Status: Completed
Funding Status: Funded
Dates: 03/17/2017 - 03/17/2017

CIMIS stations provide meteorological data including wind speed, temperature, solar radiation and other parameters used for calculating reference Evapotranspiration (ET0). The Soledad CIMIS Station will provide localized ET0 to help growers’ determine crop water needs for farms representing approximately 60,000 acres of irrigated agriculture in Salinas Valley between Gonzalez and Greenfield. ET0 in combination with crop coefficients can be used to estimate field (soil and plant) water loss and crop water demands, which augments growers’ ability to determine irrigation water application amounts and timing. As the importance of conserving water and avoiding nitrate leaching below the root zone has escalated, growers are increasingly concerned with precision irrigation practices. Growers can have increased confidence in ET data when a weather station is located in close proximity to their fields and measures the actual conditions where they are farming, especially in windy areas like the Salinas Valley. Multiple benefits for the region and the individual grower can be gained from precise irrigation to match crop needs, which include: avoiding the need to over-apply fertilizer due to leaching, reducing irrigation runoff, reducing contamination of groundwater with nitrate, reducing groundwater use and slowing aquifer depletion, cost savings, avoiding plant stress from under or over watering, and aiding with regulatory requirements.

Goals

1) To provide locally relevant climate information that growers can use to determine evapo-transpiration rate and estimate crop water needs.

Programs

• Agriculture
• Irrigation Nutrient Management

Contact

Michael Cahn
831-759-7377
mdcahn@ucanr.edu
Project website

Photos & Images