TY - JOUR A1 - Baroni, Gabriele A1 - Drastig, Katrin A1 - Lichtenfeld, Anna-Ulrike A1 - Jost, Leonie A1 - Claas, Peter T1 - Assessment of irrigation scheduling systems in Germany BT - survey of the users and comparative study JF - Irrigation and drainage N2 - In Germany, the irrigation sector accounts for only 1% of water use. In recent years, however, this sector has attracted more attention due to the occurrence of severe drought periods. Irrigation scheduling systems could support adaptation strategies but little is known about current providers, performance and users. In this study we aimed to depict the current situation of the existence and functioning of irrigation scheduling systems available in Germany. Six methods were identified and assessed based on direct interviews with end-users and a comparative analysis. The results showed a positive feedback from the users. However, the recommendations were rarely implemented, while only the seasonal irrigation requirement was considered to support actual water abstraction. These results were corroborated by the comparative analysis. Five of the six irrigation scheduling systems estimated the seasonal irrigation amount consistently, while wider differences were found by looking at the irrigation season and at the number of irrigations. Overall, it is found that irrigation support systems are valuable tools for supporting adaptation strategies to fast changes in agro-environmental conditions. However, specific assessments based on real measurements should be considered in order to improve the performance of the systems and provide more consistent support to end-users. (c) 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KW - irrigation KW - modelling systems KW - surveys KW - assessment KW - Germany Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2337 SN - 1531-0353 SN - 1531-0361 VL - 68 IS - 3 SP - 520 EP - 530 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schattan, Paul A1 - Köhli, Markus A1 - Schrön, Martin A1 - Baroni, Gabriele A1 - Oswald, Sascha T1 - Sensing area-average snow water equivalent with cosmic-ray neutrons: the influence of fractional snow cover JF - Water resources research N2 - Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a promising non-invasive technique to estimate snow water equivalent (SWE) over large areas. In contrast to preliminary studies focusing on shallow snow conditions (SWE <130 mm), more recently the method was shown experimentally to be sensitive also to deeper snowpacks providing the basis for its use at mountain experimental sites. However, hysteretic neutron response has been observed for complex snow cover including patchy snow-free areas. In the present study we aimed to understand and support the experimental findings using a comprehensive neutron modeling approach. Several simulations have been set up in order to disentangle the effect on the signal of different land surface characteristics and to reproduce multiple observations during periods of snow melt and accumulation. To represent the actual land surface heterogeneity and the complex snow cover, the model used data from terrestrial laser scanning. The results show that the model was able to accurately reproduce the CRNS signal and particularly the hysteresis effect during accumulation and melting periods. Moreover, the sensor footprint was found to be anisotropic and affected by the spatial distribution of liquid water and snow as well as by the topography of the nearby mountains. Under fully snow-covered conditions the CRNS is able to accurately estimate SWE without prior knowledge about snow density profiles or other spatial anomalies. These results provide new insights into the characteristics of the detected neutron signal in complex terrain and support the use of CRNS for long-term snow monitoring in high elevated mountain environments. KW - area-average snow monitoring KW - cosmic-ray neutron sensing KW - neutron simulations KW - spatial heterogeneity KW - fractional snow cover Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025647 SN - 0043-1397 SN - 1944-7973 VL - 55 IS - 12 SP - 10796 EP - 10812 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER -