We are working on a formula to calculate irrigation needs for agricultural soil, to help farmers (and the planet) with saving water. We work with water sensors in the agri fields and want to assist the farmers with a time sheet for telling them when they would need to start irrigation. Let's say you need to irrigate field A in 4 days and field B in 9, so they would have a timetable. We have many different factors at the moment, and we do not think it is realistic to account for them all because it would make the formula too complicated and maybe inaccurate. We have the following factors in mind:
Absolute and relative humidity of ambient air. (plus minus 2 meter)
Near surface soil humidity.
Soil humidity at the lower basis A(h) horizon (plus minus 30 cm), both absolute and relative.
Air temperature.
Soil temperature at the depths given above (1-5 cm and plus minus 30 cm).
Amount of precipitation over the last 24-48 hours.
Evaporation + transpiration= evapotranspiration rate.
Duration of sunshine exposure over last 12-24 hours.
Amount of water required by the crop for healthy growing circumstances (statistical data).
Stage of plant growth
Wind
Irrigation practice.
Climate
Type of soil (to account for soil drainage)
Plant density
They all affect the irrigation needs but some are not as important, please assist me with your expertise in telling me which are not as impactful/ important. And which are absolutely crucial to account for. Maybe we even have missed some?
With kind regards, Morris la Crois
Hi, please check this recent research in this field:
Article Abaxial leaf surface-mounted multimodal wearable sensor for ...
Morris La Crois Plant characteristics in your model include mostly statistical or pre-measured data
1) Evaporation + transpiration= evapotranspiration rate.
2) Amount of water required by the crop for healthy growing circumstances (statistical data).
3) Stage of plant growth
4) Plant density
But, real water useage will depend more on plant leaf area, architecture of plants, physiological state of plants (stressed/healthy), and some other crop type/cultivar specific traits.
PS: Speaking about "Soil humidity at the lower basis A(h) horizon (plus minus 30 cm), both absolute and relative."
- plant root architecture is essential for water usage, especially in water-limited conditions. Stimulation of root growth at early plant development increase considerably amount of available for plant water due to deeper soil penetration (much deeper than 30 cm). It was a lot of hope for plant "Vigor Effect(R)" after thiamethoxam (Cruiser) application at 2008-2010 - it stimulated plant growth under water shortage, but neonicotinoid were banned...
Rogers, Eric D., and Philip N. Benfey. "Regulation of plant root system architecture: implications for crop advancement." Current Opinion in Biotechnology 32 (2015): 93-98.
Manschadi, A. M., Christopher, J., deVoil, P., & Hammer, G. L. (2006). The role of root architectural traits in adaptation of wheat to water-limited environments. Functional plant biology, 33(9), 823-837.
Hi,
One of the factors that affects water need is underground water pipeline leakage.
please take a look on my paper entitled "A Novel Technique for Detecting Underground Water Pipeline Leakage Using the Internet of Things" published in Journal of Universal Computer Science.
It is published online: https://lib.jucs.org/article/96377/list/18/
Hope this can help.
Regards,
Ahmad Abusukhon