A First Estimation of County-Based Green Water Availability and Its Implications for Agriculture and Bioenergy Production in the United States
Abstract
Green water is vital for the terrestrial ecosystem, but water resource assessment often focuses on blue water. In this study, we estimated green water availability for major crops (i.e., corn, soybean, and wheat) and all other users(e.g., forest, grassland, and ecosystem services) at the county level in the United States. We estimated green water resources from effective rain(ER) using three different methods: Smith, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Service (USDA-SCS), and the NHD plus V2 dataset. The analysis illustrates that, if green water meets all crop water demands, the fraction of green water resources available to all other users varies significantly across regions, from the Northern Plains (0.71) to the Southeast (0.98). At the county level, this fraction varies from 0.23 to 1.0. Green water resources estimated using the three different ER methods present diverse spatiotemporal distribution patterns across regions, which could affect green water availability estimates. The water availability index for green water (WAI_R) was measured taking into account crop water demand and green water resources aggregated at the county level. Beyond these parameters, WAI_R also depends on the precipitation pattern, crop type and spatially differentiated regions. In addition, seasonal analysis indicated that WAI_R is sensitive to the temporalmore »
- Authors:
-
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1429641
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Water (Basel)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Water (Basel); Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4441
- Publisher:
- MDPI
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; water resources; rainwater; green water availability; management; effective rain; crop water demand
Citation Formats
Xu, Hui, and Wu, May. A First Estimation of County-Based Green Water Availability and Its Implications for Agriculture and Bioenergy Production in the United States. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.3390/w10020148.
Xu, Hui, & Wu, May. A First Estimation of County-Based Green Water Availability and Its Implications for Agriculture and Bioenergy Production in the United States. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10020148
Xu, Hui, and Wu, May. Fri .
"A First Estimation of County-Based Green Water Availability and Its Implications for Agriculture and Bioenergy Production in the United States". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10020148. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1429641.
@article{osti_1429641,
title = {A First Estimation of County-Based Green Water Availability and Its Implications for Agriculture and Bioenergy Production in the United States},
author = {Xu, Hui and Wu, May},
abstractNote = {Green water is vital for the terrestrial ecosystem, but water resource assessment often focuses on blue water. In this study, we estimated green water availability for major crops (i.e., corn, soybean, and wheat) and all other users(e.g., forest, grassland, and ecosystem services) at the county level in the United States. We estimated green water resources from effective rain(ER) using three different methods: Smith, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Service (USDA-SCS), and the NHD plus V2 dataset. The analysis illustrates that, if green water meets all crop water demands, the fraction of green water resources available to all other users varies significantly across regions, from the Northern Plains (0.71) to the Southeast (0.98). At the county level, this fraction varies from 0.23 to 1.0. Green water resources estimated using the three different ER methods present diverse spatiotemporal distribution patterns across regions, which could affect green water availability estimates. The water availability index for green water (WAI_R) was measured taking into account crop water demand and green water resources aggregated at the county level. Beyond these parameters, WAI_R also depends on the precipitation pattern, crop type and spatially differentiated regions. In addition, seasonal analysis indicated that WAI_R is sensitive to the temporal boundary of the analysis.},
doi = {10.3390/w10020148},
journal = {Water (Basel)},
number = 2,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Fri Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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