scholarly journals Reviewing Mini-lysimeter Controlled Irrigation in Container Crop Systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Dalyn McCauley ◽  
Alexander Levin ◽  
Lloyd Nackley
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Point Load ◽  
Load Cell ◽  
Data Logger ◽  
Evaporative Demand ◽  
Seasonal And Diurnal Variations ◽  
Controlled Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Control

This study reviews how mini-lysimeters have been used effectively to optimize irrigation control in container horticulture production. Lysimeters are devices that measure evapotranspiration (ET) from the water balance of a fixed soil volume. The primary components of lysimeter-controlled irrigation are load cell sensors, a multiplexer, a data logger, a controller, and solenoid valves. The two common mini-lysimeter systems are platform lysimeters and suspension lysimeters. In these systems, a bending-beam single-point load cell is fastened between two plates, and a container is placed directly on the top platform. Platform lysimeters are commonly used for smaller pot sizes, and suspension lysimeters have been used for large shade trees up to 2.8 m tall and weighing 225 kg. Mini-lysimeters have been used for decades to calibrate ET models and create on-demand irrigation control programs that replenish plant daily water use or maintain deficit conditions. Research has demonstrated that lysimeter-based irrigation can respond more effectively to seasonal and diurnal variations in water demand, increasing irrigation cycles when evaporative demand is high, and decreasing irrigation cycles when demand is low. A strength of these systems is that for containerized plants, such as nursery production systems, mini-lysimeters capture whole-plant water use, which presents a more holistic measure compared with soil moisture sensors or leaf moisture sensors.

THE NECESSITY OF APPLICATION OF THE COMPENSATING MECHANISM IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR MEASURING FORCES OF JOINT AND DISJOINT OF ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Akulov ◽  
Dmitriy Petreshin ◽  
A. Syrykh
Keyword(s):  
Single Point ◽  
Point Load ◽  
Load Cell ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Electrical Connectors

The calculation of deformation of Single point load sell is given.The necessity of using the compensating mechanism of automated system for measure forces of joint and disjoint of electrical connectors is substantiated. The mechanism has been developed that allows transmitting force to the load cell during testing, taking into account its deformation.

scholarly journals Thrust stand based on a single point load cell for impulse measurements from plasma thrusters

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 023308
Author(s):  
L. Conde ◽  
M. D. Lahoz ◽  
J. Grabulosa ◽  
R. Hernández ◽  
J. González ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Point ◽  
Point Load ◽  
Load Cell ◽  
Plasma Thrusters ◽  
Thrust Stand

Employing Surface Roughness for Bridge-Vehicle Interaction Based Damage Detection

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Jaksic ◽  
Vikram Pakrashi ◽  
Alan O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Damage Detection ◽  
Flexural Rigidity ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Point Load ◽  
Ride Quality ◽  
Breathing Crack ◽  
Bernoulli Beam ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Euler Bernoulli Beam

Damage detection and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) for bridges employing bridge-vehicle interaction has created considerable interest in recent times. In this regard, a significant amount of work is present on the bridge-vehicle interaction models and on damage models. Surface roughness on bridges is typically used for detailing models and analyses are present relating surface roughness to the dynamic amplification of response of the bridge, the vehicle or to the ride quality. This paper presents the potential of using surface roughness for damage detection of bridge structures through bridge-vehicle interaction. The concept is introduced by considering a single point observation of the interaction of an Euler-Bernoulli beam with a breathing crack traversed by a point load. The breathing crack is treated as a nonlinear system with bilinear stiffness characteristics related to the opening and closing of crack. A uniform degradation of flexural rigidity of an Euler-Bernoulli beam traversed by a point load is also considered in this regard. The surface roughness of the beam is essentially a spatial representation of some spectral definition and is treated as a broadband white noise in this paper. The mean removed residuals of beam response are analyzed to estimate damage extent. Uniform velocity and acceleration conditions of the traversing load are investigated for the appropriateness of use. The detection and calibration of damage is investigated through cumulant based statistical parameters computed on stochastic, normalized responses of the damaged beam due to passages of the load. Possibilities of damage detection and calibration under benchmarked and non-benchmarked cases are discussed. Practicalities behind implementing this concept are also considered.

scholarly journals Reducing the Excessive Evaporative Demand Improved the Water-use Efficiency of Greenhouse Cucumber by Regulating the Trade-off between Irrigation Demand and Plant Productivity

HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1784-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalong Zhang ◽  
Yuping Liu ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Lijie Qin ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Plant Productivity ◽  
Plant Water ◽  
Evaporative Demand ◽  
Plant Water Stress ◽  
Irrigation Demand ◽  
Use Efficiency

Although atmospheric evaporative demand mediates water flow and constrains water-use efficiency (WUE) to a large extent, the potential to reduce irrigation demand and improve water productivity by regulating the atmospheric water driving force is highly uncertain. To bridge this gap, water transport in combination with plant productivity was examined in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown at contrasting evaporative demand gradients. Reducing the excessive vapor pressure deficit (VPD) decreased the water flow rate, which reduced irrigation consumption significantly by 16.4%. Reducing excessive evaporative demand moderated plant water stress, as leaf dehydration, hydraulic limitation, and excessive negative water potential were prevented by maintaining water balance in the low-VPD treatment. The moderation of plant water stress by reducing evaporative demand sustained stomatal function for photosynthesis and plant growth, which increased substantially fruit yield and shoot biomass by 20.1% and 18.4%, respectively. From a physiological perspective, a reduction in irrigation demand and an improvement in plant productivity were achieved concomitantly by reducing the excessive VPD. Consequently, WUE based on the criteria of plant biomass and fruit yield was increased significantly by 43.1% and 40.5%, respectively.

Resource use and environmental impacts from Australian export lamb production: a life cycle assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Wiedemann ◽  
M.-J. Yan ◽  
C. M. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Land Occupation ◽  
Fossil Fuel Energy

This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) investigating energy, land occupation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fresh water consumption and stress-weighted water use from production of export lamb in the major production regions of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The study used data from regional datasets and case study farms, and applied new methods for assessing water use using detailed farm water balances and water stress weighting. Land occupation was assessed with reference to the proportion of arable and non-arable land and allocation of liveweight (LW) and greasy wool was handled using a protein mass method. Fossil fuel energy demand ranged from 2.5 to 7.0 MJ/kg LW, fresh water consumption from 58.1 to 238.9 L/kg LW, stress-weighted water use from 2.9 to 137.8 L H2O-e/kg LW and crop land occupation from 0.2 to 2.0 m2/kg LW. Fossil fuel energy demand was dominated by on-farm energy demand, and differed between regions and datasets in response to production intensity and the use of purchased inputs such as fertiliser. Regional fresh water consumption was dominated by irrigation water use and losses from farm water supply, with smaller contributions from livestock drinking water. GHG emissions ranged from 6.1 to 7.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW and additional removals or emissions from land use (due to cultivation and fertilisation) and direct land-use change (due to deforestation over previous 20 years) were found to be modest, contributing between –1.6 and 0.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW for different scenarios assessing soil carbon flux. Excluding land use and direct land-use change, enteric CH4 contributed 83–89% of emissions, suggesting that emissions intensity can be reduced by focussing on flock production efficiency. Resource use and emissions were similar for export lamb production in the major production states of Australia, and GHG emissions were similar to other major global lamb producers. The results show impacts from lamb production on competitive resources to be low, as lamb production systems predominantly utilised non-arable land unsuited to alternative food production systems that rely on crop production, and water from regions with low water stress.

scholarly journals High-throughput phenotyping reveals a link between transpiration efficiency and transpiration restriction under high evaporative demand and new loci controlling water use-related traits in African rice, Oryza glaberrima Steud.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Affortit ◽  
Branly Effa Effa ◽  
Mame Sokhatil Ndoye ◽  
Daniel Moukouanga ◽  
Nathalie Luchaire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Oryza Glaberrima ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Transpiration Efficiency ◽  
Evaporative Demand ◽  
African Rice ◽  
Use Efficiency

Because water availability is the most important environmental factor limiting crop production, improving water use efficiency, the amount of carbon fixed per water used, is a major target for crop improvement. In rice, the genetic bases of transpiration efficiency, the derivation of water use efficiency at the whole-plant scale, and its putative component trait transpiration restriction under high evaporative demand, remain unknown. These traits were measured in a panel of 147 African rice Oryza glaberrima genotypes, known as potential sources of tolerance genes to biotic and abiotic stresses. Our results reveal that higher transpiration efficiency is associated with transpiration restriction in African rice. Detailed measurements in a subset of highly differentiated genotypes confirmed these associations and suggested that the root to shoot ratio played an important role in transpiration restriction. Genome wide association studies identified marker-trait associations for transpiration response to evaporative demand, transpiration efficiency and its residuals, that links to genes involved in water transport and cell wall patterning. Our data suggest that root shoot partitioning is an important component of transpiration restriction that has a positive effect on transpiration efficiency in African rice. Both traits are heritable and define targets for breeding rice with improved water use strategies.

