Center-pivot uniformity analysis with variable container spacing

Abstract

Evaluation procedures for determining water application uniformity under center-pivot sprinkler systems have been documented in various technical publications. The so-called “catch cans” (open containers) are placed along one or more radial legs from the center of the field to obtain sample water application measurements, from which standard performance indices can be calculated. All of the published procedures for calculating indices such as the coefficient of uniformity (CU) and distribution uniformity (DU) are based on equal radial spacing of the containers, but in practice some evaluators choose to decrease the spacing toward the outer end of the leg, whereby more measurement samples are taken at locations which represent larger relative fractions of the total irrigated area. It is also common to have inadvertently non-uniform container spacing when one or more tip over during the test, or when avoiding placing a container along a wheel track at a tower. Modified equations and procedures are presented herein to correctly account for variable container spacing, along with spreadsheet macros to perform the calculations.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 2

Table 2 MS Excel VBA function to calculate CU for non-uniform container spacing

Appendix 2

See Table 3

Table 3 MS Excel VBA function to calculate DU for non-uniform container spacing