Using SEBAL to Investigate How Variations in Climate Impact on Crop Evapotranspiration

Abstract

Water allocation to crops, and especially to the most water intensive ones, has always been of great importance in agricultural processes. Deficit or excessive irrigation could create either crop health-related problems or water over-consumption, respectively. The latter could lead to groundwater depletion and deterioration of its quality through deep percolation of agrichemical residuals. In this context, and under the current conditions where Cyprus is facing effects of possible climate changes, the purpose of this study seeks to estimate the needed crop water requirements of the past (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004) and the corresponding ones of the present (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) in order to test if there were any significant changes regarding the crop water requirements of the most water-intensive trees in Cyprus. The Mediterranean region has been identified as the region that will suffer the most from variations of climate. Thus the paper refers to effects of these variations on crop evapotranspiration (ETc) using remotely-sensed data from Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI employing a sound methodology used worldwide, the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL). Though the general feeling is that of changes on climate will consequently affect ETc, our results indicate that there is no significant effect of climate variation on crop evapotranspiration, despite the fact that some climatic factors have changed. Applying Student's t-test, the mean values for the most water-intensive trees in Cyprus of the 1994-2004 decade have shown no statistical difference from the mean values of 2005-2015 for all the cases, concluding that the climate change taking place in the past decades in Cyprus have either not affected the crop evapotranspiration or the crops have managed to adapt to the new environmental conditions through time.

Projecting Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Actual Evapotranspiration for the Narmada River Basin in Central India in the Future

“…The effect of land use change here is more prominent than the climate change. The SEBAL model used to investigate climate change effects on crop evapotranspiration in Cyprus reported no significant changes [81]. Change in ET and runoff are observed due to land use and climate change, resulting in decreased ET in parts of Central India [82].…”

Adjustment of Irrigation Schedules as a Strategy to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture in Cyprus

“…Citrus and potatoes are the most widely grown crops in the country and consume over 30% of the total agricultural water (150 × 10 6 m 3 ). Crop production is constrained by a highly variable climate, limited precipitation and high temperatures from mid-May to mid-September [10]. However, crop water needs may be fully or partly met by rainfall mainly from October to March.…”