| Author(s) | A.A. Alazba*, A.M. Alkarni**, F.M. Alarfaj***, |
| Affiliation | *Agricultural Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh. **Civil Engineering Department., King Saud University, Riyadh. ***Agricultural Technical College, Qaseem |
| Title | A GIS-based Computer Program for Estimating Irrigation Water Requirements in Saudi Arabia |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Agricultural Sciences. Volume 17, No 1. (2005/1425) |
| Abstract | Based on the technique of geographical information systems (GIS), a computer program was developed to estimate the irrigation water requirements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Consecutively, the basic elements and fundamental information and data were identified and collected. A map of KSA with a scale of 1:4000000 was obtained and scanned with an acceptable resolution. The digitized map was geo-registered to the national geodic datum. In addition to the geographic locations (coordinates) of stations, the historically recorded climatic parameters were collected for 52 agro-metrological weather stations distributed over the entire Kingdom, covering the period from 1984 until 2000. The determination of irrigation water requirements compromises the calculation of the reference evapotranspiration (ET) using Penman-Monteith model and the computation of crop water requirements obtained by multiplication of the reference ET and the crop coefficient. Providing the crop characteristics such as the growing stages and their lengths, in addition to the leaching requirements and the irrigation efficiency, the developed computer program allows the user to select one or more zones from KSA digital map for which the irrigation water requirements are to be determined. The developed computer program was intended to thrust the technology and to be user friendly. The panels and interfaces were developed and written in Arabic language, to contribute to a wide spectrum of users. This work is expected to support decision makers in water affairs, specifically in irrigation water, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the more important requirements of the developed program is the maintenance and periodic update of the climatic parameters on which the forecast of irrigation water requirements depends. |
