Abstract:
Over consumption of water resources due to unplanned and inappropriate irrigation methods would be a threat to the ecosystem
health and to the sustainable agriculture in Vavuniya District. The objective of this study was to identify the most appropriate
irrigation method using remotely sensed or derived hydro geological and meteorological information. The impact of different
types of irrigation methods on water use efficiency, water consumption, socio economic aspects of irrigation and soil condition
were considered to fulfil the objective of this study. Evaporative fraction, soil moisture content, hydrological parameters and the
meteorological parameters were derived using satellite imageries namely the products of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiameter (MODIS), MOD 09 A1 (Solar Zenith Angle), MOD 11 A1 (Land Surface Temperature), MOD 13 A1 (Normalized
Different Vegetation Index) and MOD 43 B3 (Surface Albedo) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM (90m
resolution) associated with field reference data during January 2014 to June 2014. Estimation of evaporative fraction and soil
moisture content were collectively done with the aid of Surface Energy Balance Algorithm (SEBAL) methodin Ilwis 3.7
environment. Appropriate geometric corrections and image processing operations were applied. Parameterization of hydrological
and meteorological parameters was done using automated operations associated with auxiliary information of respective
imageries. Information on socio economic aspects of irrigation methods were gathered from semi structured interviews and
secondary data sources. This study revealed that integral of hydrological, topographical, meteorological and socio economic
factors signifying the importance of micro irrigation methods as viable and effective irrigation method in agriculture.
Encouraging the farmers to use micro irrigation methods by providing the credit facilities and the subsidy to install micro
irrigation systems is vital for the water resource conservation and thereby the sustainable agriculture.
