Effects of Irrigation on Summer Precipitation over the United States

Pei, Liang; Moore, Nathan; Zhong, Shiyuan; Kendall, A. D.; Gao, Zhiqiu; Hyndman, D. W.

doi:10.1175/jcli-d-15-0337.1

Cited by 90 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…For example, Pei et al (2016) used a potential evapotranspiration ratio to estimate June, July, and August irrigation usage from USGS yearly county-level estimates in order to validate irrigation amounts in the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF)-Noah mosaic coupled model. The study found good agreement between the amounts simulated and that of the modified observations at 30 km horizontal resolution.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Irrigation In Lsmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of irrigation physics in a land surface modeling framework using non-traditional and human-practice datasets

Lawston

Santanello

Franz

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Irrigation increases soil moisture, which in turn controls water and energy fluxes from the land surface to the planetary boundary layer and determines plant stress and productivity. Therefore, developing a realistic representation of irrigation is critical to understanding land-atmosphere interactions in agricultural areas. Irrigation parameterizations are becoming more common in land surface models and are growing in sophistication, but there is difficulty in assessing the realism of these schemes, due to limited observations (e.g., soil moisture, evapotranspiration) and scant reporting of irrigation timing and quantity. This study uses the Noah land surface model run at high resolution within NASA's Land Information System to assess the physics of a sprinkler irrigation simulation scheme and model sensitivity to choice of irrigation intensity and greenness fraction datasets over a small, high-resolution domain in Nebraska. Differences between experiments are small at the interannual scale but become more apparent at seasonal and daily timescales. In addition, this study uses point and gridded soil moisture observations from fixed and roving cosmic-ray neutron probes and co-located human-practice data to evaluate the realism of irrigation amounts and soil moisture impacts simulated by the model. Results show that field-scale heterogeneity resulting from the individual actions of farmers is not captured by the model and the amount of irrigation applied by the model exceeds that applied at the two irrigated fields. However, the seasonal timing of irrigation and soil moisture contrasts between irrigated and non-irrigated areas are simulated well by the model. Overall, the results underscore the necessity of both high-quality meteorological forcing data and proper representation of irrigation for accurate simulation of water and energy states and fluxes over cropland.

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Section: Evaluation Of Irrigation In Lsmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of irrigation physics in a land surface modeling framework using non-traditional and human-practice datasets

Lawston

Santanello

Franz

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…This is particularly relevant in areas of high irrigation where modified soil moisture significantly impacts the regional hydroclimate through adjusted land-atmosphere interactions Snyder 2012a, 2012b;Jódar et al, 2010;Lo and Famiglietti, 2013;Rojstaczer 2001, 2002;Pei et al, 2016;Qian et al 2013). One major effect of increased soil moisture is on the Great Plains low-level jet (GPLLJ; Walters et al, 2014;Weaver and Nigam, 2011).…”

Section: Regional Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Complex water management in modern agriculture: Trends in the water-energy-food nexus over the High Plains Aquifer

Smidt

Haacker

Kendall

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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111

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In modern agriculture, the interplay between complex physical, agricultural, and socioeconomic water use drivers must be fully understood to successfully manage water supplies on extended timescales. This is particularly evident across large portions of the High Plains Aquifer where groundwater levels have declined at unsustainable rates despite improvements in both the efficiency of water use and water productivity in agricultural practices. Improved technology and land use practices have not mitigated groundwater level declines, thus water management strategies must adapt accordingly or risk further resource loss. In this study, we analyze the water-energy-food nexus over the High Plains Aquifer as a framework to isolate the major drivers that have shaped the history, and will direct the future, of water use in modern agriculture. Based on this analysis, we conclude that future water management strategies can benefit from: (1) prioritizing farmer profit to encourage decision-making that aligns with strategic objectives, (2) management of water as both an input into the water-energy-food nexus and a key incentive for farmers, (3) adaptive frameworks that allow for short-term objectives within long-term goals, (4) innovative strategies that fit within restrictive political frameworks, (5) reduced production risks to aid farmer decision-making, and (6) increasing the political desire to conserve valuable water resources. This research sets the foundation to address water management as a function of complex decision-making trends linked to the water-energy-food nexus. Water management strategy recommendations are made based on the objective of balancing farmer profit and conserving water resources to ensure future agricultural production.

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“…Irrigation-induced changes in local precipitation are mostly tied to changes in large-scale moisture convergence, and thus to changes in precipitation elsewhere. Besides, local and downwind effects can occur simultaneously (Pei et al, 2016). Im and Eltahier (2014) even detected, in a simulation experiment, a constellation in which irrigation increased rainfall (by 100 %) and runoff (by 50 %) in the Niger River basin upstream from the irrigation location.…”

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confidence: 99%

HESS Opinions: A planetary boundary on freshwater use is misleading

Heistermann¹

2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. In 2009, a group of prominent Earth scientists introduced the "planetary boundaries" (PB) framework: they suggested nine global control variables, and defined corresponding "thresholds which, if crossed, could generate unacceptable environmental change". The concept builds on systems theory, and views Earth as a complex adaptive system in which anthropogenic disturbances may trigger nonlinear, abrupt, and irreversible changes at the global scale, and "push the Earth system outside the stable environmental state of the Holocene". While the idea has been remarkably successful in both science and policy circles, it has also raised fundamental concerns, as the majority of suggested processes and their corresponding planetary boundaries do not operate at the global scale, and thus apparently lack the potential to trigger abrupt planetary changes. This paper picks up the debate with specific regard to the planetary boundary on "global freshwater use". While the bio-physical impacts of excessive water consumption are typically confined to the river basin scale, the PB proponents argue that water-induced environmental disasters could build up to planetary-scale feedbacks and system failures. So far, however, no evidence has been presented to corroborate that hypothesis. Furthermore, no coherent approach has been presented to what extent a planetary threshold value could reflect the risk of regional environmental disaster. To be sure, the PB framework was revised in 2015, extending the planetary freshwater boundary with a set of basin-level boundaries inferred from environmental water flow assumptions. Yet, no new evidence was presented, either with respect to the ability of those basin-level boundaries to reflect the risk of regional regime shifts or with respect to a potential mechanism linking river basins to the planetary scale.So while the idea of a planetary boundary on freshwater use appears intriguing, the line of arguments presented so far remains speculative and implicatory. As long as Earth system science does not present compelling evidence, the exercise of assigning actual numbers to such a boundary is arbitrary, premature, and misleading. Taken as a basis for waterrelated policy and management decisions, though, the idea transforms from misleading to dangerous, as it implies that we can globally offset water-related environmental impacts.A planetary boundary on freshwater use should thus be disapproved and actively refuted by the hydrological and water resources community.

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Effects of Irrigation on Summer Precipitation over the United States

Cited by 90 publications

References 77 publications

Assessment of irrigation physics in a land surface modeling framework using non-traditional and human-practice datasets

Assessment of irrigation physics in a land surface modeling framework using non-traditional and human-practice datasets

Complex water management in modern agriculture: Trends in the water-energy-food nexus over the High Plains Aquifer

HESS Opinions: A planetary boundary on freshwater use is misleading

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