Center pivot irrigation

About: Center pivot irrigation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 934 publications have been published within this topic receiving 10333 citations. The topic is also known as: central pivot irrigation & circle irrigation.

Land Quality, Irrigation Development, and Cropping Patterns in the Northern High Plains

Abstract: This article examines the interactions between land quality, crop choice, and technological change using a framework that integrates cross-sectional and intertemporal aspects of diffusion. The empirical results indicate that (a) the acreages allocated to different crops vary significantly over land quality, (b) crops tend to be grown on specific ranges of land quality, (c) the introduction of center pivot technology induced significant changes in cropping patterns, (d) land quality-augmenting technologies tend to be utilized primarily on lower qualities of land, and (e) irrigation development has been quite sensitive to tax policies. This article develops a framework for incorporating land quality into empirical studies of cropping patterns and technology choice. The framework is applied in a study of the changes in cropping patterns associated with the spread of center pivot irrigation technology in the northern High Plains. The empirical framework is notable in that it (a) integrates the cross-sectional and intertemporal elements important in the diffusion of new technologies and (b) integrates technology choice with shifts in cropping patterns, a phenomenon which has been largely ignored in the empirical literature. The first section presents a theoretical model of crop and technology choice with differential land quality. Subsequent sections draw out and test the implications of this model for the diffusion of center pivot irrigation technology in the northern High Plains. Theoretical Model

Autonomous precision agriculture through integration of wireless underground sensor networks with center pivot irrigation systems

Abstract: Precision agriculture (PA) refers to a series of practices and tools necessary to correctly evaluate farming needs. The accuracy and effectiveness of PA solutions are highly dependent on accurate and timely analysis of the soil conditions. In this paper, a proof-of-concept towards an autonomous precision irrigation system is provided through the integration of a center pivot (CP) irrigation system with wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs). This Wireless Underground Sensor-Aided Center Pivot (WUSA-CP) system will provide autonomous irrigation management capabilities by monitoring the soil conditions in real time using wireless underground sensors. To this end, field experiments with a hydraulic drive and continuous-move center pivot irrigation system are conducted. The results are used to evaluate empirical channel models for soil-air communications. The experiment results show that the concept of WUSA-CP is feasible. Through the design of an underground antenna, communication ranges can be improved by up to 400% compared to conventional antenna designs. The results also highlight that the wireless communication channel between soil and air is significantly affected by many spatio-temporal aspects, such as the location and burial depth of the sensors, soil texture and physical properties, soil moisture, and the vegetation canopy height. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on the development of an autonomous precision irrigation system with WUSNs.

Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Corn in Response to LEPA Irrigation

Abstract: Center-pivot sprinklers are rapidly expanding on the Southern High Plains, and LEPA (low energy precision application) application methods are widely used in this region to reduce water application losses, to use the relatively low well yields, and to reduce energy requirements for pressurization This study was conducted to evaluate LEPA irrigation response of corn (Zea mays L) on slowly permeable Pullman clay loam (fine, mixed, thermic Torrertic Paleustoll) The effects of irrigation amount were investigated in a field study during the 1992 and 1993 cropping seasons at Bushland, Texas In 1992, a wetter than normal season, grain yields varied from 06 to 12 kg/m2 while in 1993, which was a season with slightly less than normal rain, grain yields varied from 04 to over 15 kg/m2 as irrigations increased from no-post plant irrigations to fully meeting the crop water use Irrigation amounts for the full irrigation varied from only 279 mm for the wet year to over 640 mm for the more normal year A significant relationship was found between grain yield and water use for the two years described as GY (kg/m2) = 000169 [WU (mm) – 147] with an r2 of 0882 and a Sy/x of 010 kg/m2 Deficit irrigation of corn, even with LEPA, reduced yields by affecting both seed mass and kernels per ear Generally, the grain yield was in proportion to dry matter yield LEPA irrigation was shown to be efficient in terms of partitioning the applied water into crop water use Irrigation amounts should not exceed 25 mm for alternate furrows (076-m rows) LEPA on the Pullman-type soils with furrow dike basins