In an effort to promote more resilient farming systems in Brazil, research teams working to sustain the largest freshwater reserve in the world are focusing on developing a new tool. The Large-Scale Hydrology Research Group at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil have announced the launch of OpenET-Brazil, an online tool that will provide data on water consumption and evapotranspiration at the field scale.
This tool will utilize open-source models, Google Earth Engine, and satellite data from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to offer satellite-based monitoring of evapotranspiration and water use for Brazilian water agencies, farmers associations, and non-governmental organizations. The goal is to help farmers adapt to changes in the water cycle, deal with droughts, and adjust to a changing climate.
OpenET-Brazil is based on the same tools and approach as OpenET, which was developed for the western United States through a collaboration involving NASA, USGS, Environmental Defense Fund, and other organizations. OpenET employs an open science approach to provide satellite-based information on water consumption in small areas at various intervals.
Forrest Melton, the OpenET project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, believes that OpenET can greatly improve the way farmers, ranchers, and water resource managers collaborate to protect Earth’s precious resources. He is excited to see how OpenET’s approach can be used by scientists in Brazil to enhance water resource management in the Amazon basin and potentially on a global scale.
