(UK-GAP: diSMART) UK-Ghana Agrophysics Partnership: deepening insight into Soil Moisture dynAmics for pRecision irrigaTion
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Description
Agriculture is vital to Ghana?s rural communities and economy, supporting half the population and contributing significantly to its GDP. However, the Ghanaian agricultural sector faces severe threats from climate change, particularly frequent droughts and unpredictable rainfall. To strengthen climate resilience, the Ghanaian Government is promoting a shift to reliable irrigated farming?with pulse surface drip irrigation (PSDI) as a key strategy. Yet, current PSDI systems perform poorly in semi-arid regions due to a limited understanding of soil moisture dynamics?a complex, multiscale process influenced by strong couplings between soil, water, plants, and microclimate. This project, UK-GAP: diSMART (UK-Ghana Agrophysics Partnership: deepening insight into Soil Moisture dynAmics for pRecision irrigaTion), aims to transform precision irrigation by deepening physical insight into these processes and co-developing a novel decision-support tool. By integrating lab experiments, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), machine learning (ML), and data fusion (DF), the research will create a first-of-its-kind physics-artificial intelligence (AI) hybrid framework capable of accurately predicting soil moisture dynamics in semi-arid agriculture. The team consists of researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU-UK), Cranfield University (Cranfield-UK) , and University for Development Studies (UDS-Ghana). The team?s complementary research expertise and resources forms the foundation of this project. Supported by local partners, such as the World Bank-funded West African Center for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture (WACWISA), the project is uniquely positioned to deliver broad impact across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Expected outcomes include improved crop yields and income stability for smallholders, enhanced water-use efficiency, strengthened climate resilience, and expanded African research capability in agrophysics. Through equitable UK?Ghana collaboration, the project will also advance gender-inclusive practices and establish a sustainable Africa?UK network for agrophysics research, directly supporting regional food security and climate adaptation.
Objectives
Agriculture is vital to Ghana?s rural communities and economy, supporting half the population and contributing significantly to its GDP. However, the Ghanaian agricultural sector faces severe threats from climate change, particularly frequent droughts and unpredictable rainfall. To strengthen climate resilience, the Ghanaian Government is promoting a shift to reliable irrigated farming?with pulse surface drip irrigation (PSDI) as a key strategy. Yet, current PSDI systems perform poorly in semi-arid regions due to a limited understanding of soil moisture dynamics?a complex, multiscale process influenced by strong couplings between soil, water, plants, and microclimate. This project, UK-GAP: diSMART (UK-Ghana Agrophysics Partnership: deepening insight into Soil Moisture dynAmics for pRecision irrigaTion), aims to transform precision irrigation by deepening physical insight into these processes and co-developing a novel decision-support tool. By integrating lab experiments, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), machine learning (ML), and data fusion (DF), the research will create a first-of-its-kind physics-artificial intelligence (AI) hybrid framework capable of accurately predicting soil moisture dynamics in semi-arid agriculture. The team consists of researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU-UK), Cranfield University (Cranfield-UK) , and University for Development Studies (UDS-Ghana). The team?s complementary research expertise and resources forms the foundation of this project. Supported by local partners, such as the World Bank-funded West African Center for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture (WACWISA), the project is uniquely positioned to deliver broad impact across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Expected outcomes include improved crop yields and income stability for smallholders, enhanced water-use efficiency, strengthened climate resilience, and expanded African research capability in agrophysics. Through equitable UK?Ghana collaboration, the project will also advance gender-inclusive practices and establish a sustainable Africa?UK network for agrophysics research, directly supporting regional food security and climate adaptation.
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