Smart Phone Apps: Scientific Validation Quantification of Water Conservation
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Kelly T. Morgan, Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida; Kati Migliaccio, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida; George Vellidis, Crop and Soil Sciences Department, University of Georgia; Diane Rowland, Agronomy Department, University of Florida NIWQP 2013-51130-21486 SMART PHONE APPS: SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION QUANTIFICATION OF WATER CONSERVATION http://smartirrigatio napps.org/
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Transcript of Smart Phone Apps: Scientific Validation Quantification of Water Conservation
Kelly T. Morgan, Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida;
Kati Migliaccio, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida;
George Vellidis, Crop and Soil Sciences Department, University of Georgia;
Diane Rowland, Agronomy Department, University of Florida
NIWQP 2013-51130-21486 SMART PHONE APPS: SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION QUANTIFICATION
OF WATER CONSERVATION
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Problem Addressed by Project• Shortages of fresh water supply are increasingly common in the southeast
(SE) US. • Growing population in this region has been suggested as a key component
contributing to this water stress. • Recent droughts have been more severe than would historically be
expected.• Resulting in more to rising water demands (population increase) and
decreases in water availability. • A 2010 report indicated that water demands are expected to exceed water
supply in many areas of the US which will result in greater drought risks by 2050.
• In fact, much of Florida is projected to be at ‘high’ to ‘extreme’ risk of water shortage while water shortage in Alabama and Georgia is projected to range from ‘moderate’ to ‘extreme’.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Project Goals:
• Simple water balance apps for urban lawn, cotton, citrus, and peanut, for Florida and Georgia were developed as part of a 2011 grant
• Smart phone apps called SmartIrrigation were validated in on-farm replicated research plots.
• The goal of this project was to validate water conservation under commercial production conditions on a regional basis (Florida and Georgia).
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Project Objectives: • Validate the SmartIrrigation scheduling Apps for urban lawn,
cotton, citrus, and peanut to quantify their water conservation and crop yield response with two years of replicated studies at grower sites or research centers in Florida and Georgia.
• Modify and finalize apps based on findings and stakeholder feedback.
• Stakeholder groups beta tested the apps and identify any key factors that should be included in the validation trials to improve the acceptability or usability of the apps.
• Conduct in-service training events for county agents and specialists, stakeholders (local, regional, and national venues), develop and maintain a dedicated web site.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
SmartIrrigation AppsWater balance estimated using day of year and phenology-based Kc to estimate irrigation quantity and frequency requirements.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
KNOWLEDGE GAINED/ STAKEHOLDERS IMPACTS
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Turf App• The App was evaluated at the Tropical Research and
Educations Center in South Florida.• App irrigation schedules was similar to two ET controllers
and resulted in significant water savings from 42% to 57% compared to the time based schedule.
• Differences in irrigation depths for the App and ET controller were observed during wet season and may be due to the different methods of integrating rainfall into the irrigation schedule.
• Incorporation of rainfall into the App schedule resulted in a reduction in irrigation to 989 mm from 1086 mm.
• The lack of on-site rainfall data can be minimized by using the seasonal water conservation mode in the App.http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Cotton app
• The App was validated at five commercial cotton fields in southern Georgia.
• 2013 and 2015 were wetter than normal years while 2014 was a drier than normal year.
• The App outperformed the Checkbook Method in terms of mean yield.
• The App was most effective during the two wet years with statistically significant different only in 2013 and 2014 because of large intra-treatment variability in yield during 2015.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Citrus app• Evaluation was conducted at three commercial citrus orchards in
central and south Florida. • Three irrigation scheduling treatments for conventional irrigation were
as follows: 1) Citrus App, 2) Grower determined irrigation, 3) Current University of Florida (UF/IFAS) recommended scheduling.
• Water applications were significantly lower (24% average) using the App (3 out of 3 locations) and UF/IFAS recommendations (1 out of 3 locations) compared with grower schedules.
• Citrus tree sap flow measurements were significantly greater and stem water potential lower for trees irrigated based on schedules produced by the App and current UF/IFAS recommendations compared with trees irrigated using grower’s experience.
• Yields were significantly greater ( mean=18%) for the App (3 out of 3 locations) than the UF/IFAS recommendations and grower applications.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Peanut app• The peanut crop season started on 19 May (planting day)
and ended on 16 October 2015 (digging day). • During the crop season, cumulative rainfall and calculated
ETc summed up to 683.3 and 518.2 mm, respectively. • Cumulative irrigation applied per treatment was: 132.1
mm, for grower irrigation schedule, 12.7 mm for the App schedule, and 25.3 mm for the soil moisture sensor treatment.
• App treatments applied about 90% less water than the peanut grower’s irrigation practices.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
NEW CONCEPT OR TECHNOLOGIES THAT WERE DEVELOPED FROM YOUR WORK.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Turf app
• Two limitations of the App are;– Exclusion of site-specific rainfall,– No direct connection to automatic irrigation controllers
• Thus, some notifications for bypassing irrigation events due to predicted or measured rainfall may not be implemented in the irrigation schedule by the user.
• Direct operation of automatic controllers by the App would likely improve water savings.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Cotton app
• App use is currently limited to Georgia and Florida because the App uses data from GAEMN and FAWN.
• Adding weather networks from other states requires additional resources but is relatively straightforward.
• Another limitation to use of the Cotton App in other states is that the Kc curve currently used in the model was calibrated to environmental conditions found in southern Georgia and northern Florida.
• To make the App useable across the U.S. cotton belt will require a library of Kc curves as well as widespread access to meteorological data. http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Use of Alternate Weather Data• One solution to the meteorological data problem may be to use
national gridded meteorological datasets offered by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service (NOAA NWS).
• The forecast reference ET (FRET) tool was evaluated during the 2015 growing season for 20 locations in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. FRET appears to overestimate daily ET when unusually low ET is calculated from weather station data.
• A trial version of the App using the NOAA NWS 4 km grid quantitative precipitation estimation and FRET is currently under development and will be compared to the released version of the App during the 2016 growing season.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Citrus app• A two year greenhouse study of irrigation requirements
determined that citrus trees affected with Greening disease (HLB) use 18% to 24% less water than trees unaffected by this disease.
• The reduction in water requirements was found to be due to reduced leaf area associated with the thinner canopies of diseased trees.
• In a field study, more consistently high soil moisture resulted in less tree water stress and better yields.
• Thus, these data caused us to implement a daily irrigation option in the App to provide the application amounts for both daily irrigation and less frequent applications based on allowable soil water depletions used prior to Citrus Greening entering Florida.
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Future Development
• Improved water conservation modes• Evaluating addition of forecast reference ET
(FRET) tool • Addition of grow degree days to determine
growth stage for Kc use• Developing wide cooperative work to expand
App use to larger geographic area
http://smartirrigationapps.org/
Thank you for your attention
Kelly T. MorganUniversity of Florida
Soil and Water Sciences239 658 3400
