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A Landsat-Based Energy Balance and Evapotranspiration Model in Western

US Water Rights Regulation and Planning

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DOI: 10.1007/s10795-005-5187-z

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Irrigation and Drainage Systems (2005) 19: 251–268

C Springer 2005

A Landsat-based energy balance and

evapotranspiration model in Western US
water rights regulation and planning

RICHARD G. ALLEN1 , M. TASUMI2 , ANTHONY MORSE3

& RICARDO TREZZA4
1 University of Idaho, 3793 N. 3600 E., Kimberly, Idaho 83341, USA
E-mail: RALLEN@kimberly.uidaho.edu
2 University of Idaho, Kimberly, Idaho, USA
3 Idaho Department of Water Resources, Boise, Idaho, USA
4 Universidad de Los Andes-Venezuela, Merida, Venezuela

Abstract. The quantification of evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated projects is important

for water rights management, water resources planning and water regulation. Traditionally,
ET has been estimated by multiplying a weather-based reference ET by crop coefficients (K c )
determined according to the crop type and the crop growth stage. However, there is typically
question regarding whether crops grown compare with the conditions represented by the K c
values, especially in water short areas. In addition, it is difficult to estimate the correct crop
growth stage dates for large populations of crops and fields.
METRIC (Mapping Evapotranspiration at high Resolution and with Internalized Calibration)
is an image-processing model for calculating ET as a residual of the surface energy balance.
METRIC is a variant of SEBAL, an energy balance process developed in the Netherlands
by Bastiaanssen and was extended to provide tighter integration with ground-based reference
ET. METRIC was applied with Landsat images in southern Idaho to predict monthly and
seasonal ET for water rights accounting and for operation of ground water models. ET “maps”
(i.e., images) provide the means to quantify, in terms of both the amount and spatial distribution,
the ET on a field by field basis.
The ET maps have been used in Idaho to quantify net ground-water pumpage in areas
where water extraction from underground is not measured and to estimate recharge from
surface-irrigated lands. Application and testing of METRIC indicates substantial promise as
an efficient, accurate, and relatively inexpensive procedure to predict the actual evaporation
fluxes from irrigated lands throughout a growing season.

Key words: energy balance, evapotranspiration, irrigation, Landsat

Introduction

METRIC and SEBAL (Surface Energy Balance Algorithms for Land,

Bastiaanssen et al., 1998) use digital image data collected by Landsat or other
remote-sensing satellites that record thermal infrared radiation in addition to
252

visible and near-infrared radiation. ET is computed on a pixel-by-pixel basis

for the instantaneous time of the satellite image. The process is based on a
complete energy balance for each pixel, where ET is predicted from the resid-
ual amount of energy remaining from the classical energy balance, where
ET = net radiation − heat to the soil − heat to the air. (Details are presented
in Bastiaanssen et al., 1998; Bastiaanssen, 2000; Bastiaanssen et al., 2002 and
Tasumi et al., 2005b, and in the next section.)
METRIC applications in Idaho and surrounding areas have been made over
a 4-year period. In year 1, ET maps were created for the Bear River Basin
that covers 20,000 km2 of the three USA states of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming
and contains about 190,000 ha of crop and pasture land. The purpose of the
application was to provide the foundation for quantifying the amount of ir-
rigation water that is evaporated and transpired by each of the states. Water
from the Bear River is divided among the three states according to an appor-
tionment that was agreed upon in the 1950s. Each state must determine how
many hectares of land can be developed for irrigation before the net depletion
to the river resource exceeds that state’s apportionment. The determination
has been difficult to accomplish, and in the past was made using the standard
crop coefficient – reference ET procedure. However, differences between ET
from cropped land and natural rangeland that is replaced by irrigated agricul-
ture must be considered. River depletions by irrigated agriculture are defined
as the differences between diversions and net returns to the river system via
ground water. Because the net returns to the river are in diffuse form, they
are impossible to measure. Net depletions are therefore predicted using ET
from irrigated lands less any ET that would have occurred from natural range
conditions in the absence of irrigation. In addition, the type of crops grown
impact the total stream depletion. METRIC was used to provide the integrated
total ET from irrigated and natural systems in the Basin.
In year 2, 3 and 4, ET was determined for the Snake River Plain of south-
eastern Idaho. The Snake River Plain and aquifer system is large, spanning
more than 30,000 square km, with over 7000 square km of irrigated farmland
(Figure 1). Comparisons of ET predicted by METRIC with precision weigh-
ing lysimeter data at Kimberly, Idaho provided information on the conditions
required to obtain maximum accuracy with METRIC and the best proce-
dure for obtaining ET for monthly and annual time periods. The generated ET
maps have improved the calibration of ground-water models by providing bet-
ter information on ground-water recharge as a component of water balances.
Ground-water pumpage from an area containing 5000 to 6000 wells has been
estimated using ET from METRIC by developing correlations between net
ET (ET less effectively evaporated precipitation) and pump discharge at about
400 measured wells and then extrapolating to the larger area using ET maps
(Morse et al., 2001). The correlations are based on a water balance of the
 253

