So when researchers from the University of
Washington and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Agriculture joined forces to use data
from NASA and its partners to help the country’s rice farmers, the potential
benefit was substantial. Through their IRAS program, short for the Integrated
Rice Advisory System, researchers from UW and Bangladesh use satellite data to
deliver information to farmers about how much water they are using, how much
they have, and how much their crops need. The program is funded by Bangladesh's
Department of Agricultural Extension.
Rice is an essential crop in Bangladesh,
and cultivating it requires a lot of water and fuel. During the country's dry
season, which takes place from January to June, farmers typically pump
groundwater from aquifers. Pumping is expensive, and it usually requires
burning fuels that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“To create sustainable and
climate-resilient agriculture for the future, we need to minimize irrigation
waste and de-carbonize the production by using affordable solutions that can be
scaled globally,” said Faisal
Hossain, professor of
civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington and leader
of IRAS.
The IRAS team completed its first
nationwide effort in June 2023, providing advisories on irrigation needs to
more than 10 million farmers across Bangladesh.
Hossain and the IRAS team estimate that
the program has the potential to reduce agricultural water waste in Bangladesh
by about 30%, reduce agricultural fuel consumption by 45%, save $115 million
annually in fuel subsidies, and reduce carbon emissions by 300,000 tons per
year.
One of the many IRAS outputs that are routinely generated during the dry season at biweekly frequency using NASA data. This image of a region in Bangladesh shows the specific areas where over-irrigation has likely occurred in the two weeks prior to June 4, 2023. Over-irrigation is calculated based on comparison between actual water consumed by crops, which is estimated using Landsat data, and the crop water demand, which is estimated using weather data from GFS. Credits: Courtesy of Faisal Hossain
How IRAS Works
IRAS analyzes specific satellite
data to craft irrigation advisories for users around Bangladesh. The advisories
tell farmers how much water they need for their crops based on precipitation
and groundwater measurements in the area. They can also report whether people
in a region have previously over- or under-irrigated their fields.
Some of the data for the advisories
comes from the NASA/USGS Landsat mission; researchers use that imagery and data
to determine the water use at farming locations. Other data come from GPM, or Global
Precipitation Measurement,
a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. GPM tracks
the total amount of precipitation in the area.
Those datasets are then combined
with information from GFS, the Global Forecast System, produced by the U.S. National
Weather Service. GFS provides precipitation forecasts for the upcoming week.
These datasets and reports are evaluated and assembled by agricultural
specialists in Bangladesh, creating a comprehensive advisory and
recommendations for farmers that is specific to their location.
“The synergistic use of Landsat,
GPM, and GFS can help the world become more water-efficient and
energy-efficient in growing food, while also becoming more affordable and
convenient for farmers,” Hossain said.
Human Impacts, Now and Later
“When I see my work positively
impacting someone, even if it’s just a single person, it brings me joy,” said
Shahzaib Khan, a graduate research student with Hossain at the University of
Washington. “To see this work impacting so many people, that is beyond words.”
Khan worked directly with staff at
Bangladesh’s Department of Agricultural Extension, as well as the country’s
Agro-Meteorological Information Service, to develop and install the IRAS
system.
Hossain and the team aim to expand
the reach of IRAS in the coming years. Because NASA and Landsat datasets are
free and accessible to the public, the doors are open to developing similar
cost-effective programs. For instance, sugar cane – which is often grown in
places like Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia – is another water-intensive crop
that could benefit from a program like IRAS.
“Our hope is that this template can
be applied to any region where we know what crop is being grown and what their
crop water demand characteristics are,” Hossain said.
By Erica McNamee
NASA’s
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Source: NASA Data Helps Bangladeshi Farmers Save Water, Money, Energy | NASA
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