Demonstration of Center Pivot Uniformity Evaluation and Retrofit to Improve Water Use Efficiency

Agricultural irrigation is a primary user for freshwater withdrawal. Irrigation plays an important role in crop production, as it provides the benefit of reducing the effects of prolonged dryness and erratic precipitation. Center pivot irrigation system is the most common irrigation system in agriculture. As the center pivot irrigation system ages, the system could develop a leaking joint, clogged sprinklers, and physical damage. This can cause areas of non-uniformity that can lead to under- or over-irrigated in some areas of the land, resulting in excess energy use and cost, wasting resources, and environmental impacts. Thus, it is important to evaluate the performance of a center pivot irrigation system regularly to maximize return on investments and minimize wasting resources. This study focuses on evaluating the impacts and benefits of improved center pivot irrigation distribution uniformity by performing distribution uniformity evaluations pre- and post-retrofit. This study also focused on demonstrating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to assess the performance of the center pivot irrigation system in two irrigated farmlands. The Coefficient of Uniformity (CU), Distribution Uniformity (DU), and Scheduling Coefficient (SC) were calculated based on the catch can test data. The values were utilized to evaluate water and energy savings from the improved coefficients. The team has found that replacing sprinkler packages increased the CU from 78 to 89 and the DU from 77 to 82, and reduced the SC from 1.3 to 1.2 in Field A. In Field B, replacing sprinkler packages increased the CU from 73 to 91 and the DU from 62 to 84 and reduced the SC from 1.6 to 1.2. The estimated water savings in Field A due to the reduced scheduling coefficient was approximately 151,000 liters/hectare/year, with consideration of the corn and soybean rotation field in Michigan. The estimated water savings in Field B was 608,000 liters/hectare/year. The data from this demonstration study showed the value of distribution uniformity evaluation and retrofit of irrigation systems. This information will encourage farmers and agricultural industries to consider performing more distribution uniformity evaluations, ultimately improving irrigation water use efficiency and supporting sustainable water management in agriculture.