| Weekly News 2002 |
|
December 10, 2002. Dale Westermann, Rick Lentz and Gary Lehrsch, NWISRL, attended the University of Idaho Sugarbeet Working Group meeting in Twin Falls, ID. One purpose of the meeting was to review current and new research programs. Drs. Lentz and Lehrsch described newly funded research to control soil-borne sugarbeet diseases and to efficiently utilize agricultural byproducts in sugarbeet production. Approximately 35-40 people attended the meeting, including southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon sugarbeet growers, and representatives from sugarbeet seed companies, Idaho Sugarbeet Grower Association, and Oregon University Research and Extension.
November 26, 2002. Dale Westermann discussed the relationship between measures of soil phosphorus availability and phosphorus concentration and load in runoff from western agricultural land at a phosphorus workshop in Malheur County, Oregon. The purpose of this workshop was to help irrigated agriculture in eastern Oregon reduce phosphorus loads in irrigation return flows to the Malheur and Owyhee Rivers. Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for both rivers list phosphorus as a major contributor of water quality degradation. (KIM2002.1127N1)
November 26, 2002. Hank Mayland was interviewed by Virginia Hutchins, Twin Falls, ID, "Times News" writer about the role of light in agriculture. The impact of light on diurnal concentrations of simple sugars was described. The sugars provide energy for nutrient and water uptake and carbon skeletons for building plant cellular structures. The diurnal cycling of these simple sugars causes herbivores like cattle to prefer hay cut in afternoon vs cut in morning. Cows eating afternoon vs morning cut hay will produce more milk. Also, animals that change pastures every morning may produce more milk if they move to new pastures in the afternoon. The afternoon cut forages should ensile more quickly and successfully than early cut forage. (KIM2002.1127N2)
November 21, 2002. Dave Bjorneberg, agricultural engineer, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, discussed ways to control runoff from center pivot irrigation systems at a sprinkler irrigation workshop in Twin Falls, ID. The workshop was sponsored by three local soil conservation districts, NRCS and the Twin Falls Canal Company. The purpose of the workshop was to give information about system design and management to irrigators who recently converted or plan to convert to sprinkler irrigation. Approximately 65 farmers attended the workshop. (KIM2002.1127N3)
On November 10-14, 2002, several Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory scientists described key findings from their soil and water management research at the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting held in Indianapolis, IN.
November 11, 2002. Gary Lehrsch, soil scientist at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, served as the presiding officer at the symposium entitled "Advances in the Use of Polyacrylamide (PAM) for Soil and Water Management." Nine oral presentations were made on topics ranging from infiltration management to weed seed and coliform bacteria sequestration. About 40 scientists, engineers, and industry representatives attended the symposium.
November 7, 2002. Hank Mayland, soil scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, and Glenn Shewmaker, University of Idaho, hosted two Australian agronomists from the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. Drs. Mary-Anne Lattimore, District Agronomist, and Libby Roesner, Forage Agronomist, were participating in a series of forage workshops and field tours in the northwest. (KIM2002.1127N4)
September 17-18, 2002. Six research scientists from the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, attended a two-day Pacific West ARS Irrigation and Drainage workshop in Parlier, CA. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss existing and new collaborative, multidisciplinary research on irrigation and drainage problems in the Western United States. ARS Scientists from Phoenix, Riverside and Parlier also attended this workshop. (KIM2002.0925N1)
September 3, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by Mr. Coleman Jones of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the program entitled MarketPlace. Mr. Jones requested some basic information about water soluble polyacrylamide, its interaction with plants and soils, and environmental fate. (KIM2002.0904N1)
September 4, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by Ms. Jenny Gimpel of New Media Publisher, Faversham House Group Ltd. Ms. Gimpel requested information about the use of polyacrylamide in irrigated agriculture for a web publication. The website provides interactive resources for water, waste, and environmental professionals, and publishes a weekly news summary and technology database. (KIM2002.0904N2)
