Abstract
According to a report by the United Nations (World Water Assessment Program 2009), the surging growth in global population has led to a rapid increase in the world’s water demands. A large part of these water demands stem from food production requirements, irrigation being a prominent component in the requirement. Approximately 40% of crop production comes from the 16% of the agricultural land that is irrigated (Gleick 1993; Postel et al. 1996; Tilman et al. 2002). However, the agricultural land would not be sufficient for providing food for the world’s population if not for water from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wells; in fact, about 60% of the world’s freshwater withdrawal is used for irrigation purposes (Oki and Kanae 2006). Thus sustainable management of water resources is required to meet the growing global water demand.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Remote Sensing of Energy Fluxes and Soil Moisture Content |
Publisher | CRC Press |
Pages | 233-247 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781466505797 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |