Sub-seasonal irrigation forecasts Burana

The sub-seasonal (4 weeks) forecasts of irrigation needs for crops are the result of the combination of different data sources such as information on agricultural land use from satellite data, Emilia-Romagna Region soil map, observed weather data and HIGHLANDER sub-seasonal forecast, by means of a soil water balance model. Provided data are irrigation and precipitation forecasts expressed as a statistical distribution, of which 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentiles of this distribution are available.

These forecasts are the outcomes of a climate service addressed to irrigation water management in agriculture developed by ARPAE, including seasonal probabilistic forecasts and deterministic weekly forecasts of irrigation, as described in Villani et al., 2021.

The sub-seasonal irrigation forecasts cover the Burana Land reclamation and Irrigation Board (consorzio di bonifica). The Burana Land-Reclamation Board is an interregional water board operating in three regions and five provinces. Modena, Ferrara and Bologna, which are in Emilia-Romagna Region, Mantua in Lombardy and Pistoia in Tuscany. The Burana Land-Reclamation Board operates over a land area of about 250,000 hectares between the Rivers Secchia, Panaro and Samoggia, which forms the drainage basin of the River Panaro and part of the Burana-Po di Volano, from the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to the River Po. Its main tasks are the conservation and safeguarding of the territory, with particular attention to water resources and how they are used, ensuring rainwater drainage from urban centres, avoiding flooding but ensuring water supply for crop irrigation in the summer to combat drought.

The delivery of the forecast is weekly (usually on Tuesday) according to the emission of sub-seasonal forecasts produced by ECMWF.

Products

Irrigation forecast (mm)

Precipitation forecast (mm)