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A LOW‐INTENSITY, HIGH‐UNIFORMITY WATER APPLICATION SYSTEM
Author(s) -
Hanke M.,
Perry D.,
Kung K.-J. S.,
Bubenzer G.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2004.1833
Subject(s) - environmental science , intensity (physics) , infiltration (hvac) , water quality , water flow , hydrology (agriculture) , materials science , soil science , geology , geotechnical engineering , optics , composite material , physics , ecology , biology
Rainfall simulators with high uniformity and low intensities are required in many research areas related to environmental quality. To examine the characteristics of field‐scale macropore‐type preferential flow, we designed a portable water application system suitable to apply water with intensity < 5 mm h −1 for long‐term steady‐state infiltration experiments under different climatic conditions. Our results showed that, when water was applied at 345 kPa pressure, the system could deliver 4.36 mm h −1 of water to 19.2 by 2.7 m with 80 to 85% uniformity, while uniformity of the inner 16.2 by 2.1 m reached 94 to 97%. The performance of this system was not influenced by the ambient wind speed. Lower intensities of water application can be achieved by applying water intermittently.