Review and research prospects on sprinkler irrigation frost protection for horticultural crops

Frost damage is becoming more serious with global climate change. The horticultural crops are often sensitive to low temperatures and frost damage, which severely affect yield and quality, causing economic losses to growers. Sprinkler irrigation is one of the automated technologies currently practiced for frost protection in orchards. The paper first explains why sprinkler irrigation is effective in frost damage prevention and outlines the basic principles. Second, the components of a sprinkler irrigation system, sensor installation, and sprinkler control are summarized. Third, we reviewed the yield increase and economic benefits of sprinkler irrigation against frost. Finally, the gaps and development trends of sprinkler irrigation for frost protection were proposed: (1) physical mechanisms, including impingement and heat transfer between sprinkler water and crops or ice, (2) dynamic properties of canopy retention of water and ice during sprinkler irrigation for frost protection, (3) physiological indexes of plant for evaluating the effectiveness of frost protection, (4) irrigation control strategies for compounding other methods, and (5) development of virtual platforms for more irrigation test.