Projects

Field research, modeling studies, and collaborative initiatives spanning Oregon's irrigated agricultural landscape and beyond.

Current Projects

Active · 2024–2027
ORBWI · $325,000 + $25K COAREC Match

CascadeFlux ET Network — Multi-Site Evapotranspiration Monitoring Framework

Multi-site research framework measuring crop ET using eddy covariance and lysimeters across COAREC (Madras), Malheur Experiment Station, and Klamath Basin Research & Extension Center. Developing Oregon-specific crop coefficients and crop water production functions under VRI deficit irrigation.

📍 COAREC · MES · KBREC 🤝 Dr. Sekaran · Dr. McLennon · Dr. Zamora Re 💧 Eddy covariance · Lysimeters · OpenET
Active · 2025
EOKBWG

Kentucky Bluegrass Irrigation Cutoff Timing — COAREC Field Experiment

Field experiment evaluating optimal irrigation cutoff timing for Kentucky bluegrass seed production at COAREC. Includes soil physics laboratory capability development, METER equipment deployment, and HYDRUS-1D parameterization for vadose zone modeling.

📍 COAREC, Madras OR 🔬 HYDRUS-1D · METER · Soil physics lab
Ongoing
OSU Extension / AgWaterTAP

AgWaterTAP — Agricultural Water Technical Assistance Program

Extension and technical assistance program supporting irrigated agriculture producers in Central Oregon with water management best practices, irrigation scheduling tools, and on-farm demonstration activities.

📍 Jefferson County · North Unit Irrigation District 🤝 Jefferson County SWCD · NUID

Proposed Projects

Submitted

Integrated Freshwater Demand Reduction and Nitrate Leaching Management

USDA-NIFA AFRI proposal ($750K, 4 years) featuring the P-RDI module, DNA algorithm, and Groundwater Protection Framework (GPF) integrating APEX, RT3D, and MODFLOW for concurrent water and nitrogen management optimization.

💰 $750K · 4-year · USDA-NIFA AFRI 🤝 Co-PI: Dr. Sekaran
In Development

AgriSurrogate — Physics-Informed Neural Network Surrogates for APEX

NVIDIA Academic Grant proposal developing AI surrogate models (PINN, LSTM) for computationally intensive APEX agricultural systems model simulations, enabling real-time decision support at scale. International collaboration with Nong Lam University, Vietnam.

🤖 PINN · APEX · GPU computing 🌐 NLU Vietnam collaboration
In Development

Precision Irrigation for Oregon Hazelnut Production

Oregon Hazelnut Commission proposal leveraging COAREC infrastructure and CascadeFlux ET data for hazelnut-specific crop coefficient development and precision irrigation scheduling.

🌰 Oregon Hazelnut Commission 📍 Central Oregon
In Development

Irrigation Water Management for Central Oregon Seed Potato

Oregon Potato Commission proposal leveraging COAREC seed potato infrastructure for ET monitoring, crop coefficient development, and precision irrigation scheduling for the Central Oregon seed potato industry.

🥔 Oregon Potato Commission 📍 COAREC, Madras OR