Project Team: Peru Water Resources Team
Team Location: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia; and Patrick Henry Building, Richmond, Virginia
Authors:
Steve Padgett-Vasquez, Project Lead (University of Georgia)
Catherine Steentofte, Assistant Project Lead (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Abigail Holbrook (University of Virginia)
Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. Kenton Ross (NASA DEVELOP, National Science Advisor)
Past/Other Contributors:
Christopher Love (U.S. Air Force)
Damita Wynne (U.S. Air Force)
Abstract:
Developing countries often struggle with providing water security and sanitation services to their populations. An important aspect of improving security and sanitation is developing a comprehensive understanding of the country’s water budget. Water For People, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clean drinking water, is working with the Peruvian government to develop a water budget for the La Libertad region of Peru which includes the creation of an extensive watershed management plan. Currently, the data archive of the necessary variables to create the water management plan is extremely limited. Implementing NASA Earth observations has bolstered the dataset being used by Water For People, and the Mapping EvapoTranspiration at High Resolution and Internalized Calibration (METRIC) Model has provided estimations of the evapotranspiration values for the region. Landsat 8 imagery and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensor onboard Terra were used to derive land cover and elevation information, in conjunction with local weather data of Cajamarca from Peru’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (SENAMHI). A script was created with Python that uses input variables and METRIC model calculations to approximate the evapotranspiration values for the Ochape sub-basin of the Chicama River watershed. Once calculated, the evapotranspiration values and methodology were shared with Water For People to help supplement their decision support tools in the La Libertad Region of Peru and potentially apply the methodology in other areas of need.