Evaluation of Sprinkler Irrigation Evaporation Losses in Ilaro, Ogun State, South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Under the prevailing climate change the world is currently facing, efficient irrigation water management is essential to ensure food security, especially in countries with similar climate to Nigeria. Hence, this study was undertaken at the Research Farm of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, Nigeria to evaluate evaporation losses during sprinkler irrigation between March and July 2019. Experiments were performed using 360 rotating sprinkler and single nozzle of diameter 3 mm, while due cognizance was taken of the prevailing climatic conditions. Three operating pressures, namely, 50 kPa, 100 kPa and 150 kPa, representing low pressure, medium pressure and high pressure, respectively, were used. The results showed that operating pressures influence droplet sizes, droplet heights and flow rate during the experiment. In addition, it was observed that at operating pressures of 50 kPa, 100 kPa and 150 kPa, mean percentage of evaporation losses were 8.88%, 13.21% and 16.46%, respectively, indicating that evaporation losses increased with increasing operating pressure. Further analysis showed that percentage evaporation losses increased at higher relative humidity, thereby emphasizing the predominance of air temperature and wind velocity as climatic variable influencing sprinkler evaporation losses. The relationship between wind velocity (Vw ) and air temperature (Ta) and to predict evaporation losses (E ) was a function of E = 7.968Vw + 0.393Ta – 19.977. Therefore, it was concluded that, both climatic factors and operating pressures influence the rate of evaporation losses during sprinkler irrigation, adequate attention should be paid to variation of climatic variables since sprinklers are sold with their specified operating pressures.

Keywords

• Sprinkler irrigation,
• evaporation losses,
• climatic factors,
• droplet sizes,
• droplet heights
• Flow rate

Supporting Institution

NIL

Project Number

NIL

References

1. Bavi A, Boroomand-Nasab S and Naseri A (2017). Spatial and temporal variability of infiltration parameters in furrow irrigation. World Rural Observations, 9(3): 65-72. doi:10.7537/marswro090317.11.
2. Christiansen JE (1942). Irrigation by sprinkling. California agricultural experiment station bulletin 670. University of California, Berkeley, CA, 4275.
3. Dasila B, Singh V, Kushwaha HS, Srivastava A and Ram S (2016). Water use efficiency and yield of cowpea and nutrient loss in lysimeter experiment under varying water table depth, irrigation schedules and irrigation method. SAARC Journal of Agriculture, 14(2), 46-55.
4. FAO-Aquastat (2016). Food and Agriculture Organization. Aquastat Project. FAO. Rome. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm.
5. Frost KR, Schwalen HC (1955) Sprinkler evaporation losses. Agricultural Engineering, 36(8), 526-528.
6. Irmak S, Odhiambo LO, Kranz WL and Eisenhauer DE (2011). Irrigation efficiency and uniformity, and crop water use efficiency. Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications 451. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biosysengfacpub/451
7. James LG (1988). Principles of Farm Irrigation System Design. John Wiley & Sons. 543 p.
8. Jensen ME (1980). Design and operation of farm irrigation systems (No. 631.587/J51). American Society of agricultural engineers.

9. Kadam SA and Deshmukh VV (2011). Effect of nozzle size on evaporation and drift losses from mini- sprinkler. International Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 4(2), 130-132. http://www.researchjournal.co.in/upload/assignments/4_130-132.pdf
10. Kohl KD, Kohl RA and DeBoer DW (1987). Measurement of low-pressure sprinkler evaporation loss. Transactions of the ASAE, 30(4), 1071-1074.
11. Kraus JH (1966). Application efficiency of sprinkler irrigation and its effects on microclimate. Transactions of the ASAE, 9(5), 642-0645.
12. Lorenzini G (2002). Air temperature effect on spray evaporation in sprinkler irrigation. Irrigation and Drainage: The journal of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, 51(4), 301-309.
13. McJannet DL, Cook FJ and Burn S (2013). Comparison of techniques for estimating evaporation from an irrigation water storage. Water Resources Research, 49(3), 1415-1428. doi:10.1002/wrcr.20125, 2013
14. McLean RK, Ranjan S and Klassen G (2000). Spray evaporation losses from sprinkler irrigation systems. Canadian Agricultural Engineering, 42(1), 1-8.
15. Melvyn K (1983). Sprinkler irrigation, equipment and practice. Batsford Academic and Educational, London. 120p.
16. National Population Commission (2006). National population census. Abuja, Nigeria: National Population Commission, 422.
17. Phogat V, Šimůnek J, Skewes MA, Cox JW and McCarthy MG (2016). Improving the estimation of evaporation by the FAO-56 dual crop coefficient approach under subsurface drip irrigation. Agricultural Water Management, 178, 189-200.
18. Stambouli T, Martínez-Cob A, Faci JM, Howell T and Zapata N, (2013). Sprinkler evaporation losses in alfalfa during solid-set sprinkler irrigation in semiarid areas. Irrigation science, 31(5), 1075-1089.
19. Sternberg YM (1967). Analysis of sprinkler irrigation losses. Journal of the Irrigation and Drainage Division, 93(4), 111-124. Strong WC (1961). Advanced irrigation. Proceeding of an International Irrigation Sympossium Southern Rhodesia, pp.242-246.
20. Uddin J, Hancock NH, Smith RJ and Foley JP (2013a). Measurement of evapotranspiration during sprinkler irrigation using a precision energy budget (Bowen ratio, eddy covariance) methodology. Agricultural Water Management, 116, 89-100.
21. Uddin J, Smith R J, Hancock NH and Foley JP (2013b). Evaporation and sapflow dynamics during sprinkler irrigation of cotton. Agricultural water management, 125, 35-45.
22. Uddin J, Smith R, Hancock N and Foley JP (2010). Droplet evaporation losses during sprinkler irrigation: an overview. In Australian Irrigation Conference and Exibition 2010: Proceedings (pp. 1-10). Irrigation Australia Ltd. https://core.ac.uk/reader/11041126
23. Zazueta FS (2011). Evaporation loss during sprinkler irrigation. Gainsville, Florida: IFAS Extension.