Soil Water Sensing for Water Management
Tuesday, December 6, 2016: 4:10 p.m.
N201/N202 (Las Vegas Convention Center)
Steve Evett
,
Water Resources National Program 211, USDA ARS, Beltsville, MD
Agricultural water management tends to be reactive and relatively ineffective is the soil water content and distribution in the crop root zone are not well known in time and space. Currently, there are many soil water sensors and sensing systems available to help inform management. The major types of sensors available will be discussed in terms of their relative accuracy and usefulness for management. Sensor telemetry systems and decision support systems that rely on soil water sensing will also be discussed.
Steve Evett, Water Resources National Program 211, USDA ARS, Beltsville, MD
Steven R. Evett uses field measurements and energy and water balance models to study irrigated crop water use, irrigation methods and automation as they affect crop water productivity, and water content sensing methods used to control irrigation and to quantify crop water use. He has research projects in Jordan and Uzbekistan on crop water use, irrigation scheduling and soil water measurement. He also has worked in China, Egypt and Jordan to build and use weighing lysimeters to measure crop water use.
Since 2003, Evett has been the ARS research coordinator for the Middle East Regional Irrigation Management Information Systems (MERIMIS) Project, which has research and extension partners in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho and the University of Arizona, and was raised on an irrigated dairy farm in southern Idaho.
Evett is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy. He is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy and Water Management Award and the USDA-ARS Technology Transfer Award. He is past president of the Texas Council of Chapters of the Soil and Water Conservation Society and past associate editor of Agronomy Journal. He currently is associate editor of the Vadose Zone Journal and is on the editorial board of Agricultural Water Management.
