Comparative Research of Virtual Water and Water Footprint

Virtual water and water footprint are useful water management tools,which bring water research from environmental region to social economic region.Although they share similar characters,they are also different from each other.So based on comparative research,the aspects of research scope,objects,angle of view,calculation method and research meaning of them are compared.And the result shows that virtual water is more convenient under specific conditions,while water footprint has wider usage compared with virtual water.The distinguishing of virtual water and water footprint is helpful for further study with both of them,as well as better usage in water resource research.