## 1 Introduction  
Water scarcity is one of the most pressing challenges in modern agriculture, exacerbated by climate change and the increasing demand for fresh water for urban areas [1,2]. Irrigated agriculture, which accounts for approximately 70% of global freshwater use, faces significant challenges in water management [3,4]. However, to properly assess these challenges, it is necessary to consider each country's geographical and socioeconomic differences and generate water management strategies specific to each location. In this sense, countries such as the Dominican Republic are characterized by substantial regional climatic differences in seasonal and annual rainfall, with temperature variations primarily defined by altitude. This indicates a significant climatic heterogeneity influenced by geographical features and marine conditions [5,6]. Because of this, the Dominican Republic has a diverse agricultural sector that cultivates key crops such as mango, cocoa beans, bananas, tobacco, and avocado [7]. The latter is a widely grown crop, especially in regions with tropical and subtropical climates, and has reached great relevance worldwide because of its health benefits and culinary versatility [8]. However, avocado trees are also characterized by having high water demands and vulnerability to water stress, which can negatively affect crop yields, quality, and sustainability [9,10]. Therefore, in the context of the high global demand for avocados, it is essential to maintain optimal fruit quality to ensure that small and medium producers are competitive [11] while also considering the current water scarcity scenario. Regarding irrigation management, it is essential to consider that the avocado roots that allow nutrient and water uptake correspond to the fine roots in the top 30 cm of the soil [12]. Therefore, irrigation methods such as drip irrigation, which provides precise water application directly to the root zone, and overhead sprinkling, which can cover larger areas but may lead to water loss through evaporation [8,12], must focus on this specific area of the root zone. Different technologies are currently being used in field settings to assess irrigation delivery effectiveness, which can sometimes be managed remotely to provide valuable insights into how much water to apply and when. This often involves soil moisture sensors that provide real-time or historical data and control automated systems. These tools can also be compared to remote sensing technologies such as satellite images, given that in regions where conventional irrigation management practices are not feasible due to technological constraints, remote sensing technologies offer a promising alternative for monitoring water stress and optimizing irrigation practices [13, 14, 15]. Satellite remote sensing has emerged as a valuable tool in agricultural water management, providing global coverage at a relatively high spatial resolution and monitoring vegetation health and water status over large areas [16, 17, 18]. Vegetation indices derived from satellite imagery, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), have been widely used to estimate vegetation vigor and stress [19,20]. The NDVI, based on the differential reflectance of red and near-infrared light, is particularly useful for assessing plant health and monitoring crop water stress, making it an essential tool in precision agriculture [21, 22, 23]. In contrast, the SAVI and NDWI are well suited to estimating the vigor of vegetation cover and its growth dynamics [24,25]. While satellite imagery has proven effective for vegetation monitoring, its integration with ground-based measurements is critical for enhancing the accuracy and reliability of water stress assessments. Soil moisture, a key indicator of plant water availability, is often measured at various depths to understand root-zone water content dynamics [26, 27, 28].