Monitoring and determination of irrigation demand in Cyprus

This technical paper describes and interprets the main results of an original research project, which
integrates technological tools for developing a complete system for monitoring and determining
irrigation demand on a systematic basis in Cyprus. More specifically, the main contribution of this
paper consists in the estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) in Cyprus and furthermore in the
undertaking of the required measures for a sustainable irrigation water management in the future.
The determination of ET is a very difficult procedure, since it combines various meteorological and
field parameters, while quite many different estimation models have been indicated in the literature.
In this case study, a wireless sensor network is proposed to act as a monitoring tool for providing
measurements of the necessary parameters (meteorological, climatic and other auxiliary data
required to be included in the irrigation demand models) while reflectance is being determined
directly from the satellite images. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used to create a
database for the collected data. Taking in to account the great importance of irrigation water as a
principal driver in rural development, as well as the increasing demand for irrigation water, the
investigation of ways for irrigation water management is extremely valuable, especially in waterscarce
areas.