Gabriel B Senay, Ph.D.
Gabriel Senay is a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, co-located with the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC) in Boulder, Colorado. He is also an adjunct professor at South Dakota State University and a Faculty Affiliate with Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Senay, with a background in agricultural engineering, hydrology, and remote sensing, conducts applied research on landscape water use assessment and monitoring using satellite-derived data and hydrologic modeling. He has taught courses on remote sensing of water resources and land surveying.
Research topics include:
1) Evapotranspiration modeling for crop water use mapping, drought monitoring, and water budget studies.
2) Runoff and soil moisture modeling for groundwater recharge estimation, small reservoir (pond) monitoring, and ecological drought assessment.
3) Interactions between land cover change and hydrology and their impact on water resources.
4) Spatiotemporal dynamics and trend analyses of agro-hydrologic processes and climatic drivers.
Education and Certifications
Licensed professional engineer (PE) in Civil Engineering (Water Resources)
PhD from The Ohio State University, USA.
MSc in Hydrology from Wageningen University, The Netherlands
BSc in Agricultural Engineering from Alemaya University, Ethiopia
Science and Products
Assembly of satellite-based rainfall datasets in situ data and rainfall climatology contours for the MENA region
Modeling accumulated surface runoff and water availability for aquifer storage and recovery in the MENA region from 1984-2015
Annual SSEBop ET rasters at Landsat scale from 2010-2019 for the CONUS
Soil properties dataset in the United States
Operational Global Actual Evapotranspiration using the SSEBop model
Assessing the impact of irrigation curtailment using Landsat satellite data: A case study in the Upper Klamath Lake basin
Daily SSEBop Evapotranspiration Data from 2000 to 2018
Crop Water Use in the Central Valley of California using Landsat-derived evapotranspiration
Long-term (1986 -2015) Crop Water Use Characterization over the Upper Rio Grande Basin using Landsat-based Evapotranspiration
Upper Rio Grande River Basin SSEBop Monthly Sum Actual Evapotranspiration 1984-2015
Data files supporting the paper titled "Complementing data from ground-based sensors with satellite-derived products to measure ecological changes in relation to climate lessons from temperate wetland-upland landscapes"
Combined remote sensing and water-balance evapotranspiration estimates (SSEBop-WB) for the conterminous United States
OpenET: Filling a critical data gap in water management for the western United States
A new approach to evaluate and reduce uncertainty of model-based biodiversity projections for conservation policy formulation
Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015
Historical changes in plant water use and need in the continental United States
Using satellite imagery to estimate consumptive water use from irrigated lands in the Milk River Basin, United States and Canada
Characterization of water use and water balance for the croplands of Kansas using satellite, climate, and irrigation data
Dynamics of green and blue water supply stress index across major global cropland basins
Runoff response to directional land cover change across reference basins in the conterminous United States
Landscape and climatic influences on actual evapotranspiration and available water using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) Model in eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 2015
A novel approach for next generation water use mapping using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data
Operational global actual evapotranspiration: Development, evaluation, and dissemination
Evaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program in the Upper Klamath Lake Basin using Landsat satellite data
Science and Products
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Assembly of satellite-based rainfall datasets in situ data and rainfall climatology contours for the MENA region
Information on the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall is very critical for addressing water related disasters, especially in the arid to semi-arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa region. However, availability of reliable rainfall datasets for the region is limited. In this study we combined observation from satellite-based rainfall data, in situ rain gauge observation and rainfalModeling accumulated surface runoff and water availability for aquifer storage and recovery in the MENA region from 1984-2015
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the most water-scarce region with only two percent of the global average annual rainfall, hence underground aquifers are the major source of water. The need to improve water productivity and increase aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is driving the efforts for this acceleration of aquifer storage and recovery project. The objective was to model ruAnnual SSEBop ET rasters at Landsat scale from 2010-2019 for the CONUS
CONUS-wide acutal ET (ETa) from Landsat thermal imagery-using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform. Over 150,000 Landsat satellite images were used to produce 10 years of annual ETa (2010-2019).Soil properties dataset in the United States
The dataset consists of three raster GeoTIFF files describing the following soil properties in the US: available water capacity, field capacity, and soil porosity. The input data were obtained from the gridded National Soil Survey Geographic (gNATSGO) Database and the Gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO) Database with Soil Data Development tools provided by the Natural Resources Conservation SOperational Global Actual Evapotranspiration using the SSEBop model
