Dinesh Gulati

Ph.D. Candidate in Water Resources

University of Idaho · Agrohydrology for Global Change Lab

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Water Resources at the University of Idaho, working with Dr. Meetpal S. Kukal in the Agrohydrology for Global Change Lab. My dissertation develops and deploys soil water budget models tailored to Idaho agroecosystems, from field-scale FAO-56 simulations and eddy covariance measurements to OpenET-based consumptive use across the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. I also build no-code tools such as FAO56-Studio so growers, water managers, and students can run these models themselves.

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Research interests

Soil water budgeting

FAO-56 dual crop coefficient models and contributions to the open-source pyfao56 package, recipient of the Irrigation Association's 2025 Vanguard Award.

Remote sensing and consumptive use

Google Earth Engine workflows with OpenET, gridMET, and soils data to quantify consumptive water use from field to water-entity scales across the Eastern Snake Plain.

Climate-smart agriculture

How soil organic carbon gains and conservation practices change agrohydrological outcomes across soils, climates, and irrigation management.

Scientific software

Interactive web tools for agricultural water management, including FAO56-Studio and the SnakeFlux eddy covariance cooperator portal.

News

Jul 2026Presented two talks and a poster at the ASABE Annual International Meeting in Indianapolis, including a demo of FAO56-Studio.
Apr 2026New first-author paper in Water Resources Research: improved water retention from soil carbon accrual delivers only marginal agrohydrological benefits. Read it.
Mar 2026Poster at the Idaho Water Quality Workshop on the feasibility of deficit irrigation in Idaho's Magic Valley. View poster.
2026Received the Grant A. Harris Fellowship from METER Group ($10,000 in instruments).
Nov 2025Two talks at CANVAS 2025 in Salt Lake City and a poster at the Pacific Northwest Water Summit in Boise. View poster.
2025pyfao56 received the Irrigation Association's Vanguard Award.

Selected publications

All publications

Improved water retention from soil carbon accrual delivers only marginal agrohydrological benefits under most conditions

Gulati, D., & Kukal, M. S.

Water Resources Research, 62(4), e2025WR041768 (2026)

DOI
Version 1.4.0 – pyfao56: FAO-56 evapotranspiration in Python

Thorp, K. R., Gulati, D., Kukal, M., Ames, R., Pokoski, T., & DeJonge, K. C.

SoftwareX, 30, 102109 (2025)

SoftwareVanguard Award 2025DOI Code
Estimation of potential recharge through direct seeded and transplanted rice fields in semi-arid regions of Punjab using HYDRUS-1D

Gulati, D., Satpute, S., Kaur, S., & Aggarwal, R.

Paddy and Water Environment, 1–14 (2022)

DOI

Tools I build

All software

FAO56-Studio An interactive, no-code web platform for simulating FAO-56 based soil water budgets with the dual crop coefficient approach. pyfao56 Open-source Python package for FAO-56 evapotranspiration and soil water balance. Recipient of the Irrigation Association's 2025 Vanguard Award. SnakeFlux Cooperator portal that automates eddy covariance data delivery and visualization for research partners.

Interested in collaborating?

I'm always happy to talk about research collaborations, the tools above, or questions about my work.

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