On-farm Sprinkler Irrigation Performance as affected by the Distribution System

In this paper, the influence of the pressurised distribution irrigation system on the performance of the on-farm sprinkler network is analysed. The pressure values at the hydrants were calculated by means of a stochastic simulation model using a random procedure to generate a large number of different operating conditions. An iterative model was developed for generating the characteristic curve of the on-farm sprinkler irrigation network. The pressure variation downstream of the hydrant was computed by intersecting the characteristic curve of the latter with the generated on-farm characteristic curve. A detailed performance analysis was carried out on an existing irrigation system. This study highlighted that the performance of the on-farm sprinkler network is greatly affected by the variation in the hydrant pressure head.