OpenET-Brazil: A Game Changer in Water Resource Management for Brazilian Farmers and Beyond

A new tool called OpenET-Brazil is being developed by research teams at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil to help farmers in Brazil develop more resilient farming systems. The goal of this tool is to assist farmers in managing changes in the water cycle, dealing with droughts, and adapting to a changing climate. It will use open-source models, Google Earth Engine, and publicly available satellite data from NASA and the USGS to provide data on water consumption and evapotranspiration at the field scale.

OpenET-Brazil is based on the same approach as OpenET, which was developed for the western United States through a collaboration involving NASA, USGS, Environmental Defense Fund, Desert Research Institute, Google Earth Engine, HabitatSeven, and several universities. This new online tool will be beneficial for Brazilian water agencies, farmers associations, and non-governmental organizations by offering satellite-based monitoring of evapotranspiration and water use.

The potential impact of OpenET is evident in the success it has had in enhancing collaboration between farmers, ranchers, and water resource managers in the United States. The project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Forrest Melton, is optimistic about the possibilities of using OpenET in Brazil to advance water resource management in the Amazon basin and potentially on a global scale. The user-driven approach, open-source models, freely available data services, and data visualization tools of OpenET have the potential to transform the way water resources are managed in Brazil and beyond.