Tech technology to help farmers manage water

By Pepita Ridgeway

El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

pridgeway@dchieftain.com

   New Mexico Tech has been awarded a $304,000 grant to estimate consumptive water use in the western United States.

   Tech Hydrologist Jan Hendrickx will use an image-processing model, the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land, to undertake the project. The model uses Landsat satellite-image data to study the earth's surface.

   "One of the big unknowns is the amount of water evaporation, and that is important to know," said Hendrickx, who began his research six years ago after learning about the capabilities of Landsat from former colleagues in the Netherlands.

   "Current methods for studying water evaporation can be seen down at the Bosque, where expensive equipment is used to get measurements, but the evaporation levels are only given at the point where the measurement is taken," said Hendrickx.

   Using the new technique, the Landsat Satellite remotely senses images that cover the whole Rio Grande Valley ­ in detail.

   The Landsat satellite, in orbit 440 miles above the surface, was launched by NASA in 1999 to study climate change, make maps and keep track of crops. Nearly 500,000 images have been made since its launch, resulting in a vast archive of information about the Earth's continental surfaces.

   The image-processing model developed at Tech uses about 25 computer programs to analyze the Landsat images. It can quantify the rate of evaporation from crops, lakes and riparian areas along the Rio Grande.

   In the future, Hendrickx hopes that the research will result in water managers, such as Middle Rio Grand Conservancy, being able to prevent over watering by knowing exactly the amount of water to release for crops. He noted an example of a satellite image of one particular crop in the Rio Grande that is over-irrigated.

   The image-processing model can also determine sub-surface water tables. High subsurface levels in riparian areas can be lowered in times of drought for use by the farmers, said Hendrickx.

   "I think that the use of Satellite images in water management is just starting. This is quantitive hydrology. One year ago we received a grant from the National Science Foundation for Tech to establish strong remote sensing capabilities. This funding from the USDA will enhance the whole program, to develop it to an operational level to assist water managers on a weekly basis to quantify water use," said Hendrickx.

   The project has been funded for two years, together with Richard Allen of the University of Idaho, said Hendrickx, who applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the grant. He said he competed with other states for the grant. The research will be based in Socorro and Hendrickx hopes to start by the end of this month. He has hired a part-time post-doctorate assistant and a graduate assistant as part of the project.

   In a recent press release, Senator Pete Domenici R-N.M., who helped to secure the funding said "These funds will allow New Mexico Tech to use cutting-edge technology to estimate the West's water usage. The drought and population growth in states like New Mexico and Arizona mean that policymakers need more information about their water resources. The entire region should benefit from the findings of the school's Earth and Environmental Science Department."

   The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will be delivered this week.