scholarly journals Improving water productivity in the Australian Grains industry—a nationally coordinated approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Kirkegaard ◽  
J. R. Hunt ◽  
T. M. McBeath ◽  
J. M. Lilley ◽  
A. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Farm Scale

Improving the water-limited yield of dryland crops and farming systems has been an underpinning objective of research within the Australian grains industry since the concept was defined in the 1970s. Recent slowing in productivity growth has stimulated a search for new sources of improvement, but few previous research investments have been targeted on a national scale. In 2008, the Australian grains industry established the 5-year, AU$17.6 million, Water Use Efficiency (WUE) Initiative, which challenged growers and researchers to lift WUE of grain-based production systems by 10%. Sixteen regional grower research teams distributed across southern Australia (300–700 mm annual rainfall) proposed a range of agronomic management strategies to improve water-limited productivity. A coordinating project involving a team of agronomists, plant physiologists, soil scientists and system modellers was funded to provide consistent understanding and benchmarking of water-limited yield, experimental advice and assistance, integrating system science and modelling, and to play an integration and communication role. The 16 diverse regional project activities were organised into four themes related to the type of innovation pursued (integrating break-crops, managing summer fallows, managing in-season water-use, managing variable and constraining soils), and the important interactions between these at the farm-scale were explored and emphasised. At annual meetings, the teams compared the impacts of various management strategies across different regions, and the interactions from management combinations. Simulation studies provided predictions of both a priori outcomes that were tested experimentally and extrapolation of results across sites, seasons and up to the whole-farm scale. We demonstrated experimentally that potential exists to improve water productivity at paddock scale by levels well above the 10% target by better summer weed control (37–140%), inclusion of break crops (16–83%), earlier sowing of appropriate varieties (21–33%) and matching N supply to soil type (91% on deep sands). Capturing synergies from combinations of pre- and in-crop management could increase wheat yield at farm scale by 11–47%, and significant on-farm validation and adoption of some innovations has occurred during the Initiative. An ex post economic analysis of the Initiative estimated a benefit : cost ratio of 3.7 : 1, and an internal return on investment of 18.5%. We briefly review the structure and operation of the initiative and summarise some of the key strategies that emerged to improve WUE at paddock and farm-scale.

scholarly journals Limiting transpiration rate in high evaporative demand conditions to improve Australian wheat productivity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Collins ◽  
Scott Chapman ◽  
Graeme Hammer ◽  
Karine Chenu
Keyword(s):  
Transpiration Rate ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
Climate Scenario ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Evaporative Demand ◽  
Lysimeter Experiment ◽  
Grain Filling Period

Abstract Limited-transpiration rate at high evaporative demand (‘LTR’ trait) has potential to improve drought adaptation, crop water productivity and food security. The quantification of the implications of LTR for water consumption, biomass accumulation and yield formation requires the use of dynamic crop modelling to simulate physiological and environmental processes and interactions in target environments. Here, a new transpiration module was developed for the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM NextGen) and used to simulate atmospheric and edaphic water stress on wheat crops. This module was parameterised with (i) data from a lysimeter experiment assessing genotypic variability in the LTR trait for four genotypes contrasting in transpiration efficiency, and with (ii) a more pronounced response to high evaporative demand. The potential of the LTR trait for improving crop productivity was investigated across the Australian wheatbelt over 1989-2018. The LTR trait was simulated to allow an increase in national yield by up to 2.6%, mostly due to shift in water use pattern, alleviation of water deficit during grain filling period and a higher harvest index. Greatest productivity gains were found in the northeast (4.9%, on average) where heavy soils allow the conserved water with the LTR trait to be available later at more critical stages. The effect of the LTR trait on yield was enhanced under the future climate scenario, particularly in the northeast. Limiting transpiration at high evaporative demands appears to be a promising trait for selection by breeders, especially in drought-prone environments where crops heavily rely on stored soil moisture.

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