Location: Livestock, Forage and Pasture Management Research Unit
Project Number: 3070-21500-001-022-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: May 1, 2026
End Date: Apr 30, 2027
Objective:
1. Evaluate existing evapotranspiration products and calibrate and validate new evapotranspiration algorithms to map transpiration and evaporation across winter wheat sites in El Reno.
2. Develop a new model to map yield and crop water use efficiency in winter wheat.
3. Assess differences in evapotranspiration and water use efficiency in winter wheat farms under different management practices.
Approach:
Several evapotranspiration (ET) models and existing products will be evaluated across winter wheat farms in Oklahoma using eddy covariance data. The utility of two-source energy balance modeling approaches such as the Shuttleworth–Wallace (SW) model and the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model, as well as newer ET models like the Surface Temperature Initiated Closure (STIC) model, will be assessed for their ability to estimate ET in winter wheat systems using readily available remote sensing and meteorological data. In addition, the ratio of evaporation to ET and water use efficiency across winter wheat farms under different management practices (till vs. no-till) will also be assessed.