Using satellite soil moisture data in detecting and quantifying irrigation globally

Irrigation is one of the greatest human intervention in the hydrological cycle. The knowledge of the distribution, the extent of irrigated areas and the amount of water used by irrigation is needed for different purposes: 1) modelling irrigation water requirements at the global scale, 2) assessing irrigated food production, 3) quantifying the impact of irrigation on climate, river discharge and groundwater depletion. Notwithstanding its recognized importance, to obtain high-quality information about the actual irrigated areas worldwide is nontrivial and the problem is much more pronounced in terms of the quantification of the water actually used for irrigation. In this context, the objective of the WACMOS-MED project is to understand the potential of satellite soil moisture data in detecting and quantifying irrigation at global scale.