Agronomy and Horticulture

Greta Berendes, doctoral student at Harvard University, will present Aug. 19 at 2 p.m. Study finds that irrigation helps cool down crops, and cooling effect accounts for more than 70% of boost in maize yields.
Greta Berendes, doctoral student at Harvard University, will present Aug. 19 at 2 p.m. Study finds that irrigation helps cool down crops, and cooling effect accounts for more than 70% of boost in maize yields.

Visiting Harvard University doctoral student to present on mapping irrigation and measuring cooling effect on yields Aug. 19

Greta Berendes, doctoral student in earth and planetary science at Harvard University’s Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, will present “Mapping Irrigation and Measuring Its Cooling Impact on Crop Yields” at 2 p.m. in 150 Keim Hall and at https://go.unl.edu/8tzy.

This presentation will introduce a high-resolution, probabilistic framework for detecting irrigation using Landsat-derived land surface temperature (LST) and Bayesian priors. By linking this thermal signal to maize yield data across Nebraska and Kansas, the study demonstrates that irrigation substantially reduces crop heat exposure, with cooling effects explaining over 70% of the yield benefit.

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/xp4s
 
Originally published August 19, 2025 - Submit an Item

Agronomy and Horticulture

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