ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Abstract.

Advances in site-specific irrigation management and irrigation scheduling methods based on plant stress provide a framework for efficient application of water to the field. Scientists with the USDA-ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory (CPRL), Bushland, TX, have developed and patented an Irrigation Scheduling and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (ISSCADAS). The ISSCADAS automates the collection of data from plant sensing systems and uses those data to provide decision support for irrigation scheduling. The ISSCADAS has shown satisfactory results for site-specific irrigation management of soybean, cotton, sorghum, and corn planted in experimental plots near Bushland during multiple growing seasons. This paper introduces the ARSmartPivot (ARSP) software that embodies one instance of the ISSCADAS to assist the operation of center pivot systems. The main objectives of ARSP are: (i) to serve as a communication tool between users, sensors, and center pivots, and (ii) to provide decision support tools that improve irrigation management. Among other mathematical algorithms, a canopy temperature based irrigation scheduling method was included into ARSP for the automatic generation of prescription map recommendations for variable rate irrigation (VRI) systems. Users of ARSP can visualize and modify prescription maps using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that facilitates user interaction and control of the system. The GUI uses Geographic Information System (GIS) concepts to assist with spatial and temporal analysis of the large amount of data that is periodically collected by the ISSCADAS. A post-harvest analysis of an experiment carried out near Bushland during the summer of 2014 is presented to illustrate the irrigation management tools implemented by ARSP.