DWFI offers suite of tools to improve irrigation water use and agricultural productivity

Flux towers also measure greenhouse gas emissions

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $3 million grant to DWFI and University of Nebraska researchers and another half-million dollars of matching funds to add gas analyzers to three flux towers in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane fluxes. The towers will also measure soil emissions of these gases using automated soil chambers and additional gas analyzers.

These technologies -- combined with extensive soil and plant sampling for nutrients, carbon and nitrogen -- allow researchers to estimate a complete carbon balance through the use of lifecycle analysis models. In turn, these models provide data showing how successful various production systems are at minimizing harmful effects of nitrous oxide emissions and their efficiency in fixing carbon. This information can provide a profit incentive in the form of carbon credits to the farmers in future carbon markets.

The combination of greenhouse gas-measuring technology and modeling will lead to an increase in overall profitability as farmers adopt more efficient production systems in fixing carbon and management approaches that reduce emissions. Widespread adoption of efficient production systems is important because mass producer adoption gives us the best chance to improve water productivity significantly and sustainably while reducing the carbon footprint, improving food production and environmental quality in Nebraska and other states. Furthermore, once the technology and modeling are completed, tested and perfected, they can be applied to production agriculture in other parts of the U.S. and the world.

DAWN: the Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management

Another important tool under development is the Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management(DAWN) project, which aims to provide farmers with a powerful, predictive decision-making support tool to sustain food and energy crop production. DAWN is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture and is a collaborative effort among several universities and organizations led by the University of Maryland.

DAWN will incorporate modeling previously developed by DWFI’s Director of Research Christopher Neale: the Spatial EvapoTranspiration Modeling Interface (SETMI) and GloDET tools. SETMI uses remote sensing via satellite, airborne or unmanned aerial system platforms to estimate ET, maintain a soil water balance in the root zone of the crop and predict irrigation needs.

Through DAWN, collaborators hope to provide an accurate set of seasonal climatic forecasts from one to nine months in advance, as well as one to six-day weather forecasts during the growing season. Both long- and short-term reliable forecasts are critical to growers and can translate into concrete decision-support tools to help them optimize the application of nitrogen-based fertilizers and maintain or increase crop productivity while minimizing environmental impacts.

The DAWN project is being designed with a user-friendly interface, providing recommended actions with an irrigation scheduling tool based on tailored input. It will also help farmers manage risk by providing planning scenarios that allow producers to explore how crops will fare under different conditions. Altogether, this system will provide crucial information to producers in understanding costs and benefits of different management strategies, help to close water usage gaps and make significant advances in advancing food security.