Figure 1. State of Idaho showing irrigated areas in the Snake Plain (southern part of state) as
bright areas.

form:
GW = ET − Pe + RO + DP (1)
where GW is ground-water pumpage, Pe is precipitation that evaporates, RO
is surface runoff and DP is deep percolation. Under sprinkle-irrigated fields
254

in the semi-arid climate of Idaho, RO is small and can be ignored, essentially

all precipitation evaporates or is extracted by plants, and DP can be predicted
as some function of system efficiency (IE) so that:

(ET − P)
GW = = a(ET − P) (2)
1 − IE
where P is gross precipitation and a is a linear correlation coefficient. The
relation between GW and ET − P is generally applied seasonally and the
value for ET, if based on energy balance, reflects to some degree impacts of
wetting frequency of precipitation on the total ET.
In the Idaho applications, we have exclusively used Landsat imagery. The
attractiveness of Landsat is the high resolution (30 m in the visible and near
infrared bands and 60 to 120 m in the thermal band) so that ET from individ-
ual fields can be observed. Field-scale ET is very important for water rights
regulation where proof of water consumption on a field by field basis is often
required. Field-scale ET also permits using METRIC to define new crop co-
efficients for an area. The combination of using 30 m pixel size for shortwave
radiation and 60 m (Landsat 7) and 120 m (Landsat 5) pixel size for longwave
radiation produces ET information that, although presented with 30-m reso-
lution, has actual resolution somewhere between 30 and 60 or 30 and 120 m.

Basic approach of METRIC

There are several operational or nearly operational energy-balance based

remote sensing models for predicting ET from satellite imagery, including
SEBAL and METRIC. By using an energy balance at the surface, energy
consumed by the ET process is calculated as a residual of the surface energy
equation:

LE = Rn − G − H (3)

where LE is the latent energy consumed by ET, Rn is net radiation (sum of

all incoming and outgoing shortwave and longwave radiation at the surface),
G is sensible heat flux conducted into the ground, and H is sensible heat
flux convected into the air. The utility of using energy balance is that actual
ET rather than potential ET (based on amount of vegetation) is estimated, so
that reductions in ET caused by shortage of soil moisture are captured. Of
course, the estimate of LE is only as accurate as the estimates of Rn , G, and
H . The algorithms used in METRIC are similar to those described for SEBAL
by Bastiaanssen (1998) and the reader is referred there and to Tasumi et al.
(2005b) for details on Rn and G.
 255

METRIC differs from SEBAL principally in how the “H function” is cal-

ibrated for each specific satellite image. In both METRIC and SEBAL, H is
predicted from an aerodynamic function where:

dT
H = ρCp (4)
rah

where ρ is air density, Cp is specific heat of air at constant pressure, and rah
is aerodynamic resistance between two near surface heights (generally 0.1
and 2 m) computed as a function of estimated aerodynamic roughness of the
particular pixel and using wind speed extrapolated to some blending height
above the ground surface (typically 100 to 200 m), with an iterative stability
correction scheme based on the Monin-Obhukov functions (Allen et al., 1996).
The dT parameter represents the near surface temperature difference between
the two near surface heights. Because of the difficulties in estimating surface
temperature (Ts ) accurately from satellite due to uncertainties in atmospheric
attenuation and contamination and radiometric calibration of the sensor, dT
is estimated as a relatively simple linear function of Ts :

dT = a + bTs (5)

