WaPOR allows monitoring irrigation areas
Like in this example from southern Egypt, WaPOR maps (100 m ground resolution) show the expansion of irrigation in a desert area that draws water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer.
Each circle is about 800 metres wide, irrigated with sprinklers rotating around a central pivot. These lands are mainly used to grow fodder crops.
The advantage of WaPOR maps is that they provide fundamental information on the amount of water that is consumed through crop evapotranspiration, meaning the amount of water released back into the air through soil evaporation and plant transpiration. This allows for the assessment of the amount of water withdrawn from the aquifer to sustain investments in agriculture and irrigation systems. In this case, the data allows for the estimation of annual water consumption of about 400 million cubic metres.
Light blue areas on the maps describe desert conditions with limited moisture available for evapotranspiration processes.
The blue areas represent irrigated fields. WaPOR evapotranspiration data over time, as shown in the maps, provides clear evidence of the expansion of such irrigation in otherwise uncultivated land as more water is being consumed by crops.
This chart represents the increase in water consumption in this area of southern Egypt over a 10-year span from 2009 to 2018. The increase of water consumption following the expansion of the irrigation systems is clear.