August 27, 2002. Mike Matthews, South Idaho Regional Director, and Travis Jones, Agricultural Liaison- Washington, D.C., for Idaho Senator Larry Craig visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory. Mr. Matthews and Mr. Jones were updated on ARS's current research program and the potential direction of future research activities at Kimberly, and given a tour of the physical facilities by Dale Westermann, Research Leader and Location Coordinator. (KIM2002.0904N3)
August 2, 2002. Ms. Linda Mackay and family visited Hank Mayland to learn first-hand about some of the research programs being conducted here. She will be completing her senior year of high school in El Paso, Texas. She was returning from a visit to the University of Idaho where she plans to enroll in the Rangeland Resource Program. Ms. Mackay has competed regionally and nationally in various science fairs and has successfully placed in several of them. Dr. Mayland has provided mentoring services to Ms. Mackay for several years since she learned about the value of PM vs AM-cut hay while scanning the Internet. (KIM2002.0821N1)
August 6, 2002. ARS Scientists, Rick Lentz, Gary Lehrsch, Dennis Kincaid, April Leytem, Jim Entry, and Dale Westermann met with Rick Warren and Martin Mullane, Environmental Group, Glanbia Foods, Gooding, ID, to discuss ways to reduce phosphorus loadings on their waste disposal fields. Glanbia is a major processor of milk produced in southern Idaho and operates four plants. (KIM2002.0821N2)
August 10-16, 2002. Mr. Keith Jackson, Victoria Natural Resources and Environment, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, visited southern Idaho. While here he developed an understanding of the land use planning as it impacts rural communities. He was particularly interested in large growth of the dairy industry and its impact on odor and water quality issues. (KIM2002.0821N3)
August 20, 2002. Balanced Rock and Snake River Conservation Districts and the Twin Falls Canal Company sponsored a water quality field day north of Filer, ID, to discuss the total maximum daily load (TMDL) process, return flow water quality, and funding opportunities for conservation practices. April Leytem and Dave Bjorneberg from the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab presented information about sediment and phosphorus transport in irrigation return flow. Water quality data collected this summer by Drs. Leytem and Bjorneberg showed that large ponds constructed by the canal company effectively trap sediment but did little to reduce dissolved phosphorus. The field day was attended by about 50 farmers plus 20 agency and canal company people. (KIM2002.0821N4)
Three representatives of SNF Floerger, a leading manufacturer of polyacrylamides (PAM) and related polymers, will vist the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) on Monday, August 26, 2002. NWISRL scientists will introduce the SNF personnel to contacts at the Twin Falls Canal Company and accompany them on a tour of Southern Idaho's Magic Valley to observe PAM use, learn about specific environmental management problems that PAM is helping solve, and provide insight about potential new PAM products, applications and stumbling blocks to effective PAM application for existing uses. SNF personnel and NWISRL personnel have shared technical insights several times in the last two years, and anticipate developing projects to answer pressing questions affecting the technology as well as to develop new strategies for use of PAM to solve additional problems. (KIM2002.0821N5)
July 16, 2002. Six senior engineers and directors from Desert Control Institutes, Departments of Forestry and a Division of Cooperation and Development, Gansu Province, China, visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL), Kimberly ID, to learn about irrigated farming, water allocation and use, irrigation scheduling, erosion control on irrigated lands and optimum irrigation capacity. The six visiting professionals were on the Gansu Anti Desertification Study Tour in the United States and were accompanied by an interpreter/assistant, a Beijing, China representative. A translator and two tour guides from Utah State University (USU) also accompanied the group. The USU, International Irrigation Center (IC), arranged the tour of the NWISRL through Dr. Richard Allen, University of Idaho, located at the NWISRL, who asked Dr. James Wright, ARS Research Soil Scientist, to review for the group the research at Kimberly on evapotranspiration (ET) and crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling. (KIM2002.0717N1)
