Towards a satellite based system for monitoring agricultural water use: A case study for Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Over the last few decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has witnessed a dramatic expansion of its agricultural sector. In common with many other developing countries, this has been driven by a combination of population increases and the related effects on consumption as well as a demand for increased food security. Inevitably, the sector growth has come at the expense of a parallel increase in water consumption. Indeed, it is estimated that more than 80% of all of the water used in the Kingdom relates to agricultural production. More concerning is that the vast majority of this water is derived from non-renewable fossil groundwater extraction. To exacerbate the problem, groundwater extraction is largely unmonitored, meaning that there is very little accounting of water use on a routine basis. In the absence of techniques to directly quantify abstractions related to agriculture at large spatial scales, a mechanism for inferring crop water use as an indirect surrogate is required.