ASTER Digital Elevation Data: March

The area to be reached by irrigation water source (boreholes, rivers, wells) can be modeled through viewshed analyses. The process takes into consideration an “observer point” (location of water source) and “observer height” the estimated elevation from the surface the water can be lifted using a pump (treadle, wind powered, solar powered, etc.).  A viewshed analysis requires an elevation raster data set to determine which areas can be “seen” from the observer point. ASTER 30 m pixel resolution data was acquired from the NASA WIST data portal for the study region.

 The images above show a preliminary modeling of areas within and near Mzukuzuku that would be irrigable (in green) from perennial streams with a lift height of 5 m (left) and 7 m (right).