Evapotranspiration (ET) is the process by which the land surface returns water to the atmosphere in the form of moisture. ET is a very important part of the water cycle in the Earth system. It is the sum of evaporation from bare soil and transpiration from vegetation. For a given watershed, the supply of water from precipitation, surface and groundwater can be depleted via ET. Therefore, estimating the amount of ET is crucial for calculating the overall water budget and for effective water management. Since ET indicates loss of moisture from the soil and vegetation, monitoring ET on agricultural fields helps with crop irrigation activities and water conservation.
Because ET depends on land surface characteristics such as type of vegetation and soil moisture, available heat energy from sunlight, and atmospheric weather conditions; it is not possible to measure ET directly. Remote sensing observations provide several of the land and atmospheric parameters useful for estimating ET. Several methodologies have been developed using various satellite observations to estimate ET over the past two decades. These ET products are used for a variety of applications from the farm scale to the watershed scale.
This 3-part webinar series focuses on introducing newly available ET products derived from remote sensing observations. It will specifically cover a web portal called OpenET (https://openetdata.org/), which includes ET products estimated by using six models as well as Landsat satellite observations. These ET products cover the western United States. In addition, information about global ET products derived from ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on the Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will also be covered. The webinar series will provide details about OpenET and ECOSTRESS ET products, demonstrations and hands-on exercises for data access and analysis, and examples of applications of the data.
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
- Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
- Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
Course Dates: Wednesdays, June 1, 8, & 15, 2022
Times: 11:00-12:30 or 16:00-17:30 EDT (UTC-4); There will be identical sessions at two different times of the day. Participants need only to register and attend one daily session.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this training attendees will be able to:
- Identify state-of-the-art techniques to derive evapotranspiration (ET) using remote sensing
- Recognize how ET data can be used in water resources and agricultural management
- Access OpenET and ECOSTRESS ET data products for their own applications
Audience: This webinar series is intended for local, regional, federal, and non-governmental organizations from agriculture and water resources related agencies involved in water resources and agricultural management.
Course Format: Three, 90-minute parts