Estimation of Electrical Energy Consumption in Irrigated Rice Crops in Southern Brazil

On average, 70% of the world’s freshwater is used in agriculture, with farmers transitioning to electrical irrigation systems to increase productivity, reduce climate uncertainties, and decrease water consumption. In Brazil, where agriculture is a significant part of the economy, this transition has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2023-09, Vol.16 (18), p.6742
Main Authors: Lemes, Daniel Lima, Jacques, Matheus Mello, Sousa, Natalia Bastos, Bernardon, Daniel Pinheiro, Sperandio, Mauricio, Silva, Juliano Andrade, Chiara, Lucas M., Wolter, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon footprint
Crops
Earth
Electricity
Emergency preparedness
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Environmental monitoring
Farmers
Farms
image processing
irrigated rice crops
neural networks
Remote sensing
Rice
Satellites
Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture
Urban planning
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Summary:On average, 70% of the world’s freshwater is used in agriculture, with farmers transitioning to electrical irrigation systems to increase productivity, reduce climate uncertainties, and decrease water consumption. In Brazil, where agriculture is a significant part of the economy, this transition has reached record levels over the last decade, further increasing the impact of energy consumption. This paper presents a methodology that utilizes the U-Net model to detect flooded rice fields using Sentinel-2 satellite images and estimates the electrical energy consumption required to pump water for this irrigation. The proposed approach involves grouping the detected flooded areas using k-means clustering with the electricity customers’ geographical coordinates, provided by the Power Distribution Company. The methodology was evaluated in a dataset of satellite images from southern Brazil, and the results demonstrate the potential of using U-Net models to identify rice fields. Furthermore, comparing the estimated electrical energy consumption required for irrigation in each cluster with the billed energy values provides valuable insights into the sustainable management of rice production systems and the electricity grid, helping to identify non-technical losses and improve irrigation efficiency.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en16186742