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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #378472
Research Project: Develop Water Management Strategies to Sustain Water Productivity and Protect Water Quality in Irrigated Agriculture

Location: Water Management Research

Title: Detecting tree water stress using a trunk relative water content measurement sensor

Author
item ALIZADEH, AZADEH - University Of Florida
item TOUDESHKI, ARASH - University Of California
item EHSANI, REZA - University Of California
item MIGLIACCIO, KATI - University Of Florida
item Wang, Dong

Submitted to: Smart Agricultural Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/2/2021
Publication Date: 7/9/2021
Citation: Alizadeh, A., Toudeshki, A., Ehsani, R., Migliaccio, K., Wang, D. 2021. Detecting tree water stress using a trunk relative water content measurement sensor. Smart Agricultural Technology. 1. Article 100003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2021.100003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2021.100003

Interpretive Summary: A key component for sustainable production of fruit crops is to develop an effect irrigation water management plan. In this field research, a new electronic sensor system capable of continuously monitoring pomegranate and nectarine tree water content was evaluated against traditional trunk diameter, stem water potential, and leaf stomatal conductance measurements. Strong linear correlations were obtained against these plant biophysical properties, which indicate a positive potential of deploying the sensor in an irrigation management plan for fruit crops.

Technical Abstract: Irrigation water management in tree crops require timely and accurate determination of crop water status for making irrigation scheduling decisions. However, commonly used techniques for measuring tree water status, such as stem water potential measured with pressure chambers or leaf stomatal conductance measured with porometers, are manually operated and lack the timeliness for making irrigation decisions at real time. The objective of this research was to develop and field test a new electronic sensor system capable of continuously monitoring tree trunk relative water content. Replicated sensors were installed in experimental orchards planted with pomegranate and nectarine trees. Data collected from the sensor readings were compared with periodic trunk diameter, stem water potential, and leaf stomatal conductance measurements. Strong linear correlations were observed between sensor readings and tree trunk diameter variations, but with a 3-4 hour phase lag. Sensor readings were also strongly correlated to stem water potential (R2 = 0.58-0.85), and leaf stomatal conductance (R2 = 0.60-0.84) for both pomegranate and nectarine trees. The next step is to further validate the sensors in commercial orchards and apply the sensors for making real-time irrigation water management decisions.