The GEWEX Irrigation project is an initiative of the Global Land-Atmosphere System Studies (GLASS) and GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel (GHP) panels to advance our understanding of the impacts of irrigation on the water and energy cycles and to better represent these effects in models. Volunteer efforts and recently funded projects (e.g., LIAISE, GRAINEX, Irrigation+) have demonstrated the importance of understanding the role of irrigation in the earth system and the challenges of identifying and modeling irrigation water usage and impacts. The Irrigation Project seeks to improve the representation of irrigation in models by working together to identify pressing issues, enhancing collaboration among groups working on related problems, and leveraging products and methods yielded by existing projects.
The two-day GLASS/GHP Workshop on Irrigation focused on cutting edge observations and modeling of irrigation’s role in the water and energy cycle and possible paths to follow with the formation of a GHP Cross Cutting Project on Irrigation.
Background image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “Center pivot irrigation system in Arizona, USA”
