Situated in Southeast Asia (SEA), Vietnam and Cambodia are developing nations where agriculture plays a pivotal role in the economy. In recent years, the SEA region has encountered uncertainties/challenges in sustaining the production system of its food and water systems due to climate fluctuations. Despite investments in both structural and non-structural solutions, the lack of advanced methods and techniques to monitor and forecast drought, as well as assess water demand for operationalizing the water and food system, is deemed critical from both policy and social perspectives. The utilization of big Earth data has demonstrated significant potential for application in observing food and water systems. By integrating big Earth data, essential operational parameters can be derived for agriculture at a very high spatial resolution (<= 100 m), providing valuable insights for policymakers and water resource managers. The objective of this project is to create a tool for assessing agricultural water management using the water-demand index (WDI). Leveraging high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from Sentinel-1 and upcoming NISAR platforms, the tool aims to derive the WDI. This index will undergo validation and integration with irrigation system operations, ultimately yielding valuable operational plans and policy recommendations for regions grappling with water stress, particularly in Ninh Thuan (Vietnam) and Kompong Thom (Cambodia) provinces (Priority Topic 5).
Project • CRRP2024-09SY-Ngo