Performance Assessment of Wheel Move and Linear Moving Irrigation Systems in Different Climatic Conditions

The use of sprinkler irrigation systems have been significantly expanded over the last decades in Iran. Among the sprinkler irrigation systems, solid set systems have recently aroused much attention. However, fewer studies focused on the performance of mechanized sprinkler systems such as wheel move (WM) and linear moving system (LM). In this research, LM system and six WM systems were evaluated under two different climatic conditions, so that 12 and 8 field assessment tests were conducted for the WM and LM systems, respectively. Three indicators including Christiansen's uniformity coefficient (CU), distribution uniformity of low quarter (DUlq), and application efficiency of low quarter (AELQ) were used to describe the performance of the selected irrigation systems. As for WM systems, the calculated CU averages were 77.9% and 64.7% for low and high wind speed conditions, respectively, and also the number for LM system shown to be 81.7% and 72.3%, respectively. Regarding the same conditions, the AELQ averages for WM systems were seen to be 59.9% and 38.6%, respectively, and for LM system were 70.2% and 54.3%, respectively. The increase in the wind speed led to a reduction in water distribution uniformity, and however, wind effect on the performance of the WM systems was more than the LM system. Thus, it deserves to be pointed out that the LM system is an appropriate option compared to the WM system in various climatic conditions. Water pressure, sprinklers distance, and irrigation program were identified as the other factors, affecting the performance of sprinkler irrigation systems.