UC 2024: WAPlugin: a QGIS solution for accessing, validating, and analyzing ... (Hans van der Kwast)

In the face of climate variability and its impact on global agricultural practices, the sustainable use of soil and water resources has become increasingly critical. The FAO WaPOR portal offers an extensive database of readily available data derived from remote sensing products, enabling the monitoring of agricultural water productivity worldwide.
While two online platforms currently provide access to these data, the retrieval process can be complex and time-consuming. To address this challenge, the WAPlugin, a QGIS plugin, has been developed to directly retrieve WaPOR data within QGIS. It offers an interactive interface that ensures access to all available data sets and allows simultaneous download of multiple rasters.
Additionally, as WaPOR data primarily relies on remote sensing products, it is essential to conduct data validation processes to ensure accuracy for further analysis and decision-making. WAPlugin incorporates a comprehensive built-in option for users to validate downloaded WaPOR data. This process involves comparing the WaPOR data with ground-based measurements provided by users, enabling the computation of various metrics that deepen the understanding of the agreement between WaPOR and ground data. The validation results can be exported in various formats for further processing.
Furthermore, users can compute various performance indicators, which serve as metrics for assessing and monitoring water and land productivity. WAPlugin offers a selection of built-in indicators that can be easily computed.
By automating the process of water and land productivity assessments using WaPOR data, WAPlugin allows users to focus on decision-making rather than data download and processing. This presentation will showcase the capabilities of WAPlugin and highlight its potential in facilitating informed decision-making in areas such as irrigation schemes, crop production, and water consumption.