Results

• Eight ET Cordova stations have been installed and tested in seven countries, with the aim of measuring crop evapotranspiration, which assists in determining irrigation requirements at the field plot level for different crops. The ET Cordova station is a prototype developed by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Cordoba in Spain (UCO). It is an agro-meteorological station completed by a series of sensors, and a prototype used to determine potential (ETc) and actual (ETa) ET. The micrometeorological variables recorded by the instrument can be visualized here and downloaded here. 

• The International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in collaboration with FAO-RNE and The University of Cordoba (UCO) is establishing a regional network for field measurement of actual crop water consumption or evapotranspiration (ET). The network is piloted in five countries - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, where different ET measurement options are available from specialised research institutes. The methods for ET measurements analysed and compared for the network are the eddy covariance, surface energy balance, lysimeter, soil moisture depletion, and the ET CORDOVA station (prototype developed by UCO). ICARDA is developing standards, protocols, and methods for instrument operation and maintenance and for field measurements. Measurements started by the country partners on cereals for the 2019 winter season using different instruments, with the technical support and distance coaching of ICARDA. Field visits were affected by the countries' precautionary measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual platform established for the regional ET network using Microsoft teams and WhatsApp intensified its virtual exchange over the lockdown period, where staff members of ICARDA and the country partners in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia are using a virtual platform based on Microsoft teams to communicate with each other for knowledge, experiences, and data exchange. They also established a WhatsApp group to facilitate quick exchange and troubleshooting.

• The regional team of “ET Cordova” specialists that were trained in 2019, benefitted from one-to-one distant coaching for trouble shooting in 2020. On the basis of the most common issues and questions, UCO developed an advanced virtual course composed of four sessions, offered in June-July 2020 to clarify the most common issues and introduce a series of manuals developed to support local measurements. All the manuals and recordings of the webinars are available on the D group on water productivity.

Capacity development

• A regional training on ET measurement and the use of the ET Cordova station was organized by UCO in Cairo, Egypt during the Land and Water Days. Twenty-five participants including Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine attended the training.
• Two sub-regional technical trainings were organized by FAO in collaboration with UCO on the assembling and use of the ET Cordova station in Cordoba, Spain. Twenty participants attended the trainings.
• A regional training for the ET network members was organized by ICARDA in Tunisia, on ET measurement methods and calibration of Edicovariance, Lysimeters, and ET Cordova stations. Twenty participants from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco attended this training.
• A regional team of ET Cordova specialists were trained in September 2019 in Spain (two persons per country) on the assembly, start-up and calibration of the ET-Cordova station. One-to-one distant coaching for trouble shooting took place over the past months. On the basis of the most common issues and questions, UCO developed an advanced virtual course composed of four sessions, offered in June-July 2020 as part of the ‘water productivity talks’ webinar series to clarify the most common issues and introduce a series of manuals developed to support local measurements. Around 45 people attended these sessions from the eight countries. The last session on the CORDOVA ET was implemented and focused on the topic of downloading and analysing data from the cloud. All the manuals and recordings of the webinars are available on the D group on water productivity.

Resources

Different manuals have been developed by UCO, including: CORDOVA-ET Node Assembly Manual v.1.4; CORDOVA-ET Node Programming Manual v.1.3; CORDOVA-ET Base Station Assembly Manual v.1.3; CORDOVA-ET Base Station Activation Manual v.1.4. Refer to the Water Accounting D Group – resources section to access the manuals.