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PRECISION IRRIGATION. By: Nick Baldwin. Irrigation in the United States. Number of farms irrigated: 220,163 Total acres: 52,583,431 Water used (total acre-ft): 86,894,031. Top 5 States for Irrigation California 8,856,326 acres
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PRECISION IRRIGATION By: Nick Baldwin
Irrigation in the United States • Number of farms irrigated: 220,163 • Total acres: 52,583,431 • Water used (total acre-ft): 86,894,031
Top 5 States for Irrigation • California 8,856,326 acres • Nebraska 7,536,860 acres • Texas 4,944,631 acres • Arkansas 3,999,645 acres • Idaho 3,182,176 acres
Type of Irrigations Flood (furrow) Irrigation Center-Pivot Irrigation systems Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) Subsurface Irrigation Drip/Microirrigation
Flood (furrow) Irrigation Systems • Flood irrigation is the least expensive irrigation method where water is relatively cheap. • It should only be used on very flat fields, where ponding is not a problem. • Flooding is a good way to flush salts out of the soil. • It is highly inefficient, however, when speaking of water loss through evaporation.
Center-Pivot Irrigation Vs. LEPA Center-Pivot Irrigation Systems • Center-Pivot up to 35 percent, is lost because of evaporation and the blowing winds. • Center-Pivot LEPA systems allow more than 90-percent of the water pumped to be used by the crop. • Crop water use efficiency increased by 50%-75%. Water savings compared to any surface irrigation up to 45-70%.
Subsurface Irrigation and Drip/Microirrigation • Subsurface irrigation water below the ground surface by using a buried perforated or porous pipe system that discharges directly into the root zone. • In properly designed and operated systems, little or no wetting of the soil surface occurs. • Microirrigation is a low pressure, low volume irrigation system suitable for high-return value Crops such as fruit and vegetable Crops. • Excellent management is needed to maintain the system since clogging of the emitters • High initial cost of the systems.
Type of sensors used • Infrared Thermo-Couples (IRT) • Red Band Wave (RED) • Near Infrared Band (NIR)
Irrigation system where sensors control water output • Used to optimize irrigation water by using data from crop (plant temperature and Leaf Area Index) and soil.
Thermal Scanner on board a helicopter. * This was a study done of water stress on cotton in Arizona.
Irrigation Systems apply water at constant rate • Infrared pictures used to show water movement.
Sources • http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/fris/frisfeaturestory.pdf • http://www.irrigation.org/gov/pdf/Fed_FarmRanchIrrSurvey_ReillyPresen_Nov152004.pdf • http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/irmethods.html • http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/sdi/Photos/Photos.htm • http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/sdi/Reports/2000/K-StateRep/campis.htm • http://www.colorado.gov/oemc/programs/agriculture/precision_irrigation/nice3.pdf • http://precisionagriculture.tamu.edu/brochures/Remotesensing_final.pdf • http://precag.tamu.edu/reports/files/sub22/Bart_Thesis.pdf • http://agebb.missouri.edu/irrigate/bhconf/2000/ppt7/tsld014.htm