Measuring Crop Evapotranspiration Over Hilly Areas

Agricultural production systems around the Mediterranean basin rely mostly on rainfed agriculture in hilly watersheds, although some irrigation is sustained downstream of water reservoirs. With climate change and increasing demand for water, most commonly cultivated species, particularly cereals, are exposed to high risks of water shortages during the growing season. Under such threats, managing agricultural activities, for optimum water use, requires a good assessment of crop actual evapotranspiration (ET), a major term of both land surface energy and water balances.