Irrigation Uniformity Affected by Spatial Arrangement of Sprinklers北大核心CSCD

【Objective】Irrigation uniformity is an important parameter in irrigation design. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally study the impact of spatial arrangement of sprinklers on irrigation uniformity.【Method】The FYRB471 sprinkler nozzles were used in the experiment, and the data collected from experiment under different water pressure and spatial arrangements of the sprinklers were used to calculate the Christiansen uniformity coefficient. We compared three spatial arrangements: triangle, square and hexagon. The irrigation-water depth curve under different pressure and arrangements was analyzed to calculate the irrigation uniformity.【Result】When water pressure remained constant, increasing sprinkler spacing scarified irrigation uniformity, while for a given sprinkler spacing, increasing water pressure benefited irrigation uniformity. There was no difference in irrigation uniformity between the three arrangements when the sprinkler spacing was <5.5 m, whereas when the spacing was >5.5 m, the irrigation of the triangle arrangement was most uniform.【Conclusion】Undesirable water pressure and sprinkler spacing could increase costing and jeopardize irrigation uniformity, and a rationale combination of sprinkler arrangement and water pressure is hence essential in designing sprinkler irrigation. From our experiment, spatially arranging the sprinklers in triangle with space between 5.5 m to 8.5 m and under water pressure between 200 kPa and 320 kPa appeared to be most efficient, increasing irrigation uniformity by more 80%. When the sprinkler spacing was less than 5.5 m, irrigation uniformity was almost same but the hexagon arrangement was preferred because it covered more area, thereby reducing cost compared to other two arrangements. © 2019 Journal of Irrigation and Drainage. All rights reserved.