PURE is an innovative digital platform specifically designed to revolutionise renewable energy demand planning for river lift irrigation in Bhutan. It harnesses the power of satellite imagery and advanced modelling.

PURE enables user-guided inputs, allowing users to select various dataset layers encompassing administrative boundaries, transmission lines, river networks, canals, road access, and more. These layers are seamlessly integrated to visualise potential renewable energy demand for river lift irrigation and cost predictions across national, dzongkhag, and gewog levels through clear graphics and tables.

PURE is developed by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Department of Energy (DoE), under the Women’s Empowerment through Renewable Energy-powered Decentralized Lift Irrigation Systems in Bhutan (WERELIS-Bhutan) project, supported by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Government of Canada.

Team

Energy Team

• Avishek Malla
• Mewang Gyeltshen
• Pugazenthi Dhananjayan
• Sujan Nepali

Regional Information Service Team

• Bikram Shakya
• Birendra Bajracharya
• Nimesh Bhandari
• Prabhat Shrestha
• Sudip Pradhan

Data References

PURE uses the following data layers:

Land Cover
Department of Surveying and Mapping (DoSAM), 2023, Land Use Land Cover of Bhutan 2020, Maps and Statistics

Irrigated Area
Irrigation Division, Department of Infrastructure Development, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Royal Government of Bhutan https://www.moit.gov.bt/en/irrigation-div/

SRTM Digital Elevation Model
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory [NASA JPL]. (2013, September 04). NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Global 1 arc second V003 [SRTMGL1.003]. Retrieved from NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center [LP DAAC]. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/SRTM/SRTMGL1.003

Soil Texture
National Soil Services Centre, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Royal Government of Bhutan https://www.nssc.gov.bt/

FAO Soil Depth
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) [Soil Reference Depth]. (n.d.). Soil reference depth from HWSD v1.2 (Global). FAO catalogue. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/soils-portal/data-hub/soil-maps-and-databases/harmonized-world-soil-database-v12/en/

HydroSHEDS River
Lehner, B., & Grill, G. (2013). Global river hydrography and network routing: baseline data and new approaches to study the world's large river systems. Hydrological Processes, 27(15), 2171-2186. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9740

Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND)
Donchyts, G., Winsemius, H., Schellekens, J., Erickson, T., Gao, H., Savenije, H., & van de Giesen, N. (2016, April 19). Global 30m Height Above the Nearest Drainage (HAND). Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 18, EGU2016-17445-3.

Grid Network
Bhutan Power Corporation Limited (BPC), Druk Holding and Investment Limited (DHI), the commercial arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan

Irrigation Water Requirement
Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Royal Government of Bhutan. National Irrigation Master Plan. 2016.

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Disclaimer: The data used for the Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) Platform are sourced from various references as highlighted above. All data referenced in the above bibliography are utilized to derive potential area for lift irrigation, compute the power and cost required for pump lift irrigation.
The accuracy and reliability of the data are dependent on the original sources.