One idea for the blog is to explain some of the general methods, geophysical and hydrologic ones. Maybe you will be interested, but its definitely also a good exercise for me to reiterate and structure my thoughts.

So stay tuned for some concepts.

When I mention “groundwater,” the first thing you’re likely to imagine is a well for drinking water.  Most people know that you can stick a well in the ground and get water from it, but often never think about what that groundwater is doing before it gets to our wells.  A wise hydrologist once told me, “People never notice groundwater until there’s a problem with it.”  Generally, these problems involve water contamination (think Erin Brockovich), but just to show you that this isn’t always the case, I want to share an interesting story about an underground building doomed to an endless war with water.

First, though, I’ll start with a quick debrief on hydrology basics to get everyone on the same page.  At a certain depth below the land surface, the bedrock becomes saturated with water – this level is called the water table.  The saturated rock or material through…

Read at :

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130609195713.htm

How Do You Feed Nine Billion People?

June 9, 2013 — An international team of scientists has developed crop models to better forecast food production to feed a growing population — projected to reach 9 billion by mid-century — in the face of climate change.

In a paper appearing in Nature Climate Change, members of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project unveiled an all-encompassing modeling system that integrates multiple crop simulations with improved climate change models. AgMIP’s effort has produced new knowledge that better predicts global wheat yields while reducing political and socio-economic influences that can skew data and planning efforts, said Bruno Basso, Michigan State University ecosystem scientist and AgMIP member.

(continued)

Hopefully producers won’t have to irrigate as much this year as they did in 2012, but I’d like you to consider joining a program that can not only improve your irrigation efficiency, but reduce nutrient loss and save you money!  I’ve been in Extension for nearly eight years and a program I’ve been involved with that has been a very rewarding program and made a positive impact for many is the Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Network, or NAWMN. My colleague, Gary Zoubek tracks the evaluation results and shared that in 2005 only a few producers in the Upper Big Blue NRD, (shortly followed by the Little Blue NRD) were participating, but this program has now grown to over 800 producers across the state and I’m sure we’ll add another 100 or 200 more this season!

A couple of the tools we use are ETgages® or Atmometers which mimic crop…