July 3, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by The Sunday Times (London), who requested two articles on acrylamide monomer. The inquiry stemmed from the recent discovery that acrylamide is produced in starchy foods that are baked or fried in oil. The findings of the two ARS articles, "Analysis of residual acrylamide in field crops" and "Fate of acrylamide monomer following application of polyacrylamide to cropland" were briefly discussed and more specific questions were referred to the ARS Information Officer. (KIM2002.0710N1)
Dr. David Horne of Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, is visiting the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) the week of July 8. Dr. Horne is performing some follow-up studies to complement earlier work conducted in cooperation with Bob Sojka of the NWISRL at Kimberly, ID, quantifying the effect of PAM concentrations on soil hydraulic conductivity in a range of important soils with varying soil properties. Dr. Horne spent a six-month sabbatical in Kimberly in the spring and summer of 2000. Aspects of Dr. Horne's work will be presented at a polyacrylamide (PAM) symposium during the Soil and Water Conservation Society's (SWCS) annual meetings in Indianapolis on July 15 and 16. (KIM2002.0710N2)
July 15-16, 2002. Several Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory-sponsored papers will be presented at a polyacrylamide (PAM) symposium during the Soil and Water Conservation Society�s (SWCS) annual meetings in Indianapolis. These will be presented by David Bjorneberg, James Entry, Rodrick Lentz and Robert Sojka. The PAM work will be published in early 2003 in a special addition of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation devoted to the PAM symposium. It will include the NWISRL research, as well as findings from several other groups from around the U.S. and overseas. Some of the recent findings featured in the upcoming SWCS symposium are highlighted in the July 2002 issue of "Agricultural Research," the monthly ARS magazine. (KIM2002.0710N3)
June 19-22 2002. David Nash, Research Leader at Agriculture Victoria - Ellinbank, Australia, visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID. Dave visited field sites and presented a seminar on research on phosphorus dynamics in rain-fed and irrigation based pasture systems in south-eastern Australia. (KIM2002.0703N1)
June 24-26, 2002. Dale Westermann attended a rangeland conservation and restoration workshop in Denver, CO. The workshop was attended by nearly 50 ARS personnel and customers for the western U.S., and it�s purpose was to obtain comments and recommendations for improving ARS�s research strategy, and to identify and prioritize specific research needs. Scientists at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory will be involved in soil management, and water quality and quantity concerns related to rangeland issues. (KIM2002.0703N2)
June 25-26, 2002. Rick Lentz traveled to Grand Junction, CO, where he participated in a research project that examines the impact of polyacrylamide (PAM) irrigation canal sealant on irrigation and return flow water quality. The research is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey, and the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association. PAM can potentially be used to inexpensively seal canal perimeters, which conserves water and decreases deep percolation. (KIM2002.0703N3)
June 25-28 2002. April Leytem and Ben Turner attended the SERA-17 annual meeting in Fort Collins, CO. The meeting brings together scientists interested in the common theme of phosphorus transfer from soils to waters, and deals with issues ranging from analytical methodology to nutrient trading. Next year's meeting will be hosted by Kimberly USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Twin Falls, ID. (KIM2002.0703N4)
June 20, 2002. Mr. Andrew Scoley met with Dave Bjorneberg at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab to discuss conservation tillage, specifically no-till seeding sugarbeet, as part of his visit to the University of Idaho research farm at Kimberly, ID. Mr. Scoley is a farmer from the United Kingdom who raises cereals, oilseeds, sugarbeet and pulse crops on 1,150 acres. He visited several research farms across Canada and the United States. Mr. Scoley was a 2000 Nuffield Farming Scholar, which is a scholarship program to advance the standard of farming in the United Kingdom. (KIM2002.0625N2)
