Agricultural Production and the Hydrologic Cycle in the Upper Midwest

Tim Griffis

This research project was designed to gain a better understanding of how agriculture fits within the regional water cycle in the Upper Midwest and to provide growers tools for estimating evapotranspiration (ET). We used a combination of isotope and eddy covariance measurements made at the field and regional scales, and will also used meso-scale modeling to determine agriculture’s contribution to regional ET and atmospheric water vapor. Further, we developed a tool called (ETool, https://www.biometeorology.umn.edu/research/etool) and provided weekly forecasts from 2014 to 2016 of precipitation and ET to assist growers in Minnesota with the aim of improving agricultural water use. We believe our research benefited farmers by: (1) improving our understanding of the impacts of weather and climate on ET; (2) quantifying the amount of water that agricultural crops use under a broad range of environmental conditions; (3) determining the role that agriculture plays in the regional hydrologic cycle; and (4) developing a state-of-the-art tool for supporting farm-level water management decision-making. We will continue to make ETool product available through 2017.