Weighing lysimeter data for the Bushland, Texas, sorghum datasets

Authors: Evett, Steven - Steve; Marek, Gary; Copeland, Karen; HOWELL, TERRY - Retired ARS Employee; Colaizzi, Paul; Ruthardt, Brice

Submitted to: Ag Data Commons
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2024
Publication Date: 8/13/2024
Citation: Evett, S.R., Marek, G.W., Copeland, K.S., Howell, T.A., Colaizzi, P.D., Ruthardt, B.B. 2024. Weighing lysimeter data for the Bushland, Texas, sorghum datasets. Ag Data Commons. https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25114610.v1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25114610.v1

Interpretive Summary: The scarcity of water resources in the U.S. Southern High Plains is of regional, national and even international concern due to the fact that the region acts as a breadbasket for the nation and world. The majority of agricultural production in this region depends on irrigation, largely dependent on pumping from the Ogallala or High Plains Aquifer, which are yielding less water every year. Scientists at the USDA ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory at Bushland, Texas, collected data that can be used to calculate crop water use and crop water productivity under irrigated and dryland conditions in the region’s climate, including for subsurface drip irrigation that can save water. In the 1988, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 through the 2007, 2014, and 2015 seasons (13 years), sorghum was grown on from one to four large, precision weighing lysimeters used to measure crop water use, each in the center of a 4.44 ha square field also planted to sorghum. This dataset consists of periodic sorghum growth water use and microclimate data for each year. These data have not been previously publicly available in a readily useable format. Thus, the scientific team has prepared these unique data sets for sharing with other scientists and the general public on the USDA National Agricultural Library online data sharing library. These data sets have already been used along with crop yield data, to calculate crop water productivity, and crop coefficients to guide irrigation scheduling and water planning locally and regionally. Public accessibility via the USDA National Agricultural Library will increase their use by other researchers developing more capable water management tools and crop water use and yield computer models.

Technical Abstract: This dataset consists of weighing lysimeter data for sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)] grown for grain or forage at the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (CPRL), Soil and Water Management Research Unit (SWMRU), Bushland, Texas (Lat. 35.186714°, Long. -102.094189°, elevation 1170 m above MSL) in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 through 2007, 2014, and 2015 (13 years) on from one to four large, precision weighing lysimeters, each in the center of a 4.44 ha square field similarly cropped. In 2006 and 2007, sorghum was also grown for forage. The weighing lysimeters were used to measure mass, which was converted to relative soil water storage with 0.05 mm accuracy at 5-minute intervals, and the 5-minute change in soil water storage was used along with precipitation and irrigation amounts to calculate crop evapotranspiration (ET), which is reported at 15-minute intervals. Although a quality control process was used, the ET data in this dataset are considered raw data. Advanced algorithms for detection of precipitation, dew and frost were applied in a separate process to determine ET values that are reported in files in a dataset entitled "Evapotranspiration and Water Balance Data for The Bushland, Texas Sorghum Datasets". Those files have "water-balance" in their names. Each lysimeter was equipped with a suite of instruments to sense wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity, components of the radiation balance (e.g., net radiation, incoming and reflected shortwave, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), incoming and reflected longwave, thermal infrared emitted by the plant/soil surface), soil heat flux, soil temperature, and soil volumetric water content at certain depths. Not all properties were always sensed in any one year; and instruments used changed from season to season, which are reasons that subsidiary datasets and data dictionaries for each season are required. This dataset originates from research aimed at determining crop water use (ET), crop coefficients for use in ET-based irrigation scheduling based on a reference ET, crop growth, yield, harvest index, and crop water productivity as affected by irrigation method, timing, amount (full or some degree of deficit), lack of irrigation (dryland production), agronomic practices, cultivar, and weather. Prior publications have focused on sorghum ET, crop coefficients, crop water productivity, and simulation modeling of crop growth, water use, and yield. Crop coefficients have been used by ET networks. The data have utility for testing simulation models of crop ET, growth, and yield and have been used by both USDA and university researchers.