An irrigation system for plots under a rain shelter

• Published in: Agricultural water management 1990, Vol.17 (4), p.409-414
• Main Authors: Nesmith, D.S., Miller, A., Ritchie, J.T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; ESTRUCTURAS DE PROTECCION; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; IRRIGATION SYSTEMS; Irrigation. Drainage; PLANT WATER RELATIONS; PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES; RELACIONES PLANTA AGUA; RELATION PLANTE EAU; RESEAU D'IRRIGATION; SISTEMAS DE RIEGO; STRUCTURE DE PROTECTION
• ISSN: 0378-3774; 1873-2283
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-3774(90)90089-H

Rain shelters are important research tools for studying the soil-plant-water system. Much attention has been given to the design of these structures for the purpose of keeping water off plots; however, irrigation under these structures has not been widely reported. A simple irrigation system was developed from readily available materials for use under a large rain shelter. Solid set, lowvolume sprinklers frequently used by the turf industry were employed. Performance and evaluation tests showed that the system had uniform water distribution over the main-plot area of 4.6 × 6.2 m 2 plots, while minimizing overlap between adjacent plots. The water application rate achieved was approximately 25 mm h −1 for individual units. Christiansen uniformity coefficients ( cuc) were 83 to 85% for tested units. Water falling a distance of 0.7 m or less outside of a plot was less than 3 mm h −1, while at greater distances it was essentially zero.