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Evaluation of relevant sprayer parameters for use with precision irrigation in landscape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2017

S. Shahidian ,
J. M. R. Serrano  and
R. Hakimi
S. Shahidian*
Affiliation:
ICAAM, Rural Engineering Department, University of Évora, P.O. Box 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
J. M. R. Serrano
Affiliation:
ICAAM, Rural Engineering Department, University of Évora, P.O. Box 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
R. Hakimi
Affiliation:
Gardens Department, BWC, Hatziout Avenue, Haifa, Israel
*
†E-mail: shakib@uevora.pt
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Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the capacity of existing landscape irrigation equipment to deliver the expected irrigation depth at a level of uniformity that can potentially be used in a precision irrigation management environment. Popular pop-up sprayer systems from two leading manufacturers (Rain-bird and Hunter variable arc and fixed arc nozzles) were subject to spatial distribution tests, in order to establish the application patterns under ideal conditions. The results indicate that it is not possible to fully rely on the catalog application depth values, with some variable arc nozzles applying up to 200% of the catalog values. These nozzles can have low values of uniformity, with Christiansen´s uniformity coefficient, CU, of between 0.31 and 0.70, making it difficult to obtain good uniformity even under a back-to-back setting. These results indicate that variable arc nozzles are not recommended for use in precision agriculture. It is preferable to use fixed arc nozzles, after actual field evaluation.

Keywords

sprayer nozzlesuniformityirrigation efficiency
Type
Agri-engineering
Information
Advances in Animal Biosciences , Volume 8 , Special Issue 2: Papers presented at the 11th European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA 2017), John McIntyre Centre, Edinburgh, UK, July 16–20 2017 , July 2017 , pp. 865 - 869
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2017 

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