GIS based graphical user interface for irrigation
management
Saroj Acharya, Ashish Pandey, S. K. Mishra and U. C. Chaube
ABSTRACT
A geographic information system (GIS) based graphical user interface for irrigation management
within an ArcGIS customization has been developed using Visual Basic for Applications for estimation
of spatially distributed irrigation water requirements. It is capable of providing an appropriate
framework for manipulating, visualizing and analyzing spatial data to support decision making in
irrigation management. Its application is demonstrated through a case study for use in the field.
Saroj Acharya
Ashish Pandey (corresponding author)
S. K. Mishra
U. C. Chaube
Department of Water Resources Development and
Management,
Indian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee 247667,
India
E-mail: ashisfwt@gmail.com
Key words | ArcGIS, decision making, graphical user interface, irrigation management, net irrigation
requirement, reference evapotranspiration
INTRODUCTION
Irrigation is one of the most important inputs for efficient
and sustainable agricultural production (Gundogdu et al.
; Ortega et al. ). According to the Food and Agricul-
ture Organization (FAO), one of the biggest challenges for
agriculture in the coming decades will be to ensure food
security for the world’s steadily growing population
(Bergez et al. ). Proper management of an irrigation
system reduces water demand, which leads to water saving
for other uses, improves agricultural productivity, and
further helps in reduction of the environmental impact of
irrigation (Hargreaves et al. ; Suryavanshi & Reddy
; Bastiaanssen et al. ). Irrigation management is
therefore of paramount importance to irrigation
professionals/planners/managers, for it involves multi-
tasks and multi-stakeholders with varying goals. It is of
common experience that spatial and temporal variabilities
create problems for traditional irrigation management sup-
port systems (Lin et al. ).
Customization of geographic information systems (GIS)
with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) can be a solution
for irrigation management. Most of the data related to irriga-
tion management is complex as it is both temporally and
spatially distributed in nature (Pervez & Hoque ;
Naidu & Giridhar ). Its integration has led to the intro-
duction of GIS and other technologies (Martin ;
Bastiaanssen & Bos ; Bioggio & Ding ; Kjelds &
Storm ; Nixon et al. ; Su & Wen ; Ray et al.
; Liang & Wu ) in irrigation management. GIS
play an important role in transferring information in easily
communicable form, such as maps, to farmers, planners
and experts for irrigation planning and management
(Maguire et al. ; Goodchild ; Ray et al. ;
Muthanna & Amin ; Todorovic & Steduto ;
Suresh Babu et al. ).
GIS have been widely applied in all scientific fields and
practical activities. With environmental management, their
use covers a broad spectrum, including a simple formula,
and visualization of natural data as maps, visualization of
pollutant concentrations in the environment and their
spatial distribution (Gajos & Sierka ). Sheate et al.
() developed a methodology for mapping ecosystem ser-
vices using GIS and readily available, existing land use/land
cover datasets. Karteris et al. () used GIS extensively to
extrapolate the results from the building to the city scale and
1536 © IWA Publishing 2016 Water Science & Technology: Water Supply | 16.6 | 2016
doi: 10.2166/ws.2016.081
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