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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419475
Research Project: Science and Technologies for Improving Soil and Water Resources in Agricultural Watersheds

Location: Watershed Physical Processes Research

Title: USDA LTAR common experiment measurement: Irrigation water applied

Author
item DUBOSE, RACHEL - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item O'Reilly, Andrew - Andy
item Baffaut, Claire
item Witthaus, Lindsey

Submitted to: Protocols.io
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/24/2024
Publication Date: 9/24/2024
Citation: Dubose, R., O'Reilly, A.M., Baffaut, C., Witthaus, L.M. 2024. USDA LTAR common experiment measurement: Irrigation water applied. Protocols.io. https://doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.j8nlk86ydl5r/v1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.j8nlk86ydl5r/v1

Interpretive Summary: This protocol is part of a larger set published at protocols.io for the LTAR Common Experiment. This protocol outlines how to measure the amount of irrigation water applied. These measurements are important to agriculture because they are required in order to calculate the volume of water applied during crop irrigation, which affects the growth of crops and the influence of crop production on the surrounding environment. The goal is to provide repeatable guidelines to achieve consistent data collection, instrument maintenance, data processing, and quality control for obtaining these data at cropland sites across the U.S.

Technical Abstract: Irrigation is the amount of water applied to a field or plot per unit area. Irrigation supplements rainfall to provide adequate soil moisture for successful crop production. Irrigation is a vital component of agriculture in the western and central United States and is becoming more prevalent throughout the United States, even in humid regions where the quantity and timing of rainfall often does not coincide with crop water requirements. Different types of irrigation are used across the United States (e.g., overhead (linear or pivot), sprinkler gun, subsurface drip, surface drip, or gravity/furrow/flood). Using a flowmeter on the main distribution pipe is recommended for measuring irrigation amounts. To adequately measure irrigation in research plots, the characteristics of the distribution pipe for each individual plot must be considered.