Development of Grain Moisture meter with Moisture and Price Display
Wireless Moisture Sensor for Turfgrass Water Conservation -...
Transcript of Wireless Moisture Sensor for Turfgrass Water Conservation -...
Matteo Serena & Bernd Leinauer New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM
Wireless Moisture Sensor for Turfgrass Water Conservation
Wireless Moisture Sensor for Turfgrass Water Conservation
I. Introduction II. Research Study
a) Laboratory test b) Field evaluation
III. Results IV. Summary of conclusions
Strategies for Irrigation Water Conservation
1. Artificial Turf 2. Reduce area under
irrigation 3. Irrigation with
recycled/impaired water
4. Use of low water use turfgrass species
5. Accept quality reduction 6. Increase irrigation
efficiency I. Scheduling
a) Climate data b) Soil water status
II. Improve Water Distribution
A. ET Sensors
• Estimation of plant water requirements
• Accuracy can be affected by equation parameters
• Species have different crop coefficients
• Withholding irrigation is often determined as “best guess”
B. Soil Sensors
• Powerful tool as it relates directly to plant available soil moisture
• Accuracy can be affected by salinity • Dielectric sensors not only measure
moisture but also temperature and estimate salinity
Sensors
Minimum threshold
Maximum threshold
Irrigation
Soil Moisture Rain
Laboratory test • Precision soil sensors • pressure chambers • Known moisture content • Salinity
Laboratory test Test #
Water salinity (dS m-1)
Regression R2 P value
1 0.7 X= -3.64 + (0.78 * Y) 0.77 <0.001
2 0.1 X= -5.90 + (0.76* Y) 0.85 <0.001
3 0.7 X= -3.75 + (0.77 * Y) 0.89 <0.001
4 2.0 X= -9.04 + (0.91 * Y) 0.78 <0.001
y = 0.87x + 13.7 R² = 0.79
y = 0.86x + 15.6 R² = 0.78
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0
Sensor #1
Sensor #2
• Track moisture changes accurately
• Not affected by salinity up to 4dS/m
Field evaluation • Two grasses:
Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)
• Sprinkler irrigation, Toro® PrecisionTM Spray heads (7 X 7 m)
• Turfguard sensors at 5 and 20 cm (°T, %VWC ECb)
Field evaluation Four different irrigation scheduling systems: 1. Precision soil sensors 2. Climate Logic 3. Constant run time (Homeowner) 4. Historic ET
Toro PrecisionTM Series
Data collection • Turf quality, digital image analysis, Normalized
difference vegetation index (NDVI) • Water use (Flow meters) • Soil moisture • Root distribution
Results: quality (2012)
July August September October November December
Treatment Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI
PSS 7.3 0.725 5.7 0.715 6.3 0.765 6.9 0.763 6.7 0.686 6.0 0.719
Climate Logic 6.7 0.681 5.7 0.691 6.3 0.730 7.1 0.741 7.0 0.728 7.0 0.748
Constant 7.0 0.693 6.5 0.706 7.8 0.805 6.6 0.777 7.0 0.759 7.3 0.757
ET 90% 7.0 0.716 6.0 0.724 6.7 0.764 6.3 0.818 7.0 0.804 7.7 0.783
Bermudagrass July August September October November December
Treatment Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI Q NDVI
PSS 7.8 0.777 7.3 0.747 7.2 0.693 7.1 0.634 2.0 0.468 1.0 0.214
Climate Logic 7.7 0.774 7.0 0.731 7.7 0.699 6.8 0.648 2.0 0.427 1.0 0.212
Constant 7.8 0.754 7.7 0.769 8.0 0.726 7.3 0.683 1.7 0.474 1.0 0.205
ET 90% 7.5 0.788 7.7 0.750 7.5 0.740 7.2 0.655 1.3 0.468 1.0 0.207
Tall fescue
Results: water savings (2012)
- 61%
Results: water savings (2012)
- 52%
Results: water savings (2012)
- 46%
Results: water savings (2012)
- 52%
Results: soil moisture (2012)
Rain event, irrigation
withhold for 9 days Upper
threshold
Lower threshold
Results: soil moisture (2012)
Upper threshold
Lower threshold
Rain event, irrigation
withhold for 12 days
Summary 1. PSS accurately tracks soil moisture in a turf rootzone
2. Irrigation scheduled by PSS maintained both warm and
cool-season turf at a similar quality compared to the Climate LogicTM ET controller.
3. Irrigation scheduled by PSS resulted in water savings of 61% on tall fescue and 46% on bermudagrass when compared to a typical residential irrigation based on a constant run time
4. No significant differences in root biomass or root length density
In conclusion
• NMSU’s Office for Facilities and Services
NMSU’s Agricultural Experiment Station