The data presented here are in support of the evaluation efforts of the satellite-based actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model. The ETa data is currently used by the U.S. Geological Survey Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) to produce and post multitemporal ETa and ETa anomalies online on a regular basis for drought monitoAssessing the impact of irrigation curtailment using Landsat satellite data: A case study in the Upper Klamath Lake basin
The associated geotiff rasters represents the total actual evapotranspiration (ETa) from June through September for the years 2004, 2006, 2008-2010, and 2013-2016 for the entire Klamath Basin in southern Oregon. The ETa was created using Landsat imagery and the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model to estimate actual ET and the Python scripts to complete that process is alsoDaily SSEBop Evapotranspiration Data from 2000 to 2018
Daily SSEBop evapotranspiration at the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) scale was created for the CONUS. These data are published on the USGS earlywarning site (https://earlywarning.usgs.gov/ssebop/modis/daily). The first phase included the creation on historical actual daily ET data from 2000 to 2018. The second phase will create the ET product operationally on a daily time sCrop Water Use in the Central Valley of California using Landsat-derived evapotranspiration
Understanding how different crops use water over time is essential for planning and managing water allocation, water rights, and agricultural production. The main objective of this paper is to characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of crop water use in the Central Valley of California using Landsat-based annual actual evapotranspiration (ETa) from 2008-2018 derived from the Operational SimplifieLong-term (1986 -2015) Crop Water Use Characterization over the Upper Rio Grande Basin using Landsat-based Evapotranspiration
Evaluation of historical water use in the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) using Landsat-derived actual evapotranspiration (ETa) from 1986 to 2015 is presented here as a first of its kind study applying satellite observations for quantifying long term, basin-wide crop consumptive use at a large basin. The rich archive of Landsat imagery combined with the Operational Simplified Surface Energy BalanceUpper Rio Grande River Basin SSEBop Monthly Sum Actual Evapotranspiration 1984-2015
The monthly ET data for the Upper Rio Grande River Basin from January 1984-December 2015 were created using the operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model to quantify and map ET over irrigated fields using Landsat imagery and associated weather datasets. The data are provided in GeoTIFF format and can be downloaded per month or year. Satelite-based ET is useful for several agrData files supporting the paper titled "Complementing data from ground-based sensors with satellite-derived products to measure ecological changes in relation to climate lessons from temperate wetland-upland landscapes"
The files on this page contain the data used for the research described in in the paper, "Challenges in complementing data from ground-based sensors with satellite-derived products to measure ecological changes in relation to climate lessons from temperate wetland-upland landscapes" (Gallant, A.L., Sadinski, W., Brown, J.F., Senay, G.B., Roth, M.F. 2018. Sensors). Supplementary Datafile 1 contaiCombined remote sensing and water-balance evapotranspiration estimates (SSEBop-WB) for the conterminous United States
This dataset includes 1km resolution monthly timescale estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) for the 2000-2015 timespan. These new SSEBop-WB estimates were developed by combining a previously published long-term annual average evapotranspiration map based on water balance constraints with the SSEBop remote sensing ET product (see Associated Items). The combination aims to leverage the advantages of - Multimedia
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OpenET: Filling a critical data gap in water management for the western United States
The lack of consistent, accurate information on evapotranspiration (ET) and consumptive use of water by irrigated agriculture is one of the most important data gaps for water managers in the western United States (U.S.) and other arid agricultural regions globally. The ability to easily access information on ET is central to improving water budgets across the West, advancing the use of data-drivenAuthorsForrest Melton, Justin Huntington, Robyn Grimm, Jamie Herring, Maurice Hall, Dana Rollison, Tyler Erickson, Richard Allen, Martha Anderson, Joshua Fisher, Ayse Kilic, Gabriel Senay, John Volk, Christopher Hain, Lee Johnson, Anderson Ruhoff, Philip Blankenau, Matthew Bromley, Will Carrara, Britta Daudert, Conor Doherty, Christian Dunkerly, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Alberto Guzman, Gregory Halverson, Jody Hansen, Jordan Harding, Yanghui Kang, David C. Ketchum, Blake Minor, Charles Morton, Samuel Ortega-Salazar, Thomas Ott, Mutlu Ozdogan, Peter Revelle, Mitch Schull, Carlos Wang, Yun Yang, Ray G. AndersonA new approach to evaluate and reduce uncertainty of model-based biodiversity projections for conservation policy formulation
Biodiversity projections with uncertainty estimates under different climate, land-use, and policy scenarios are essential to setting and achieving international targets to mitigate biodiversity loss. Evaluating and improving biodiversity predictions to better inform policy decisions remains a central conservation goal and challenge. A comprehensive strategy to evaluate and reduce uncertainty of moAuthorsBonnie Myers, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Simon Ferrier, Ensheng Weng, Kimberly Ann Casey, Michael Harfoot, Stephen Jackson, Allison K. Leidner, Timothy M. Lenton, Gordon Luikart, Hiroyuki Matsuda, Nathalie Pettorelli, Isabel M. D. Rosa, Alexander C. Ruane, Gabriel B. Senay, Shawn P. Serbin, Derek P. Tittensor, T. Douglas BeardEstimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015
