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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 57, Number 2 (2014) → Measuring Irrigation Uniformity in Bareroot Nurseries: A Case Study

Measuring Irrigation Uniformity in Bareroot Nurseries: A Case Study

A cup test was conducted to measure irrigation uniformity in a bareroot nursery field on a semipermanent, solid-set irrigation system with lateral irrigation lines 60 ft (18.3 m) apart and 60 ft (18.3 m) between sprinklers in the lines, with sprinklers arranged in a triangular pattern. Irrigation uniformity was good in the middle of the field, with Christian’s Coefficient of Uniformity (CU) of 86 percent, and the irrigation precipitation rate was 0.29 in per hr (0.74 cm per hr). Uniformity was considerably lower at the south end of the field (CU = 69 percent), mainly because of a different sprinkler layout designed to compensate for prevailing south and west winds. Precipitation rate at the end of the field was 150 percent more (0.43 in per hr [1.1 cm per hr]) than the interior of the field. Matching precipitation rates on sprinklers at the end of the field may reduce the higher precipitation rate, although the uneven spacing of sprinklers in the area will still reduce uniformity. Other irrigation management factors are discussed in relation to the soil conditions in the field and the results of the irrigation uniformity test.


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Author(s): Ronald P. Overton

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 57, Number 2 (2014)

Volume: 57

Number: 2