AUTOMATING TRICKLE-IRRIGATION USING CONTINUOUS CANOPY TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS
Irrigation management involves controlling the timing and quantity of water applied.
A field experiment was conducted to investigate the use of canopy temperature as a single irrigation decision criterion.
The objective was to determine if lint yield and water use efficiency for cotton could be improved by using canopy threshold temperature to control irrigation as compared to soil water replacement.
Six irrigation management treatments were evaluated: 1) Dryland, 2) 28C - irrigated when canopy exceeded 28°C, 3) 30C - irrigated when canopy exceeded 30°C, 4) 32C - irrigated when canopy exceeded 32°C, 5) SWR - replace extracted water weekly, and 6) AUS - replace extracted water every 2 weeks. (The symbols SWR and AUS are simply arbitrary choices to represent those irrigation regimes.)
Canopy temperature (Tc) was monitored continuously with two fixed infrared thermometers (IRT's) in each treatment. Biomass and fruit development were monitored by destructive sampling throughout the growing season. The highest yield was observed in 28C and AUS treatments. The highest water use efficiency (kg ·lint/cm water used) was observed in the 30C temperature threshold treatment. The results of this project indicate that irrigation control using a threshold Tc can simplify automated irrigation without decreasing yield and may increase water use efficiency.
Upchurch, D.R., Wanjura, D.F. and Mahan, J.R. (1990). AUTOMATING TRICKLE-IRRIGATION USING CONTINUOUS CANOPY TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS. Acta Hortic. 278, 299-324
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.278.29
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.278.29
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.278.29
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.278.29
278_29
299-324