Center-pivot irrigation system for independent site-specific management of water and chemical application

King, B.A. and Wall, R.W. and Karksy, T.F. (2009) Center-pivot irrigation system for independent site-specific management of water and chemical application. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 25(2):198.

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Abstract

The development of lateral‐move and center‐pivot irrigation systems equipped for spatially variable water
application and those equipped with an independent chemical application system have largely evolved independently.
Integration of independent site‐specific water and chemical application with lateral‐move and center‐pivot irrigation systems
has received little attention. Increasing the utility of site‐specific management technologies added to automated irrigation
systems will increase their cost effectiveness and commercial potential. An independent chemical application system capable
of variable rate application was installed and tested on a 4‐span center‐pivot irrigation system equipped for variable rate
water application. The chemical application system was assembled using mini‐sprinklers and common commercial irrigation
system components. For uniform chemical application, the coefficient of uniformity (CU) values ranged from 84 to 90
providing acceptable application uniformity. For variable rate chemical application, CU values ranged from 79 to 93 and
measured mean area‐weighted relative application values were well correlated with target relative application values with
R2 of 0.9 or higher. Field testing of the chemical application system demonstrated that it can be used to effectively apply
spatially variable chemical application concurrent and independent of spatially variable water application.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1290
Subjects:	Water > Water management Irrigation > Site-specific irrigation
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	17 Apr 2009 15:39
Last Modified:	18 Oct 2016 15:10
Item ID:	1313
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1313