Bastiaanssen (1995) and Bastiaanssen et al. (2005) provide rationale and em-
pirical evidence for using the linear relation between dT and Ts . Theoretically,
assuming some essentially constant temperature at a height well above the
surface that is independent of H , and with the incorporation of all instability
effects in rah , Equation (4) suggests that Ts is largely proportional to H for a
fixed aerodynamic condition. Therefore, one can expect a segment of the tem-
perature profile, represented by dT, to be proportional to both H and also to Ts .
The application of (5) appears to extend well across a range of surface rough-
nesses, because as roughness increases and rah reduces, given the same H , dT
reduces due to more efficient transfer of H , and Ts reduces for the same reason.
In the classical applications of SEBAL (Bastiaanssen, 1998), parameters
a and b in (5) are computed by setting dT = 0 when Ts is at the surface
temperature of a local water body (or in its absence, a well vegetated field)
where H is expected to be zero, and by setting dT = (H rah )/(ρ Cp ) at Ts of
a “hot” pixel that is dry enough that one can assume that LE = 0. From (3),
dT = ((Rn − G)rah )/(ρCp ) at the “hot” calibration pixel. In METRIC, the
same approach and assumptions are made for the hot pixel as in SEBAL, but
for the lower calibration point of dT, a well vegetated pixel having relatively
cool temperature is selected and dT is calculated as:

(Rn − G − k ETr )rah

dT = (6)
ρ Cp
256

at that pixel. The a and b coefficients are determined using the two values for
dT paired with the associated values for Ts . With Landsat images, fields of
alfalfa or other high leaf area vegetation can generally be identified that are
close to or at full cover, so that the ET from these fields can be expected to
be near the value of “reference ET” (ETr ) computed for an alfalfa reference.
In METRIC, we use the standardized ASCE Penman–Monteith equation for
alfalfa reference (ASCE-EWRI, 2004), which is typically 20 to 30% greater
than grass reference ET (ETo ). The k factor in (6) is set to 1.05 because we
assume that a viewed field having high vegetation and colder than average
temperature, as compared to other high vegetation fields, will have ET that is
about 5% greater than ETr due to higher surface wetness or merely due to its
rank within the population of alfalfa fields (or other highly vegetated areas).
During winter and early season periods, the k factor is reduced in proportion
to a vegetation index and some LE is assigned to the hot pixel according to
a daily soil evaporation model. Generally, METRIC is applied without crop
classification, so that specific crop type is generally not known.
METRIC also differs from the classical applications of SEBAL in how ET
for the adjoining 24-h period is estimated given the essentially instantaneous
ET calculated at the time of the satellite image (generally during late morn-
ing). In some applications of SEBAL, the evaporative fraction (EF), defined as
the ratio of ET to (Rn − G), is assumed to be the same at both the observation
time and for the 24-h period. The assumption of constant EF can underpredict
24-h ET in arid climates where afternoon advection or increases in afternoon
wind speeds may increase ET in proportion to Rn . In METRIC, the extrap-
olation from observation time to the 24-h period is done using the fraction
of reference ET (ETr F) rather than EF. ETr F is defined as the ratio of ET to
ETr (in this case, alfalfa reference), and is essentially the same as the well-
known crop coefficient, K c . The assumption of constant ETr F during a day is
better able to capture impacts of advection and changing wind and humidity
conditions during the day, as expressed in the ETr calculation (which is done
hourly and summed daily). Trezza (2002) and Romero (2004) demonstrated
the general validity of constant ETr F during a day using lysimeter data from
Kimberly.
Primary reasons why METRIC is attractive to our applications in the
western U.S. are:

• METRIC, as with SEBAL, relies heavily on theoretical and physical re-

lationships, but provides for the introduction and automated calibration of
empirical coefficients and relationships to make the process operational and
accurate.
• The use of ETr in calibration of METRIC and the use of ETr F in ex-
trapolation to 24-h ET provides general equivalency and congruency
 257

with ET as estimated using the traditional K c ETr (or K c ETo ) ap-

proach. This is valuable for use of ET maps generated by METRIC wa-
ter rights management where water rights are based on previous K c ETr
calculations.
• METRIC is auto-calibrated for each image using ground-based calculations
of ETr (made using weather data) where accuracy of the ETr estimate has
been established by lysimetric and other studies and in which we have high
confidence.
• Internal calibration of the sensible heat computation within SEBAL
and METRIC eliminates the need for atmospheric correction of Ts
or reflectance (albedo) measurements using radiative transfer models
(Tasumi et al., 2003). The internal calibration also reduces impacts of
any biases in estimation of aerodynamic stability correction or surface
roughness.