June 21, 2002. Mr. Rich Carlson of the Idaho Rural Council visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID. Responding to Rich's requests for information, the staff provided him publications and other information addressing the movement of water, nutrients, and pathogens through southern Idaho soils. The engineering staff of the NWISRL also discussed water droplet spray drift from operating pressurized irrigation systems with Mr. Carlson. (KIM2002.0625N1)
June 13, 2002. Dr. Bryan Woodbury, ARS-USDA, Clay Center, Nebraska, presented a seminar and visited with Kimberly staff. Dr. Woodbury discussed the usefulness of Electo-magnetic induction (EMI) instrumentation to map nitrate concentrations in field non-invasively. (KIM2002.0619N1)
May 22, 2002. Nineteen Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Engineers from Montana visited the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho, to learn about recent advances in irrigation water management and irrigation-induced soil erosion control. In the morning, the group toured the Twin Falls Canal Company's cleanup projects on the LQ/LS drains and the ARS south farm, where the use of polyacrylamide (PAM) in furrow irrigation, deep percolation measurements, and drip vs. high efficiency linear irrigation were demonstrated. In the afternoon, the use of PAM in sprinkler irrigation, filter strips to trap nutrients and microorganisms, determining and predicting crop water use, sprinkler head designs, solute movement in soils, and phosphorus losses in irrigated systems were discussed. (KIM2002.0605N1)
May 30, 2002. Dave Bjorneberg, Jim Entry, Gary Lehrsch, and Rick Lentz, Agricultural Engineer and Soil Scientists, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho, met with George Wortley, Senior Process Consultant, Nalco Chemical Co. The staff described recent research using polymers, especially polyacrylamides (PAM), to nearly eliminate furrow erosion and increase infiltration, reduce nutrient loss and weed seed movement in runoff. Other ARS laboratory research showing the potential of one Nalco product to minimize crusting and increase sugarbeet seedling emergence was also described. Mr. Wortley described some Nalco dust control products with potential for abating wind erosion, which has decimated newly emerged sugarbeet in the area in the past two to three weeks. (KIM2002.0605N2)
May 8, 2002. Dave Bjorneberg, Hank Mayland and Mike Humphries from the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, conducted a soil and irrigation demonstration for the 2002 Water Awareness Festival in Twin Falls, ID. They demonstrated surface, drip and sprinkler irrigation and discussed benefits of each type of system. They also showed how soil texture and conservation practices, such as surface residue or cover crops, affect infiltration and irrigation performance. Approximately 600 sixth-grade students attended the Twin Falls County Water Awareness Festival. (KIM2002.0515N1)
The Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) at Kimberly, ID, hosted SNF Floerger representatives Henri Asbell and Ceril Colin Wednesday, April 24. Asbell and Colin are key players in the development of SNF Floerger's agricultural polymer product line. SNF Floerger is the world's largest manufacturer of polyacrylamide (PAM). Kimberly scientists are recognized as world leaders in development of new PAM-based environmental protection and agricultural management technologies. The recent visit was to firm up plans for a joint SNF Floerger and ARS project to quantify PAM decomposition in soil and water. PAM, an environmentally safe, food grade polymer is used to prevent erosion and manage infiltration. Over a million acres of U.S. irrigated land use the PAM technology developed by NWISRL scientists, with adoption of the approach also rapidly gaining acceptance overseas. An ARS Magazine story and editorial detailing recent advances in PAM use is scheduled for July 2002. (KIM2002.0501N1)
April 16, 2002. Mike Humphries, engineering technician at Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL), Kimberly, ID, demonstrated techniques for measuring water flow in open channels and pipes in the hydraulics lab at the NWISRL to ten students from the College of Southern Idaho Water Measurement class. (KIM2002.0501N2)
April 22, 2002. Dave Bjorneberg, agricultural engineer at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, discussed irrigation and soil erosion with approximately 105 fourth-grade students from Filer Elementary School. The Twin Falls Conservation District coordinated the field day to educate students about soils, irrigation, water quality and watersheds. While discussing soil erosion, one student mentioned that farmers can stop erosion by applying white stuff to the soil, referring to polyacrylamide, which is an extremely effective erosion control technology developed at the NWISRL. (KIM2002.0501N3)
