Strategies to estimate uniformity coefficient in irrigation laterals Estrategias para estimar el coeficiente de uniformidad en laterales de riego

Abstract

Friction and localized losses, the spacing between emitters, the slope of the ground, the emitter flow rate and flow regimen, are important parameters to determine the irrigation uniformity (application). Accordingly, the present study was carried out in order to predict the uniformity of application and to propose alternative strategies for the measurement of lateral emitters that tend to reduce the number of readings. The tests were conducted in one lateral of 50 meters (m) length and 13.5 millimeters interior diameter. In this lateral, a constant spacing of 0.40 m was used. The results indicate that the proposed lateral’s longitude of measuring drippers (25-50-75 and 20-40- 80) % predicts good uniformity of application with a significant level of 95% in the hypothetical test of variance.