Agricultural Dependence of the Formation of Water Balance Stability of the Sluch River Basin under Conditions of Climate Change

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to calculate water footprint in growing the basic field crops and establish the volumes of additional water accumulation to provide the hydro-functioning of the Sluch river basin in the territory of Ukraine under conditions of climate change. The research was based on the data of climate change analysis in 1901–2022, decoding of the actual satellite imagery of the spacecraft Sentinel 2 and statistical data on crop rotation structure in the agro-landscapes of the water catchment area in the research region. The volumes of water footprint were calculated for the vegetation periods of the basic field winter and spring crops in 2018–2021: 2018–2019 – a semi-wet year grows into a dry year; 2019–2020 – a dry year grows into a semi-wet year; 2020–2021 – a semi-wet year grows into a wet year. Spatio-temporal regularities of the formation of water footprint and the ratio of green and blue water use in growing different agricultural crops were determined. The total volume of water footprint in growing the field crops of a certain crop rotation equaled: in 2018–2019 – 1991 mln m3 , 2019–2020 – 2440 mln m3 , 2020–2021 – 2363 mln m3 . The total volume of precipitation in the vegetation period within the river water catchment area was: in 2018–2019 – 3760 mln mм3 , 2019–2020 – 4423 mln m3 , 2020–2021– 4839 mln m3 . The total volume of additional accumulation of green (rain) water in the vegetation period in the agro-landscapes of the river basin equaled: in 2018–2019 – 1769 mln m3 , or 47.0% of precipitation in the vegetation period (Pv); 2019–2020 – 1983 mln m3 , or 44.8% of Pv; 2020–2021 – 2476 mln m3 , or 51.2% of Pv. The proposed research scheme and the obtained results are important for adjusting and substantiating water- and resource-saving agrotechnologies and crop rotations depending on climate change, for determining water balance stability of the river basin in accordance with the indicators of additional accumulation of green water.