Once the virtual weather station system has been developed, it will be integrated into the selected and improved irrigation applications within the project’s context, and then subjected to pilot testing.
The pilot test comprises, on one hand, an initial phase of field data collection that will run in parallel with the integration of the virtual station system. The field data will provide a homogeneous comparison framework with the virtual weather station system across all territories. Once the integration is complete, the second phase of the pilot test will consist of its trial under real operating conditions and an evaluation of the accuracy of the information provided. The evaluations will include laboratory determination of soil hydraulic properties, in-field monitoring of soil moisture using moisture probes, acquisition of satellite images for estimating key parameters of water balance models (crop coefficients), in-field estimation of disease symptoms, their laboratory identification, and incidence estimation. The pilot-scale results will help optimize the accuracy of the virtual station system by correcting the geostatistical parameters used in its development, as well as estimating the efficiency generated in irrigation water use.
The pilot territories will be the Basque Country, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Bragança, Murcia, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Vila Real. Their selection is based on criteria of representativeness of the varied agroclimatic conditions and productive orientations present in the SUDOE area.
