The WUEMoCA Tool for Monitoring Irrigated Cropland Use and Water Use Efficiency at the Landscape Level of the Aral Sea Basin

Abstract

Water scarcity in the Aral Sea Basin together with the persistent dependency from agricultural production as well as with the effects of population growth and climate change is supposed to imply future conflicts in all water-use sectors. An efficient and sustainable irrigation agriculture will essentially contribute to sustainable regional development. Optical satellite remote sensing (RS) data such as MODIS provides necessary information for monitoring irrigated cropland use on the regional, respectively landscape scale. In this context, the WUEMoCA tool intends to provide agriculturally relevant, spatio-temporal geoinformation to support planning in the water resources management sector. Potential groups of end-users comprise policy makers and advisors from national governments but also regional and transboundary decision makers and specialists dealing with geoinformation technology and RS based analysis for sustainable land and water resources management