In the last few decades, average temperatures have been increasing by about 0.2° C per decade, as a result of the effects of global warming and climate change, which cause important consequences on agro-ecosystems, such as long drought periods, the reduction of crop water availability, and the onset of water stress conditions. Furthermore, since agriculture still represents the main pressure on renewable water resources, the accurate estimate of irrigation demands is of paramount importance to meet the requirements of sustainable water-related policies, promote better-informed decisions, and increase the resilience of productive systems. Disproportionate use and allocation of Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) resources have created an imbalance in the physical and natural systems which may be further altered due to the current climate change scenarios. At this aim, modelling approaches can play a key role in the evaluation of crop water demands and in the definition of strategies aimed at optimizing water use efficiency (WUE). Several modelling tools of the soil-plant-atmosphere system, integrated with data acquired in the field or from remote platforms have been developed to calculate crop irrigation requirements and to support irrigation planning and water management at different spatial scales. Remote Sensing (RS) techniques in the visible, near-infrared (VIS/NIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum have been used to identify, over large areas, some biophysical properties of vegetation such as leaf area index, albedo, crop coefficient, etc. The research intends to develop and test a robust methodological approach to support and planning of irrigation water applications at different spatial scales (from plots to irrigation districts) based on the use of agro-hydrological and/or energy balance models integrated with data acquired in the field and/or by proximal and remote sensing (drones and satellites). Application of new and existing technologies to monitor soil and plant water status, with sensors installed in experimental and demonstrative fields, as well as on unmanned aerial vehicles, collected by satellite platforms (Sentinel, Landsat8, MODIS) or obtained by agro-hydrological models, will provide new definitions of water use efficiency indicators at different observation levels. Such indicators will be used to optimize water distribution and for the process of irrigation audit. The research activities will be carried out in eco-systems characterized by typical Mediterranean crops, in which the joint use of available climatic and remote sensing data will be considered to estimate actual crop water requirements and to manage irrigation at different spatial scales. The proposed approach will be also used to assess the effectiveness and the potential of improvement associated with the actual irrigation strategies practiced by farmers and at larger spatial scales (irrigation audit), as well as to identify scenarios of future management accounting for climate change and the consequent necessary mitigation strategies. Finally, the availability of extended datasets of soil, crop and climate information will allow the identification of machine learning algorithms aimed at performing gap-filling procedures in the event of a lack of data and forecasting future actions to achieve climate mitigation and adaptation.

Geographical information systems for soil protection, environmental remote sensing, hydro-informatics, hydrology, hydraulics, Irrigation systems, image processing, programming, machine learning, big data processing, modelling crop water requirements.

The staff has a long experience in sustainable irrigation of Mediterranean tree crops, soil quality, agro-hydrological models, remote sensing, and GIS, as well as on the estimation of crop water requirement and monitoring and partition of evapotranspiration fluxes across different observation scales and under soil water stress conditions. The team has carried out experimental investigations aimed to identify irrigation scheduling strategies for water and energy saving in agriculture. Strong expertise was acquired on soil and plant sensors, micro-meteorological systems, proximal sensing, and field spectroscopy, to identify crop water stress conditions and to evaluate water requirements and irrigation timing. The team has a fully-equipped laboratory of soil hydrology and electronic applications for detailed soil physical analysis and to detect soil and plant variables. The team is also conducting field research activity to monitor the soil and plant water status of Mediterranean tree crops, as well as to assess the effectiveness and water-saving achievable when using surface/subsurface drip irrigation systems. Experimental sites are equipped with sensors to monitor soil and plant water status, climate stations, and Eddy Covariance towers, both of which are equipped with a three-dimensional sonic anemometer, an open-path infrared gas analyser, a four components net radiometer, a sensor for relative air humidity and air temperature, two pyranometers oriented to measure soil and vegetation surface radiometric temperature, two self-calibrated soil heat flux plates and, finally, a reflectometer, to monitor actual evapotranspiration fluxes. A Parrot Anafi Thermal drone is also in the availability of the research team.