Implication of Remote Sensing Data under GIS Environment for Appraisal of Irrigation System Performance

Poor irrigation management is a common issue of irrigated agriculture. Assessment of irrigation system performance is essential to improve the irrigation system, which requires real-time data. Satellite data has been found the best alternate. This manuscript presents a methodology to assess irrigation system performance using combination of satellite and ground data. The developed methodology was applied on a canal system of Punjab Pakistan. High resolution satellite images were processed to images of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), evaporative fraction (EF) and evapotranspiration (ET). These images in combination with ground data provided information on pixel to pixel vegetated area, water availability/ requirement consequently the irrigation system performance indicators. The results revealed that potential water requirement of the area was 401.66 million cubic meters (MCM) and available canal water supply was 247.14 MCM, thus indicating shortage of 38%. Adequacy of the system was found to be 74% while its reliability varied from 35–73%. Average coefficient of variance (Cv) was found 0.43 showing poor reliability of the system. Performance in equity terms revealed that head areas of irrigation channels were receiving more water supplies than the tail areas. Strong correlation was found between crop yields and water supplies i.e., crop yield was strongly dependent on water supplied (R2 = 0.80).