MODELING CURRENT AND FUTURE WATER USE IN UTAH WITH NASA'S TERRESTRIAL OBSERVATION AND PREDICTION SYSTEM

Cache County is one of the biggest agricultural producers in Utah and over 70% of the county’s water is used for irrigation. In this project, we use NASA’s Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to gain an understanding of the water cycle in Cache County by comparing the precipitation, snowpack, and runoff amounts to the crop evapotranspiration (ET) requirements. By modeling ET, we evaluated the true demand for water and compare it to the amount of water supplied, determining the water efficiency. We found that the current irrigation practices have an efficiency of approximately 30%. Furthermore, we employed a climate change scenario to study the effects of temperature increase on Cache County’s water cycle and agricultural production. As climate changes, snow cover will significantly decrease and crop evapotranspiration will increase, altering the current water supply.