The development and operation of a decision support system (DSS) for irrigation water management can be a complex task, especially when the initial specifications require increased precision, the area under consideration is large and the cost of installation and maintenance of equipment should be sustainable. For this reason, the use of a sparse, network of reference agrometeorological stations, to gather data, based on which irrigation water management recommendations will be provided, is an adequate yet challenging option.

This paper attempts to present the challenges that arise when designing and operating such systems and approaches that have been used to address them. At the epicentre lie the methods that were used to process data from reference agrometeorological stations in order to generate virtual water management data entities for field level. Several examples that were found through literature review are presented and discussed along with facts from the experience resulted from the operation, of such a system in Greece.

The purpose is to encourage the exchange of ideas and methods with other parts of the scientific community involved in the development of IT tools for precision irrigation water management.