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Irrigation Management for Farmlands in American Samoa 

Dr. Sayed Bateni is working on a three year (2016-2018) project supported by the USGS (about $40,000) to collect in situ data on soil and crop in the farmlands of American Samoa.

Real-time Optimization of Irrigation Scheduling for Farmlands in Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa

Under the auspices of WRRC, Dr. Sayed Bateni  secured a long duration (2016-2020) project from the USDA (about $1,000,000) to improve water use efficiency through the development of a web-based smart irrigation scheduling tool for farmlands in Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa, and to increase grower awareness and adoption of irrigation management strategies that maintain profitable crop yield and quality without detrimental effects on water supply. Smart irrigation scheduling refers to technologies that can help farmers determine more precisely when crops need to be watered and how much water they require.

A robust approach will be developed to optimize irrigation scheduling in intensive vegetable production systems across diverse climatic zones in the Pacific Islands. The University of Hawaii team will expand on proven technology developed in California and modify it for climates, soil types, and crops in the Pacific Islands. The objectives are to 1) develop a weather-based irrigation scheduling system to improve water use efficiency for selected vegetable crops, 2) design an online tool to enable real-time irrigation scheduling on a field-by-field basis, and 3) implement an outreach program targeting farmers and other agriculture professionals to enhance their awareness to adopt an irrigation management strategy that conserves water resources and enhances farm productivity.

Dr. Bateni’s partners include CTAHR and WRRC from the UH campus as well as collaborators from the University of Guam and the American Samoa Community College.

 

A New Approach for the Accurate Estimation of Scour Depth around Bridge Piers in Hawaii

Dr. Sayed Bateni obtained a four year (2018-2021) project from the Hawaii State DOT and the Federal Highway Administration (about $500,000) to continue past research by retired professor Michelle Teng on the study of the scour process around bridge piers in Hawaii.

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