The Rio Grande flows approximately 670 miles from its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of south-central Colorado to Fort Quitman, Texas, draining the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) study area of 32,000 square miles that includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Parts of the basin extend into the United Mexican States (hereafter “Mexico”), where the Rio Grande forms the international boAuthorsTamara I. Ivahnenko, Allison K. Flickinger, Amy E. Galanter, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, Diana E. Pedraza, Gabriel B. SenayHistorical changes in plant water use and need in the continental United States
A robust method for characterizing the biophysical environment of terrestrial vegetation uses the relationship between Actual Evapotranspiration (AET) and Climatic Water Deficit (CWD). These variables are usually estimated from a water balance model rather than measured directly and are often more representative of ecologically-significant changes than temperature or precipitation. We evaluate treAuthorsMichael T Terck, David Thoma, John E. Gross, Kirk R. Sherrill, Stefanie Kagone, Gabriel B. SenayUsing satellite imagery to estimate consumptive water use from irrigated lands in the Milk River Basin, United States and Canada
The U.S. Geological Survey, with the support of the International Joint Commission, and in cooperation with Alberta Environment and Parks, Blackfeet Nation, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, is leading a project that should improve information available to apportion water between Canada and the United States in the St. Mary and MilAuthorsRoy Sando, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Gabriel B. SenayCharacterization of water use and water balance for the croplands of Kansas using satellite, climate, and irrigation data
Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states in the United States, where agricultural irrigation is a primary user of underground and surface water. Because of low precipitation and declining groundwater levels in western and central Kansas, sustainable management of irrigation water resources is a critical issue in the agricultural productivity of the state. The objective of this studAuthorsLei Ji, Gabriel B. Senay, Mackenzie Friedrichs, Matthew Schauer, Olena BoikoDynamics of green and blue water supply stress index across major global cropland basins
Global food and water insecurity could be serious problems in the upcoming decades with growing demands from the increasing global population and more frequent effect of climatic extremes. As the available water resources are diminishing and facing continuous stress, it is crucial to monitor water demand and water availability to understand the associated water stresses. This study assessed the waAuthorsKul Bikram Khand, Gabriel B. Senay, Stefanie Kagone, Gabriel Edwin Lee ParrishRunoff response to directional land cover change across reference basins in the conterminous United States
Land cover change plays a critical role in influencing hydrological responses. Change in land cover has impacted runoff across basins with substantial human interference; however, the impacts in basins with minimal human interference have been studied less. In this study, we investigated the impacts of directional land cover changes (forest to/from combined grassland and shrubland) in runoff coeffAuthorsKul Bikram Khand, Gabriel B. SenayLandscape and climatic influences on actual evapotranspiration and available water using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) Model in eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bernalillo County Public Works Division, conducted a 1-year study in 2015 to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of evapotranspiration (ET) and available water within the East Mountain area in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. ET and available water vary spatiotemporally because of complex interactions among environmental factors, includingAuthorsKyle R. Douglas-Mankin, Ryan J. McCutcheon, Aurelia C. Mitchell, Gabriel B. SenayA novel approach for next generation water use mapping using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data
Evapotranspiration (ET) is needed in a range of applications in hydrology, climatology, ecology, and agriculture. Remote sensing-based estimation is the only viable and economical method for ET estimation over large areas. The current Landsat satellites provide images every 16 days limiting the ability to capture biophysical changes affecting ET. Thus, we explored the potential integration of LandAuthorsRamesh Singh, Kul Bikram Khand, Stefanie Kagone, Matthew Schauer, Gabriel Senay, Zhuoting WuOperational global actual evapotranspiration: Development, evaluation, and dissemination
Satellite-based actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is becoming increasingly reliable and available for various water management and agricultural applications from water budget studies to crop performance monitoring. The Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model is currently used by the US Geological Survey (USGS) Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) to routinely produce aAuthorsGabriel Senay, Stefanie Kagone, Naga M. VelpuriEvaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program in the Upper Klamath Lake Basin using Landsat satellite data
Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) is the source of the Klamath river that flows through southern Oregon and northern California. The UKL basin is home to two endangered species and provides water for 81,000+ ha (200,000+ acres) of irrigation on the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Klamath Project located downstream of the UKL basin. Irrigated agriculture also occurs along the tributaries to UKL.AuthorsNaga Manohar Velpuri, Gabriel Senay, Matthew Schauer, C. Amanda Garcia, Ramesh Singh, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Stefanie Bohms, Jonathan V. Haynes, Terrence D. Conlon - Software
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