An integrated approach for multi-year irrigation benchmarking using satellites, surveys and on-farm measured data

Abstract

Benchmarking is an effective management tool to improve irrigation performance through comparison with other irrigation management units; however, its application is often limited by the data available to support the analysis. This study developed a benchmarking system that reduces reliance on local data by using satellite-based estimates and quantifies benchmarking uncertainty due to alternative data sources. We benchmarked the relative irrigation supply (RISsatellite) (i.e. the ratio of irrigation supply to crop net irrigation demand) for more than 300 farms growing corn/maize, cotton and rice crops in the Coleambally Irrigation Area in Australia from 2011 to 2019. Three key inputs to RISs..