Bear River application

The Bear River meanders from the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah into
Wyoming, then to Utah, then west into Idaho, and then back into Utah where
it empties into the Great Salt Lake (Figure 2). The river and its tributaries are
used primarily for irrigation. In 1958, the Bear River Compact was developed
to establish how the three states of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming would equitably
distribute and use water from the Bear River. In February 1980, the Amended
Bear River Compact was signed into federal law. The compact assigns a deple-
tion (i.e., ET) allotment to each state and directs the Bear River Commission
to develop and implement “approved procedures” to account for and calculate
the amount of water depleted. The role of IDWR is to compute depletion for
the Idaho part of the Basin to support Idaho’s position in negotiations with
the other two states.
In year 1 (2000) of our energy balance applications, ET maps were gener-
ated on a monthly basis for a 500 km × 150 km area comprised of two Landsat
images and encompassing the Bear River basin (Morse et al., 2000). Landsat
images were processed for 1985 because 1985 coincided with an ET study
using lysimeters (Hill et al., 1989). Lysimeters were located near Montpelier,
Idaho, north of Bear Lake. The lysimeters were planted to a native sedge for-
age crop characteristic of the area. Allen et al. (2002) and Tasumi et al. (2003)
presented results of comparisons with lysimeter. Summary results are shown
in Table 1 for monthly ET where ET information is presented in mm/month
and in terms of crop coefficient (K c ).
Predicted ET for monthly periods averaged ±16% as compared to the
lysimeter at Montpelier (Table 1). However, seasonal differences between
ET from the energy balance and lysimeters were only 4% due to impacts of
258

Figure 2. Bear River basin of Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.

reduction in the random error components. The error components that are as-
sumed to be random in METRIC (and SEBAL) are over and underestimation
of ET on any specific day due to random error in prediction of net radiation,
soil heat flux, or sensible heat flux of a pixel, extrapolation error in predic-
tion of 24-h ET based on instantaneous ET from the satellite image, and, in
 259

Table 1. Summary of energy balance (EB)- and lysimeter-derived ET values for weekly and
monthly periods and the associated error for Bear River application for year 1985.
Lysimeter
ET K c from Lysim.
(sedge EB for Monthly Monthly
forage) local Diff. in Alfalfa EB ET Monthly
7-day areas of 7-day 7-day ET Reference Monthly (sedge Monthly diff.
average sedge EB ET (EB-Lys) ET ET forage) K c for (EB-Lys)
mm/d forage mm/d % mm mm mm Lys. %
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
July 5.3 0.98 6.8 28% 202 198 167 0.83 19%
Aug. 3.5 0.59 3.7 6% 201 119 145 0.72 −18%
Sept. 1.9 0.57 2.1 10% 115 66 54 0.47 22%
Oct. 0.7 0.49 0.6 −14% 45 22 23 0.51 −5%
July–Oct. 2.9 0.73 3.3 15% 563 405 388 0.69 4%

the case of METRIC, random error in the ETr estimate. Additional random
error is in the sequencing of precipitation and irrigation wetting events be-
tween satellite images relative to events within a few days prior to the images.
These impacts, if truly random errors, will tend to reduce in proportion to
the square root of the number of images processed and integrated into the ET
estimate.
The monthly and seasonal ET maps for the basin are being studied to
provide information on total water consumption. Total net depletion of river
flows can be computed by entering the ET maps into a GIS structure and
integrating over the irrigated areas. The final depletion is then corrected by
subtracting out the ET for the same area that would have occurred by natural
vegetation or by dryland farming in the absence of irrigation. This latter ET
must be predicted using precipitation, vegetation coefficients and soil water
balance or by transferring ET predicted by SEBAL or METRIC for similar
natural or dryland pixels to the irrigated areas.

