FARMing with Data OpenET Introduces FARMS Tool to Aid Water Management

FARMing with Data OpenET Introduces FARMS Tool to Aid Water Management
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 05, 2025

A collaborative effort supported by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is enhancing the ability of farmers and ranchers to manage their water resources effectively. The initiative, led by OpenET, has resulted in the launch of the Farm and Ranch Management Support (FARMS) tool, designed to deliver high-resolution, real-time water data to individual users and small farm operators. By increasing data accessibility, the tool aims to bolster agricultural planning, optimize water use, and improve conservation efforts, thereby strengthening local and regional agricultural communities.

"It's all about finding new ways to make satellite data easier to access and use for as many people as possible," said Forrest Melton, OpenET project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. "The goal is to empower users with actionable, science-based data to support decisions about water management across the West."

OpenET Data Explorer and the Evolution of FARMS

The FARMS tool is the latest enhancement to OpenET's Data Explorer, a platform introduced in 2021 to provide evapotranspiration (ET) data. ET represents the volume of water transitioning from the Earth's surface back into the atmosphere through evaporation from soil and transpiration by plants. This metric is crucial for agricultural operations, water resource management, irrigation planning, drought assessment, and wildfire risk analysis.

Utilizing Landsat satellite data, OpenET evaluates land surface temperature and vegetation conditions. This information is then integrated with agricultural datasets, including field boundaries, alongside meteorological factors such as temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and precipitation. These combined inputs power models that generate precise ET data, now more readily available through the FARMS interface.

"This amount of data can be complicated to use, so user input helped us shape FARMS," explained Jordan Harding, app developer and interface design lead at HabitatSeven. "It provides a mobile-friendly, map-based web interface designed to make it as easy as possible to get automated, regular reports."

"The FARMS tool is designed to help farmers optimize irrigation timing and amounts, simplify planning for the upcoming irrigation season, and automate ET and water use reporting," said OpenET CEO Sara Larsen. "All of this reduces waste, lowers costs, and informs crop planning."

Broad Utility Beyond Agriculture

Though primarily designed for farmers, the FARMS tool holds value for a wider audience in the western U.S. Land managers involved in wildfire recovery efforts can utilize the data to assess burn scars and hydrological shifts, while resource managers can track ET changes over time to evaluate forest management strategies.

New Features in FARMS

To refine the tool, OpenET conducted listening sessions with farmers, ranchers, and resource managers. One of the most requested functions was the ability to perform field-to-field comparisons, assisting in irrigation planning and identifying potential problem areas such as pest or weed infestations.

FARMS includes several user-friendly features such as customizable field boundary selection, personalized reporting tools, and automated daily or monthly updates. Unlike existing global ET datasets with resolutions exceeding half a mile per pixel, FARMS offers a fine-scale resolution of a quarter-acre per pixel, enabling users to analyze detailed field-level data.

"If I had told my father about this 15 years ago, he would have called me crazy," said Dwane Roth, a fourth-generation farmer in Kansas. "Thanks to OpenET, I can now monitor water loss from my crops in real time. By combining it with data from our soil moisture probes, this tool is enabling us to produce more food with less water. It's revolutionizing agriculture."

For Brett Baker, a sixth-generation California pear farmer, the platform's 25-year dataset is particularly valuable. "My family has been farming the same crop on the same land for over 150 years," Baker said. "Using FARMS gives us the ability to review historical trends and changes to understand what worked and what didn't year to year: maybe I need to apply more fertilizer to that field, or better weed control to another. Farmers know their land, and FARMS provides a new tool that will allow us to make better use of land and resources."

For many users, the most significant benefit is the reassurance it provides. "Being a farmer is stressful," Roth added. "OpenET is beneficial for the farm and agronomic decisions, but I think the best thing it gives me is peace of mind."

Future Development of FARMS

The OpenET team intends to present the FARMS tool at upcoming agricultural conferences and conventions to gather further user feedback. "We know that there is already a demand for a seven-day forecast of ET, and I'm sure there will be requests about the interface itself," said OpenET senior software engineer Will Carrara. "We're definitely looking to the community to help us further refine that platform."

Baker sees endless potential for FARMS. "I think there are many applications we haven't even thought of yet," he noted. "The FARMS interface isn't just a tool; it's an entirely new toolbox itself. I'm excited to see what people do with it."

For more resources and tutorials on how to use FARMS, visit here