About this Research Topic

Background

Increased intensity and frequency hydrological extremes of floods and droughts directly and indirectly affect water resources globally. As global water demand continues to rise in many parts of the world, effective water resources management becomes increasingly crucial. Accurate estimation of fluxes and stores in the hydrological cycle is required to inform water resources management practices and the design of operational scenarios and effective water policies. Balancing the growing need for water with sustainable and efficient management practices is paramount to ensure secure and equitable water supplies for all. Of well recognized importance is estimation of crop water requirements (CWR) and soil water balance, where crop evapotranspiration (ETc) is the main component. Substantial research and empirical knowledge over the last few decades inform estimates of ETc and CWR Water management requires, however, reliable information at the appropriate temporal and spatial scales that match rapidly evolving capabilities and procedures. Such procedures may incorporate precise field measurements and remote sensing techniques to account for the water status of soil and plants. The ambition is integration of on-farm strategies that promote efficient water use with remote sensing techniques to monitor and manage water resources and thereby develop climate-resilient techniques to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
Special attention is given to the forecasting of water resources at farm levels under different climate scenarios and especially during extreme events like floods and droughts. In this Research Topic, focus will also be given to energy balance methodologies (such SEBAL, METRIC, SEBS etc.) which can estimate ETc and CWR and are capable to reflect climate change effects to the hydrologic cycle of climate sensitive dryland regions of southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia, South America , Australia).
This Research Topic welcomes studies on methodological approaches combining meteorological, hydrological and/or water resources models used to investigate how precipitation and/or temperature forcings can quantify water balance components and how these inter-relationships could be affected under future climate change scenarios. For example, emphasis will be given on how platforms using precipitation and temperature datasets (e.g. Med-CORDEX) can be used to evaluate the impacts of climate change. Drought risk assessment has been modelled using drought projection forecasts from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Research related to water resources through the use of agrohydrological and hydrological drought indices under climate scenarios is particularly welcome.
Thematic domains of interest within this Research Topic include, but are not limited to the following:
- On-Farm water management associated with water extremes (floods, droughts);
- Remote sensing of the water cycle (global and local trends);
- Integrated soil and surface water and groundwater management;
- Impacts of climate change and land use change on water resources;
- Operational agrohydrological and hydrological modelling examples and impacts of climatic change scenarios.

Keywords: Floods, Groundwater Resources, Climatic Scenarios, Remote Sensing, Climate Extremes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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