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Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Irrigated Agriculture Dataset for the United States (MIrAD-US)

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By Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress October 1, 2019

Irrigated Agriculture

MIrAD Change Analysis

(Columbia River Basin)

MIrAD Change Analysis

(Platte River Basin)

MIrAD Frequency Analysis

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Irrigated Agriculture Dataset for the United States (MIrAD-US) suite of irrigation products was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. The goal of MIrAD is to provide a comprehensive and consistently processed geospatial dataset for irrigated agriculture across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS). MIrAD Version 4 offers irrigation datasets for 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 at 250-m and 1-km spatial resolutions.

We have employed a geospatial modeling approach and implemented it for four time periods (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017) to consistently map irrigated agriculture across the conterminous U.S. These data can be used to help assess water-quality trends in ground and surface waters, explain drought impacts on vegetation, and support the application and refinement of current water volumes used for irrigation.

 

The method incorporated the following three primary data inputs:

  1. USDA county-level irrigation irrigated area statistics (https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/index.php)

  2. Annual peak Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Collection 6 Aqua MODIS imagery (https://aqua.nasa.gov/modis)

  3. A land cover mask for agricultural lands derived from NLCD (https://www.mrlc.gov/)

 

A detailed description of the input data and methodology is provided by Pervez and Brown (2010).

 

References:

Pervez MS, Brown JF. Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics. Remote Sensing. 2010; 2(10):2388-2412. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs2102388.

 

The below publications provide additional information about MIrAD.

Exploring the regional dynamics of U.S. irrigated agriculture from 2002 to 2017

The United States has a geographically mature and stable land use and land cover system including land used as irrigated cropland; however, changes in irrigation land use frequently occur related to various drivers. We applied a consistent methodology at a 250 m spatial resolution across the lower 48 states to map and estimate irrigation dynamics for four map eras (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017) and
Authors
Dinesh Shrestha, Jesslyn F. Brown, Trenton D Benedict, Daniel Howard
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Merging remote sensing data and national agricultural statistics to model change in irrigated agriculture

Over 22 million hectares (ha) of U.S. croplands are irrigated. Irrigation is an intensified agricultural land use that increases crop yields and the practice affects water and energy cycles at, above, and below the land surface. Until recently, there has been a scarcity of geospatially detailed information about irrigation that is comprehensive, consistent, and timely to support studies tying agri
Authors
Jesslyn F. Brown, Md Shahriar Pervez
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Mapping irrigated lands at 250-m scale by merging MODIS data and National Agricultural Statistics

Accurate geospatial information on the extent of irrigated land improves our understanding of agricultural water use, local land surface processes, conservation or depletion of water resources, and components of the hydrologic budget. We have developed a method in a geospatial modeling framework that assimilates irrigation statistics with remotely sensed parameters describing vegetation growth con
Authors
Md Shahriar Pervez, Jesslyn F. Brown
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Mapping irrigated lands across the United States using MODIS satellite imagery

This book opens a new pathway for global mapping that is focused on a specific land use theme, such as irrigated or rain-fed croplands and classes within these themes. Since croplands use most of the water consumed by humans, specific knowledge of irrigated and rain-fed croplands will be critical for precise estimates of water use. At present and in the coming decades, irrigated and rain-fed cropl
Authors
J.F. Brown, S.K. Maxwell, Md Shahriar Pervez
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Irrigated Agriculture Dataset for the United States (MIrAD-US) suite of irrigation products was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. The goal of MIrAD is to provide a comprehensive and consistently processed geospatial dataset for irrigated agriculture across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS). MIrAD Version 4 offers irrigation datasets for 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 at 250-m and 1-km spatial resolutions.

We have employed a geospatial modeling approach and implemented it for four time periods (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017) to consistently map irrigated agriculture across the conterminous U.S. These data can be used to help assess water-quality trends in ground and surface waters, explain drought impacts on vegetation, and support the application and refinement of current water volumes used for irrigation.

 

The method incorporated the following three primary data inputs:

  1. USDA county-level irrigation irrigated area statistics (https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/index.php)

  2. Annual peak Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Collection 6 Aqua MODIS imagery (https://aqua.nasa.gov/modis)

  3. A land cover mask for agricultural lands derived from NLCD (https://www.mrlc.gov/)

 

A detailed description of the input data and methodology is provided by Pervez and Brown (2010).

 

References:

Pervez MS, Brown JF. Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics. Remote Sensing. 2010; 2(10):2388-2412. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs2102388.

 

The below publications provide additional information about MIrAD.

Exploring the regional dynamics of U.S. irrigated agriculture from 2002 to 2017

The United States has a geographically mature and stable land use and land cover system including land used as irrigated cropland; however, changes in irrigation land use frequently occur related to various drivers. We applied a consistent methodology at a 250 m spatial resolution across the lower 48 states to map and estimate irrigation dynamics for four map eras (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017) and
Authors
Dinesh Shrestha, Jesslyn F. Brown, Trenton D Benedict, Daniel Howard
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Merging remote sensing data and national agricultural statistics to model change in irrigated agriculture

Over 22 million hectares (ha) of U.S. croplands are irrigated. Irrigation is an intensified agricultural land use that increases crop yields and the practice affects water and energy cycles at, above, and below the land surface. Until recently, there has been a scarcity of geospatially detailed information about irrigation that is comprehensive, consistent, and timely to support studies tying agri
Authors
Jesslyn F. Brown, Md Shahriar Pervez
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Mapping irrigated lands at 250-m scale by merging MODIS data and National Agricultural Statistics

Accurate geospatial information on the extent of irrigated land improves our understanding of agricultural water use, local land surface processes, conservation or depletion of water resources, and components of the hydrologic budget. We have developed a method in a geospatial modeling framework that assimilates irrigation statistics with remotely sensed parameters describing vegetation growth con
Authors
Md Shahriar Pervez, Jesslyn F. Brown
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Monitoring Vegetation Drought Stress

Mapping irrigated lands across the United States using MODIS satellite imagery

This book opens a new pathway for global mapping that is focused on a specific land use theme, such as irrigated or rain-fed croplands and classes within these themes. Since croplands use most of the water consumed by humans, specific knowledge of irrigated and rain-fed croplands will be critical for precise estimates of water use. At present and in the coming decades, irrigated and rain-fed cropl
Authors
J.F. Brown, S.K. Maxwell, Md Shahriar Pervez
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
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