Project Number: 6208-13000-005-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Dec 22, 2001
End Date: Dec 21, 2006

Objective:
Measure energy partitioning & water transport to define plant archetypes and management strategies. Develop procedures to use climate condition and weather variability prediction for management in agriculture. Develop improved irrigation & dryland management strategies and determine processes within plants that increase water use efficiency. Use remote sensing and precision agriculture technologies to reduce drought effects on crop production. Develop and integrate into crop management, new technologies or concepts that will allow agriculture to remain productive and profitable while reducing its dependence upon the irrigation water from the Ogalalla.

Approach:
Estimate soil evaporation, plant transpiration, and energy balance components of dryland cropping patterns using simulation analysis. Energy partitioning, soil water extraction, and water uptake patterns will be measured. Determine predictability of drought patterns in climate records. Appraise benefits of seasonal climate forecasts to crop management using value of information analysis. Vary irrigation rate according to a crop's growth stage sensitivity to yield and evaluate crop yield response to limited drip irrigation. Quantify the contribution of plant processes to yield performance of existing and genetically modified drought resistant crops. Test chemical techniques for increasing soilaggregate stability and surface coatings for reducing plant temperature. Quantify crop water status using canopy temperature and spectral reflectance and determine the influence of canopy architecture on canopy temperature variability. Research findings will be evaluated and integrated into crop management systems.

Project Annual Reports

FY 2003   FY 2002

Related National Programs

Water Quality & Management (201)   Integrated Farming Systems (207)

Related Projects

Soil and Crop Management Systems for Efficient Water Use    Climatological Analysis As a Tool for Agricultural Decision Making in Dry Areas