ARS | Publication request: IRRIGATION SCHEDULING USING BIOLOGICALLY-BASED OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF CANOPY TEMPERATURE

Submitted to: International Symposium on Irrigation on Horticultural Crops
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: June 28, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Canopy temperature measurements are commonly used in irrigation scheduling. Previous work in our laboratory on the thermal dependence of plant metabolic parameters has been used to develop techniques for the determination of optimal plant temperatures. Since metabolism was found to be optimal at a species-specific temperature it was determined that irrigation scheduling based on the temperature of the plant relative to th biological optimum might be feasible. Several years of research and development along these lines have resulted in the development of an irrigation scheduling device called BIOTIC (Biologically Identified Optimum Temperature Interactive Console). The BIOTIC system utilizes canopy temperature and relative humidity measurements in conjunction with a species specific optimum temperature for irrigation scheduling. A U.S. patent has been issued for BIOTIC. The system has been applied to both drip pand sprinkler irrigation systems in a variety of environments for several crop species. Decision intervals for irrigation scheduling ranging from 15 minutes to 3 days have been successfully implemented. Irrigation decisions are entirely automated in season and require no user intervention or secondary analyses of data once the criteria have been established.