Snake River Plain application

Administering water rights and irrigation on the Snake River Plain and trib-
utary basins presents a challenge to IDWR. Water for irrigation comes from
both surface and ground sources. For various historical reasons, the use of sur-
face water has been directly measured and regulated by IDWR while the use of
ground water has not. This situation began to change in 1995 when the Water
Measurement Information system (WMIS) Program was established within
IDWR to measure ground-water use. IDWR has dedicated considerable re-
sources to water measurement, including three full-time positions to monitor
260

some 5000 points of diversion, mostly wells. As useful as these data are,
they do not provide all the information necessary for effective management
of the resource. Information regarding ET, which is the consumed fraction of
diversions, is needed. METRIC has been used in conjunction with Water Mea-
surement data to provide pumping estimates for large areas inexpensively and
efficiently, thereby extending Water Measurement Data in both time and space.
This combined program offers advantages over present methods. First, it
offers the ability to monitor whether or not water has actually stopped being
used for irrigation after a water shut-off order has been issued. Second, it can
discover if more water has been used than is authorized. Third, it can quantify
and be used as proof of beneficial use of a right. Fourth, it can be used as
an unbiased, quantitative record of historic use. Fifth, the consumed fraction
and return of non-evapotranspired water to the resource can be quantified.
Sixth, estimations of yield and productivity (Bastiaanssen et al., 2001) can be
made to assess benefits of water development and potential tradeoffs in water
management.
The production of ET maps having up to 30-m resolution for the Eastern
Snake River Plain Aquifer (ESPA) for years 2000 and 2002 has been highly
successful. ET images were created for 12 dates during year 2000 and were
integrated over the March–October period (Figure 3). Interpolation between
image dates was done using ETr F from pixels of each image and multiplying
these by ETr computed for each day between images. A closeup of ET for
an area of primarily center-pivot irrigated fields is shown in Figure 4 for a
single satellite date. Images were purchased from both Landsat 5 and Landsat
7 archives to increase the number of images available for the Southern Idaho
area. Often, images were available where the dates for adjacent Landsat paths
were separated by only 1 day. This was made possible by obtaining Landsat
5 images for one path and Landsat 7 images for the adjacent path. We found
Landsat 5 images to be of immense value in predicting ET between Landsat
7 dates, especially when Landsat 7 images were cloudy and during periods of
rapid vegetation growth.

Figure 3. Seasonal ET for Eastern Snake River Plain of Idaho (March–October 2000) (areal
dimensions are 300 × 150 km).
 261

Figure 4. A daily close up of ET map computed by METRIC for a portion of southern Idaho.
Circular areas are 800 m diameter center pivot systems.

Resulting seasonal ET maps, following import into a GIS system, are uti-
lized by the State of Idaho, University of Idaho, and US Bureau of Reclamation
planners, water rights regulators, hydrologists, and irrigation engineers to
quantify water consumption. Ground-water modelers are using the ET maps
as part of surface water balances to predict recharge of irrigation water di-
verted from the Snake River to the ESPA. Recharge from both irrigated and
non-irrigated lands is a major component in developing the long-term water
balance for the ground-water model, and is the amount of water remaining
after ET is subtracted from the amount of water diverted from surface-water
sources plus precipitation. An improved ET estimate (spatially, temporally
and in total magnitude) significantly reduced the uncertainty involved in com-
puting the net recharge input terms. METRIC allows IDWR to compute the
agricultural ET component of the model in an efficient and inexpensive way,
and to compute the wildland ET component for the first time. Annual recharge
(R) to the ESPA is estimated as:

R = DP = Div + P − ET − SRF (7)

where Div is total annual diversions of Snake River water and SRF is surface
return flow back to the river. Recharge to the aquifer is assumed synonymous
to deep percolation. For the ESPA, annual Div to the 405,000 ha (1 million
acres) of Snake River supplied land averages 11 billion m3 per year (8.6 million
262

acre-ft (MAF)), P on surface supplied lands averages 1.0 billion m3 per year
(0.8 MAF), actual ET on lands supplied with Snake River water averages
3.6 billion m3 per year (2.9 MAF) and SRF averages 1.7 billion m3 per year
(1.4 MAF). Therefore, annual recharge to the ESPA stemming from diversions
of Snake River water onto the irrigated plain averages about 6.4 billion m3
per year (5.2 MAF). These are relatively large volumes of water.
IDWR and UI have recalibrated the ESPA ground water model used to
simulate ground-water levels and movement using the improved estimates for
R stemming from ET maps derived by METRIC. The model predicts inter-
actions of the aquifer system with streamflows of the Snake River, including
impacts on discharges from springs, and is used to support conjunctive man-
agement of ground and surface water. The ground water model is also used
in mitigative efforts to reduce impacts of ground-water extraction and con-
versions of surface irrigation methods to sprinkler systems with associated
reductions in R.

