sciences annual conference. PI presented 6 research and extension invited talks at Wyoming annual field day at SAREC, Wyoming Forage field day, Fremont county, Farm and Ranch day, and University of Wyoming Department of Plant Science annual seminar series. In addition, PI and his graduate student presented 8 extension presentations and 11 research and extension posters at different platforms. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?PI will continue to lead the field research on dry bean and sugarbeet water management and crop evapotranspiration. In addition, SEBS and METRIC remote sensing models will be used to quantify and analyze the surface energy balance components at regional scale. One graduate student is currently working on this part of the project. With the development of localized crop coefficient(s) and PIs current effort (in collaboration with University of Wyoming Water Resources Data System and Wyoming Climate office) in developing the Wyoming Agricultural Climate Network (WACNet), an irrigation scheduling tool will be developed for efficient irrigation management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1 and 2 Major Activities: Installation of Bowen Ratio Energy Balance System (BREBS) at Powell Research and Extension Center (PREC), near Powell, WY. The system was installed in June 2017 which continuously monitors energy balance fluxes for both crop growingand non-growing season. In addition, two independent studies on "Dry bean yield, growth parameter, crop evapotranspiration, and crop coefficient response to variable irrigation under surface and sprinkler irrigation systems" and "Impact of variable irrigation and nitrogen application on sugarbeet root yield, percent sugar content, and crop evapotranspiration" were conducted. Outcome: Development and evaluation of localized crop evapotranspiration and development of localized crop coefficients. Objective 3 and 4 Major Activities: We are using the SEBS and METRIC remote sensing models to quantify and analyze the surface energy balance components at a regional scale. Outcome: One graduate student is currently working on this part of the project. Objective 5 Major activities: Long-term climate data was collected and analyzedto understand and quantify the spatial and temporal variations in ET. Outcome: PI is currently working on one publication addressing the long-term trends in climatic variables and ET in inter-mountainous regions of west. Objective 6 Major Activities: Data, information, and knowledge gained from this project was disseminated to producers, extension educators, extension specialist, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and other stakeholders via field days, extension and research presentations, andextension articles. In total, the project resulted 18 extension publications, 6 magazine and newspaper articles, 9 technical presentations, 6 invited talks, 8 extension presentations, and 11 research and extension posters.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Irrigation Management  Basics of Soil Water. University of Wyoming Extension. B-1330.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Methods and Techniques of Soil Moisture Monitoring. University of Wyoming Extension. B-1331.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Soil Moisture Sensors Boost Irrigation Effectiveness. University of Wyoming Extension. Barnyard & Backyards. Summer 2018.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Strategies to save water when irrigating. In Sebade ed. Navigating Drought in Wyoming. University of Wyoming Extension. B-1325.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma V., and J. Heitholt. 2018. Screening Dry Bean Genotypes for Drought Tolerance in Wyoming. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rai, A., J. Heitholt, and V. Sharma. 2018. Dry Bean Growth Dynamics in Response to Deficit Irrigation under Surface- and Sprinkler-Irrigation Systems. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: V. Sharma, A. Rai, and J. Heitholt. 2018. Dry Bean Yield Response to Deficit Irrigation under Surface and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Quantification of Growing-Season Crop Evapotranspiration for Sugarbeet in Wyoming. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Development of Sugarbeet Crop Coefficients. University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V., C. Nicholson, T. Bergantino, J. Cowley, B. Hess, and J. Tanaka. 2018. Wyoming Agricultural Climate Network (WACNet). University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station Field Day Bulletin.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Impact of Irrigation and Nitrogen Management Strategies on Sugarbeet Yield, Evapotranspiration and Crop Water Productivity. 2018, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Detroit, MI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rai, A and V. Sharma. 2018. Effect of Variable Irrigation on dry bean Soil Moisture, Growth, Evapotranspiration, Yield and Water Use Efficiency. 2018, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Detroit, MI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. WERA-1022- Wyoming update. WERA-1022 Annual Meeting. Oceanic City, Delaware. September 24, 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rai, A and V. Sharma. 2018. Effect of Variable Irrigation on dry bean Soil Moisture and Plant Dynamics, Evapotranspiration, Yield and Water Productivity. Western Society of Crop Sciences, Annual Meeting, Laramie, WY.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma V. 2018. Dry bean Production Management. Sustainable Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SAREC), University of Wyoming Annual Field Day, August 22, 2018. (100+ attendees).
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma V. 2018. Irrigation Management Strategies for Alfalfa. Wyoming Forage Field Day, June 12, 2018. (50+ attendees).
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma V. 2018. Practical use of soil moisture sensors for irrigation scheduling. Fremont County Farm and Rach Day, Riverton. February 07, 2018. (15 attendees).
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. and J. Heitholt. 2018. Screening Drybean Genotypes for Drought Tolerance in Wyoming. Wyoming Crop Improvement Association. February 01, 2018. (20 attendees)
• Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Performance Analysis of Soil Moisture Sensors. Powell Research and Extension Center, Advisory Board Meeting, Jan 23rd, 2018. (attendees: 42)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V. 2018. Sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris. L) Yield, evapotranspiration, crop coefficients and crop water productivity response to variable Irrigation and Nitrogen management. ASA International Annual Meeting 2018, Baltimore, MD.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rai, A., and V. Sharma. 2018. Dry bean Growth, Yield, Water-use, and Production Functions in Response to Variable Irrigation in the Intermountain West. ASA International Annual Meeting 2018, Baltimore, MD.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rai, A and V. Sharma. Effect of variable irrigation levels on dry bean growth and yield under surface and sprinkler irrigation systems. 2018 University of Wyoming Field day at Powell and SAREC.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sharma, V, and J. Heitholt. 2018. Screening dry bean genotypes for drought tolerance in Wyoming. 2018 University of Wyoming Field day at Powell and SAREC.