March 26, 2002. Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, is one of several affiliate faculty members of the Plant, Soil, and Biometeorology Department at Utah State University. Dr. Mayland reported to the CREES review team about the interaction between the Utah State University faculty in Logan and USDA-ARS group at Kimberly, Idaho, and he encouraged continued interaction to enhance the goals of both groups. (KIM2002.0403N1)
March 27, 2002. Dale Westermann, Soil Scientist, and Dave Bjorneberg, Agricultural Engineer, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, participated in a meeting for the Lower Boise River Pollution Trading Program. Nineteen people from EPA, NRCS, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and other state and local agencies attended the meeting to establish the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) for reducing phosphorus losses from irrigated agriculture. The effectiveness of several BMPs was based on research conducted at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory. (KIM2002.0403N2)
March 28, 2002. Dale Westermann, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, participated in Idaho's first nutrient management conference in Nampa, ID. He gave an update on current phosphorus research activities as they relate to Idaho's nutrient management standard 590 and the phosphorus vulnerability index. Both are heavily used in the new computer program found on Idaho's One Plan web page that is being used to develop mandatory nutrient management plans for Idaho's dairy and beef industry. Approximately 100 state and federal governmental agencies, private consultants, growers and research personnel attended the one-day workshop. (KIM2002.0403N3)
March 11-12, 2002. Hank Mayland, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, participated in the 31st Pacific Northwest Range Management Short course in Boise, ID. Dr. Mayland gave an invited presentation titled �Nutritional Considerations in Annual Grasses.' The meeting was attended by 200 ranchers and agency rangeland mangers from seven northwestern states. Copies of an out-of-print publication USDA-USFS-INT #199 were made available to all participants. This 60-page bulletin by Murray, Mayland, and VanSoest provided research data for perhaps 75% of consumer questions over the two-day workshop. Participants were given e-mail, website, telephone, and postal addresses and invited to make further contact. Seven of 14 speakers were ARS employees indicating the strengths that ARS research has in �Rangeland, Pasture, and Forages' programs in the western U.S. (KIM2002.0320N1)
March 14, 2002. Bob Sojka, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, presented an overview of ARS to the Northwest Intertribal Agricultural Concil Conference in Pocatello, ID. The presentation described the ARS role within the U.S. Department of Agriculture and identified opportunities for developing customer-responsive research among the American Indian Nations within the framework of the ARS national program structure. The presentation was attended by approximately 60 tribal council members and agents of public agencies with programs affecting the Northwestern Tribes. (KIM2002.0320N2)
March 11, 2002. On March 14, Robert Sojka, Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, has been invited by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Fort Hall, ID, to speak at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Inter-Tribal Council in Pocatello, ID. Sojka will give a presentation on ARS research and discuss the possibility of research collaboration with interested PNW Indian tribes/nations. (For an update to this news note, see Kimberly Weekly News Note dated March 14, 2002 above.) (KIM2002.0311N1)
January 21-February 16, 2002. Ben Turner, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, traveled to south-eastern Australia to give invited lectures and discuss ongoing and future collaboration with scientists working on phosphorus loss issues. Ben spent two weeks in Melbourne at the School of Chemistry, Monash University, with Professor Ian McKelvie, where he gave an invited lecture to the Water Studies Centre entitled A molecular-level approach to phosphorus solubilisation and interacted with scientists from the University, the Agriculture Victoria Experimental Station at Ellinbank, and other visiting scientists from the United Kingdom and New Zealand, including Dr. Leo Condron, Lincoln University, with whom Dr. Turner is co-authoring a chapter in the forthcoming ASA phosphorus monograph. Ben also traveled to the CSIRO Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre, Albury, New South Wales, where he presented a seminar and met