Testing METRIC at Kimberly, Idaho

Testing of METRIC on the Snake River Plain centered on the use of two
precision weighing lysimeter systems for ET measurement that were in place
at Kimberly, Idaho from 1968 to 1991 (Wright, 1982, 1996). The lysimeter
datasets at Kimberly are extremely valuable in that they represent absolute,
continuous measurements of ET fluxes spread over a long period of time.
They provided valuable information to verify procedures used to extrapolate
METRIC and other remote sensing algorithms over various time scales and
for various types and categories of land cover. The test results and METRIC
and SEBAL applications are fully described by Tasumi (2003) and Trezza
(2002) and are summarized in Allen et al. (2002) and Tasumi et al. (2005b).
The lysimeter tests at Kimberly guided and supported the use of ETr to define
the ET at the “cold” pixel of METRIC and for extrapolation from the satellite
image time to the full day and to days in between image dates.

Derivation of crop coefficient curves

A valuable product that can be derived from METRIC and SEBAL applica-
tions over a growing season are populations of crop coefficients derived by
sampling the ET for specific fields. This was done for year 2000 for the Twin
Falls area of Idaho. More than 2500 fields were classified for crop type and
ET was sampled (Tasumi et al., 2005a). Results for 717 sampled potato fields
are shown in Figure 5 for K c and Figure 6 for NDVI. The distribution and
progression of K c with time is typical of potato growth, and the impact of
soil wetness from irrigation on K c is evident, especially during the period of
 263

Figure 5. Crop coefficients determined by METRIC from 717 potato fields in the Twin Falls
area of Idaho for 12 Landsat image dates during 2000 (large dots and solid line are the arithmetic
mean).

Figure 6. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 717 potato fields in the Twin
Falls area of Idaho from 12 Landsat image dates during 2000.

development (days 120–180). The wide range in K c on the fourth and fifth
image dates (days of year 155 and 171) show large scatter in the population of
K c ’s for those days. A majority of this scatter is caused by differences in K c
caused by variable wetness of soil among fields at the time of the image(s), and
this variation would be expected to reduce if the K c values could be integrated
over a multi-day period, so that impacts of random timing of irrigation among
fields would be dampened. However, this type of integration is not possible
with satellites such as Landsat that pass over only once each 16 days. Another
significant source of variation in K c on days 155 and 171 and also for day 251
is variation in the amount of vegetation and ground cover among fields during
those periods before and after the midseason. During these times, fields vary in
264

cover amount due to differences in growth rates of varieties, plant populations

and row spacings and differences in planting dates. The ET maps generated
by METRIC allow one to “see” this variation. In southern Idaho, two general
“classes” of potatoes are grown: early maturing varieties used for processing
into French fries, and late maturing varieties used for baking and that have
good storage characteristics. These two classes were not distinguished dur-
ing the crop classification and construction of Figure 5. Therefore, some of
the large variance noted during the development and late season periods in
Figure 5 may be due to the overlay of two somewhat different populations
of K c .
NDVI, the normalized difference vegetation index, was computed from
the Landsat images and is commonly used to indicate the amount of vegeta-
tion. In some studies, NDVI has been used to predict K c (Neale et al., 1989;
Bausch & Neale, 1989; Bausch, 1993, 1995; Choudhury et al., 1994). In fact,
similarity between the progression and distribution of K c and NDVI with time
is evident between Figures 5 and 6. However, primarily because of impacts
of soil wetting on K c , the two parameters do not follow a directly predictable
relation. This is illustrated in Figure 7 where the fraction of reference ET (i.e.,
K c ) is plotted against NDVI for the same 717 fields for three image dates. K c
increases above some “basal” value representing ET from vegetation having a
nearly dry soil surface each time a field is wetted by irrigation or precipitation.
In the case of Figure 7, the basal K c line was fitted to the data visually and
is for illustrative and discussion purposes only. Automated irrigation systems
such as center pivot, solid set sprinkler and trickle irrigation often have higher
wetting frequencies than do traditional surface irrigation systems. Therefore,
K c as found by METRIC (or SEBAL) will potentially be greater than the
basal value more of the time with automated irrigation systems. In addition,

