Estimation of the Green and Blue Water Footprint of Kharif Rice Using Remote Sensing Techniques: a Case Study of Ranchi

The water footprint of a crop is defined as the total volume of water consumed for the production of the crop in the growing season. The total water footprint comprises of the three components, i.e. the rainwater (green water footprint), irrigated water (blue water footprint) and the polluted water (grey water footprint) usage for the production. This study discusses the potential of the remote sensing techniques for the assessment of the green and blue water footprint of rice crop with the help of high temporal resolution and real-time data, in the tropical region of Ranchi, Jharkhand. In this paper, the evapotranspiration (ET) and rainfall (RF) have been identified as the key parameters for the assessment of the water usage. The study uses MODIS Evapotranspiration data and CHIRPS rainfall data, along with CLIMWAT station data to estimate the green and blue component of the water usage.