Characterizing center pivot irrigation with fixed spray plate sprinklers

An indoor experiment with a fixed spray plate sprinkler(FSPS) of 36-grooved plate D3000 was conducted to evaluate the discharge-pressure relationship,wetted diameter,effective width,and water application rate in this research.In addition,a field experiment with a center pivot system equipped with the same measured FSPS was carried out to investigate the radial and circular uniformity under different cycle times and settings of the percent-timer.A package of nozzles numbering from #9(1.79 mm) to #33(6.55 mm) was tested with a nozzle elevation of 1.2 m and a 20-psi pressure regulator.The results showed that the wetted diameter and average application rate increased with nozzle size,but the effective wetted width and peak instantaneous application rate had no significant relationship with nozzle size.The simulated application rate of the center pivot system using the measured water distribution data of single FSPS was in good agreement with the measured result,which verified that the improved measurement procedure and modified nozzle sizing equation of the D3000 sprayhead in this paper were correct.Reducing the percent-time cycle time from 60 s to 40 s resulted in a slight increase in the radial uniformity coefficients,with an average of 1.09% to 1.17%,while there was no significant influence on the circular uniformity coefficients.