Figure 7. Crop coefficient versus NDVI for 717 potato fields in the Twin Falls area of Idaho
for two Landsat dates during 2000.
 265

finer textured soils will hold larger amounts of water near the soil surface for
evaporation and will therefore remain wet, with relatively higher K c , longer
than will more coarse soils.
The first date shown in Figure 7, in early June, is during plant develop-
ment when a majority of the soil surface is bare. Impacts of soil wetting on
evaportion (and thus ET) for the period of low vegetation cover is quite ev-
ident. The second date, in late June, had higher vegetation cover, with less
impact from evaporation from soil. The last date shown (in late July), is a
period of maximum crop development when the surface is nearly completely
covered by vegetation so that impacts of soil surface wetness on K c are not
pronounced. The relationship between K c and NDVI is irregular because of
the impacts of surface wetting. The illustration of Figure 7 shows that any
relationship between K c and NDVI (or other vegetation index) will be useful
primarily for predicting a baseline (i.e., “basal”) K c estimate, which is shown
as the solid line in Figure 7 and which represents K c for a relatively dry soil
surface. Figure 7 illustrates, however, that an energy-balance based remote
sensing model is necessary to determine total water consumption, including
evaporation from the soil surface.
In addition to impacts of soil surface wetting, K c can vary from NDVI under
conditions of soil water shortage. This impact is not clearly evident in Figure 7,
save for perhaps some of the points that lie beneath the “basal K c ” line, because
potato fields in southern Idaho are under nearly optimum production and water
management. Some of the values lying beneath the basal K c line may stem
from random error in the K c and NDVI estimations and from variation in
behavior of K c relative to NDVI. There may be some varietal characteristics
related to canopy architecture or stomatal conductance of potato plants that
cause ET to vary for the same NDVI value. The derived K c curves, especially
the average curve shown in Figure 5, are useful for characterizing the real,
expected K c curves for a region. Tasumi et al. (2003, 2005a) compared K c
derived from METRIC with K c curves based on traditional procedures and
data.

Cost savings

METRIC ET data are clearly less expensive to produce for large regions than
are ET data produced by the standard methods of crop coefficient and reference
ET on a field by field basis. There are several ways to use METRIC-derived
ET products. ET is a component of ground-water models and can be used to
estimate net depletion from aquifers. The ET data are also used as a tool in
administering water rights by comparing ET volumes for a water righted prop-
erty with measured pumping, following adjustment for water application effi-
ciency and precipitation. A general cost comparison was performed by Morse
266

et al. (2002) who estimated costs for ground-based monitoring of pumping

systems in the eastern Snake River Plain of Idaho to be about $500,000 per
year. Costs for providing similar information using METRIC are estimated
to be about $80,000 per year. Thus, there is a very large economic advantage
(nearly 6 to 1) for using satellite based ET mapping to replace ground-water
pumpage monitoring. The other beneficial products of the ET maps (for cali-
bration of ground-water models and development of K c curves) increase the
ratio even more.
It is recognized that ET mapping from satellite will never completely
replace ground-based pump measurements, since some measurement data
related to individual water rights are needed to develop regressions against
the METRIC or SEBAL ET data to establish relationships between volumes of
water pumped and volumes of ET. However, the developed relationships can
be applied to large areas containing non-monitored water rights and associated
wells to estimate both aquifer depletion and water use by individual water
rights.

Conclusions

ET maps for the Bear River Basin and for the Eastern Snake River Plain were
generated using METRIC on an approximately monthly basis. The maps
showed a progression of ET during the year as well as the distribution of
ET in space. Predicted ET compared well with ground measurements of ET
during the studies that were derived by lysimeter systems.
METRIC and SEBAL are emerging technologies and have the potential to
become widely adopted and used by water resources and irrigation commu-
nities. The application and testing of METRIC in Idaho indicate substantial
promise as an efficient, accurate, and relatively inexpensive procedure to pre-
dict the actual ET from irrigated lands throughout a growing season. ET maps
via METRIC provide the means to quantify, in terms of both the amount and
spatial distribution, the ET on a field by field basis and any associated ground-
water usage. In particular, the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR)
will use results to predict total, net depletion of water from the Bear River
system and Snake Plain aquifer systems resulting from irrigation diversions
and to regulate irrigators who are consuming more water than their water
rights entitle.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge technical and philosophical guidance over

the past 4 years by Dr Wim Bastiaanssen of WaterWatch, The Netherlands.
We also acknowledge precision lysimeter data provided by Dr J.L. Wright
 267

of the USDA-ARS, Kimberly, Idaho and image processing technical advise

from Mr William Kramber, Idaho Department of Water Resources. Funding
for the studies and applications reported was from Raytheon, NASA, Idaho
Department of Water Resources, and University of Idaho.

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