with the Laboratory Director Dr. Darren Baldwin to discuss the organization of a forthcoming workshop entitled Organic phosphorus in the Environment, to be held in Switzerland during 2003. Before leaving Australia, Ben spent a week with scientists at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra, where he presented an invited lecture entitled Characterization of soil organic phosphorus and its potential role in sustainable agriculture and was involved in laboratory experiments with genetically crop plants that secrete extracellular phytase enzymes. It is hoped that the plants will save millions of dollars in fertilizer costs by tapping into the large reserves of relatively recalcitrant organic phosphorus in Australian agricultural soils. (KIM2002.0313N1)
February 19-21, 2002. Ben Turner, Rick Lentz and Jim Entry, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, participated and gave oral presentations at the Research and Extension Regional Water Quality Conference, held in Vancouver, WA. The meeting was well- attended by scientists and extension specialists working on a wide variety of water quality issues in the north-western U.S. (KIM2002.0313N2)
Mr. Thomas K. Schwartz, Executive Vice President of the Beet Sugar Development Foundation (BSDF), visited with Acting Research Leader Bob Sojka at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab (NWISRL) on Thursday afternoon, 24 January. The BSDF was instrumental in obtaining $480,000 new permanent annual funding for the NWISRL. The money will support increased research on soil and water management interactions with improved new beet varieties affecting sugar production and other irrigated cropping system impacts. Mr. Schwartz indicated the BSDF's continued support and long-range commitment to NWISRL. He expressed the BSDF's desire to work together with ARS and other customers and stakeholders to build the program and enhance the research resources available to the NWISRL. NWISRL will hire a scientist on the new 2002 funds to address these beet-related soil and water management research needs. (KIM2001.0129N1)
January 14, 2002. Dale Westermann attended the 29th Annual Fertilizer and Chemical Conference sponsored by the Idaho Crop Production Association. At the conference he presented an invited seminar from NWISRL's research studies on phosphorus concentrations in runoff from surface and sprinkler irrigation systems. Between 500-600 agricultural fieldmen and consultants from Idaho, Utah and Nevada attend this yearly educational conference. (KIM2001.0129N2)
December 2001. Dr. Jim Wright, a soil scientist with the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL), was interviewed by Marlene Fritz, Communications Specialist and Extension Professor, University of Idaho, concerning Dr. Wright's contributions to a research project utilizing satellite data to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) at the earth's surface. The research project being conducted by Dr. Rick Allen, University of Idaho (UI), and Anthony Morse, Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), with funding from NASA. Raytheon Systems Company and the Idaho Legislature utilizes procedures known as SEBAL to estimate ET from satellite data. SEBAL stands for Surface Energy Balance Algorithms for Land. These procedures developed by Dutch scientist Wim Bastiaanssen have been applied at several sites on the earth's surface but not previously in Idaho. Ms. Fritz prepared a press release on the research project which was published on Saturday, December 22, 2001, in the "AG Weekly" of the "Times News", Twin Falls, Idaho. The article states that without the meticulous data collected by Dr. Wright, at USDA's NWISRL lysimeter research field site over a 24-year period, the researchers "...wouldn't know whether they can trust the space-based imagery provided by satellites Landsat 5 and 7. Now they know they can." Results of the assessment indicated that evaporation estimates from the satellite imagery, using the fine tuning of the SEBAL procedures by Dr. Allen and IDWR, can be almost as accurate as the ground based lysimeter measurements. Using SEBAL extends ARS research results in ways that will permit regional estimation of ET which has been an objective of Dr. Wright's research program for some time. It may also allow the Idaho Department of Water Resources to regulate and monitor both ground and surface water resources which are within the objectives of the UI and IDWR. The press release further states that remote sensing technology could also be used to monitor conditions of landscapes as they are affected by drought, disease and insects and assess the availability of water for vegetation and wildlife. (KIM2001.0129N3)
