Agrohydrological sensing and modelling for the analysis of drought and mitigation actions: The experience of the AgrHySMo laboratory

This paper describes the different research activities of the AgroHydrological Sensing and Modelling (AgrHySMo) laboratory and their preliminary results. The main lines of the research activities are to estimate irrigation requirements and scheduling of woody perennial crops in scenarios of climate uncertainties using agro-hydrological modelling and soil moisture-based methods. The researchers propose a new definition and computation of the crop coefficient in the FAO56 paper, which would include the effect of water saving strategies into a new model. Furthermore, the laboratory holds two patents relative to a smart sensor system, which is based on electrically-driven smart membranes. Regarding the outdoor research activities, the implementation of the soil moisture-based wireless sensor network in an extensive pear orchard from Tuscany, saved up to 35% of the water supplied by the farmers.