NSF Convergence Accelerator Track K: Spatially Resolved Solutions for Field to Regional Irrigation Water Management to Promote Equitable Sharing of Limited Water Resources

为了应对淡水短缺的紧迫挑战，特别是影响脆弱社区的挑战，这个融合加速器轨道K项目建议开发一个用户定制的灌溉水管理决策支持中心，重点是加州的中央谷。利用卫星遥感、天气预报和土壤/作物模型，该项目旨在以高空间分辨率为个体种植者提供日常灌溉建议，将可用土壤水和作物需水量结合起来。此外，该工具还将为供水区和监管机构提供汇总的作物用水需求和消费数据，支持区域一级关于公平水资源分配的决策。当拟议的工具被开发和分发给公众使用时，它将有助于缓解地下水枯竭，提高用水效率，降低灌溉成本，并有助于考虑到水资源公平，水资源可用性和环境限制的区域水资源分配。该项目的技术目标包括利益相关者参与、概念模型开发、基于网络的工具创建以及测试和评估。利益相关者将参与整个研究过程，为设计要求和评估分析做出贡献。该概念模型综合了创新的遥感产品、天气预报和用户投入，将指导开发一个基于网络的决策支持工具。这项研究将涉及创造创新的遥感产品，如基于卫星数据的近地表土壤湿度、根区土壤湿度和蒸散量的高分辨率（每日10米）数据。该工具将产生农场一级的产出，包括灌溉建议，以及区域一级的产出，包括汇总的水消费和需求数据。该原型工具将在中央谷的各个试点农场进行测试，包括不同的气候，作物类型和灌溉方法。这一测试阶段将包括安装传感器以测量土壤湿度和蒸散量数据，以及监测作物生长条件和灌溉调度决策的实地活动。此外，还将进行经济分析，以评估种植者采用该工具的意愿，并量化其对灌溉效率和农业生产力的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In response to the pressing challenge of freshwater scarcity, particularly impacting vulnerable communities, this Convergence Accelerator Track K Project proposes the development of a user-tailored irrigation water management decision-support hub, focusing on Central Valley, California. Utilizing satellite remote sensing, weather forecasts, and soil/crop models, the project aims to provide individual growers with daily irrigation advice at a high spatial resolution, integrating available soil water and crop water demand. Additionally, the tool will offer water districts and regulators aggregated crop water demand and consumption data, supporting regional-level decisions on equitable water allocation. When the proposed tool is developed and distributed for public use, it will help mitigate groundwater depletion, enhance water use efficiency, lower irrigation costs, and contribute to regional water allocations that take into account water equity, water resource availability, and environmental constraints. The project's technical goals encompass stakeholder engagement, conceptual model development, web-based tool creation, and testing and evaluation. Stakeholders will be engaged throughout the research, contributing to design requirements and evaluation analysis. The conceptual model, which integrates innovative remote sensing products, weather forecasts, and user inputs, will guide the development of a web-based decision-support tool. This research will involve creating innovative remote sensing products, such as high-resolution (10-m, daily) data for near-surface soil moisture, root-zone soil moisture, and evapotranspiration based on satellite data. The tool will produce farm-level outputs, including irrigation advice, and regional-level outputs including aggregated water consumption and demand data. The prototype tool will undergo testing on various pilot farms in Central Valley, encompassing diverse climates, crop types, and irrigation methods. This testing phase will include the installation of sensors to measure soil moisture and evapotranspiration data, as well as field campaigns to monitor crop growth conditions and irrigation scheduling decisions. Additionally, economic analysis will be conducted to assess growers' willingness to adopt the tool and quantify its impacts on irrigation efficiency and farm productivity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.