Ador-Solid-Set: A Coupled Simulation Model for Commercial Solid-Set Irrigated Fields

Abstract

The last five decades have seen strong developments in surface, drip and sprinkler irrigation modeling. However, most of these efforts have targeted irrigation units smaller than a field. In sprinkler irrigation, models have generally been applied to a few sprinklers in a regular arrangement, making them representative of a sector or a whole field. In this research, the Ador-Solid-Set model is presented for whole-field sprinkler irrigation in commercial fields. The model couples pipeline hydraulics, sprinkler ballistics and irrigation scheduling at execution time, permitting to simulate scenarios with minimum data management burden. Field experiments have been used to validate the model in an experimental solid-set. Observed and simulated irrigation depths and coefficients of uniformity showed statistically significant agreement. The model was applied to simulate irrigation events in two commercial solid-sets of 10.2 and 24.5 ha, producing maps of applied water in a sequential irrigation of their irrigation sectors lasting for 24 hours. The solid-set model produced whole-field irrigation performance estimates. The current adequacy thresholds for sprinkler irrigation uniformity need to be revised to apply them to complete solid-sets. The model highlighted the importance of finding suitable combinations of full- and partial-circle sprinklers to achieve optimal performance indicators. Finally, Ador-Solid-Set quantified the volume of drift outside the computational domain. This drift adds to the drift and evaporation losses obtained from empirical equations, in a process that requires further analysis. Research efforts are needed to enhance the current model capabilities to address the challenges related to water quantity and quality in sprinkler solid-sets.