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Evaporation loss during sprinkler irrigation

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Bangladesh J. Sci. Res. 23 (1): 81 -90, 2010 (June)

Evaporation loss during sprinkler irrigation

1
A. J. Mila, 2 S. Chakraborty, 3 N. Islam and 1 P.K. Sarkar
1
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur; 2 MS Student and 3 Professor, Department of IWM,
Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh;

Abstract

Sprinkler irrigation is one of the four basic methods of irrigation. In case of surface
irrigation, losses occur due to seepage and percolation but in sprinkler irrigation, loss occurs
only by evaporation. An experiment was carried out at the experimental field of the
Bangladesh agricultural University, Mymensingh by using Low Energy Water Application
(LEWA) sprinkler system to determine the loss. Discharge data were collected considering
loss and without loss of evaporation, from which evaporation losses were predicted.
Relationships were also developed between evaporation losses with discharge as well as with
the other factors affecting evaporation like temperature, wind speed and humidity. The
relationships indicated that evaporation loss increased with the increase of discharge,
temperature and wind speed and decreased with the increase of humidity.

Key words: Sprinkler, Evaporation loss, LEWA Device, Discharge.

Introduction

Sprinkler irrigation involves the distribution of water in pipes under pressure and spraying it into the
air, so that it breaks up into small droplets and falls to the ground in a uniform pattern like natural
rainfall. This is a flexible system that can be used to supply adequate moisture for successful crop
production.

Sprinkler irrigation is a versatile means of applying water to any crop, soil and topographic
condition. It is used for irregular topography, sloping ground, high valued crops and where a limited
water resource exists. In this system water is applied in such a way, that the loss of water is very slow
(Schwab et. al. 1981).

It is mostly adopted in tea and coffee garden and it can also be used for onion, garlic, green
chili, wheat, carrot, eggplant and all vegetables. By using sprinkler irrigation 35% of water can be
saved, which is otherwise wasted in surface method (Smajstrla and Zazueta 2003).

Irrigation water that is applied to crops is most effective if water enters the transpiration
stream and contributes directly to the matter accumulation. Unfortunately, some of the irrigation
water may be lost by evaporation and never be able for transpiration or direct contribution to yield.
Evaluating the losses associated with an overhead sprinkling system is challenging because
evaporation can occur

Corresponding author, E-mail: afrinbau@gmail.com

 Mila et al.,

from droplet before they reach the canopy, from wet leaves, and wet soils. Wind increases
evaporation rates by transporting water vapor away from the evaporating surface. Wind also increases
evaporation by transporting warmer or drier air from surrounding areas to displace the moist, cool air
above an irrigated surface.

A thorough understanding of the factor affecting evaporation losses in sprinkler irrigation

system represents a great help in assessing the performance of the system and in developing
appropriate water conservation strategies. In order to tackle this problem properly, relevant theoretical
and experimental studies have been carried out during the second half of the last century.

Thompson et al. (1993) reported that, the evaporation losses from sprinkler spray have been
typically overestimated when the difference between irrigated and collected volume is used.
Empirical and modeling studies have shown that, evaporation losses from irrigation systems vary
from 1 to 3.5%.

The evaporation loss during sprinkler irrigation was evaluated by Smajstrla and Zazueta
(2003). They presented a monograph for estimating evaporation loss from sprinkler. For climatic
conditions typical of Gainesville, Florida, they found the average loss would be about 3 percent
during early afternoon hours on typical summer days.

Karim (2000) conducted an experiment on LEWA sprinkler system to evaluate its

performance for four different riser heads at constant operating pressure. He found that in LEWA
sprinkler system the riser height at 107 cm showed the best performance over others.

An experiment on LEWA sprinkler system was done by Hossen and Shaha (2006) to find out
the relationship between head and discharge. They found that, the maximum head of 5.71 meters and
pressure of 0.77 km/cm2 was needed to get the maximum discharge.

An experiment to evaluate the effect of wind on uniformity of sprinkler irrigation system was
conducted by Hossain (2007). He considered distribution uniformity and co-efficient of uniformity.
He found that, when the wind velocity increases both the distribution uniformity and co-efficient
uniformity decreases.

Therefore, a thorough understanding of the factor affecting evaporation losses in sprinkler

irrigation system provides a great help in assessing the performance of the system and in developing
appropriate water conservation strategies. The issue requires a full analytical description of how a
droplet existing from a nozzle reaches a solid surface and entails doth experimental and theoretical
studies. The main purpose of the study was the determination of evaporation loss which is required to
know the actual amount of water to be applied in the field as irrigation. The specific objectives of this
study were as follows:

(i) to find out the evaporation loss from sprinkler irrigation for different discharges, and

(ii) to develop relationships of evaporation loss with temperature, wind speed, humidity and
discharge.

Materials and Methods

The study was carried out using a simple sprinkler system LEWA (Low Energy Water
Application) developed by IDE (International Development Enterprises). The experiment
was conducted at the experimental field of Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Evaporation loss during irrigation

Mymensingh. The LEWA device is illustrated in Figure 1. The LEWA device is a sprinkler
system consisting of mainly three components. These are sprinkler head, riser and T-
coupling.

Sprinkler head

T-coupling

20 cm 6 cm 20 cm

PVC nut

Nozzle

Riser

100 cm

Gate valve

T-coupling

5 cm 5 cm

20 cm 20 cm

Figure 1. Layout of different components of LEWA

device

Discharge Measuring Instrument

As the sprinkler discharge is sprayed over a wide range through droplets, so it is difficult to measure
the actual discharge without loss. Therefore, a discharge box was used. The discharge box has the
following parts:

(i) A 3 mm thick GI sheet of size 30 cm × 30 cm × 15 cm

(ii) A square stand of height 95 cm which is slightly less than the height of the riser
(iii) A hole at the center to introduce the riser through it
(iv) The hole is closed by a GI pipe of 3 cm diameter having a length of 9 cm to prevent the
leakage of water
(v) An outlet at one side made by a bend pipe having a diameter of 5 cm to deliver the
discharge water
 Mila et al.,

(vi) A shutter made of GI sheet to close the top.

Measurement of discharge without evaporation loss

The actual discharge was measured as follows:

(i) Before measuring the discharge the sprinkler head was disconnected from the
riser
(ii) The discharge box was placed on the riser
(iii) Water was supplied to the system after sometime
(iv) As constant discharge was attained, water was collected in a jug for a specific
duration
(v) The collected water was measured by a measuring cylinder
(vi) Actual discharge was computed thereby

Measurement of discharge considering evaporation loss

To measure the actual discharge considering evaporation loss i.e. when it is spread over the ground,
polythene sheet was used.

The following steps were taken to use the polythene sheet:

(i) A 6 m × 6 m sloping ground was selected on the basis of radial diameter of the sprinkler
under maximum discharge condition
(ii) Weeds were removed
(iii) A polythene sheet slightly larger than the selected area was placed on the slopping
ground
(iv) Sides of the polythene sheet were raised by using PVC pipe
(v) Sprinkler with its riser was set on the polythene sheet at the center
(vi) The hose pipe was then connected with riser along with the flow control valve.

In sprinkler irrigation system, as the water sprayed out on the air, it was di fficult to
measure the actual discharge. The process followed is described below:

(i) At first the water was supplied to the sprinkler from the source
(ii) When the flow of water was stable on the polythene sheet, water was collected
by a jug for a certain elapsed time
(iii) The collected water was measured by using a measuring cylinder
(iv) Actual discharge with evaporation loss was calculated thereby

Percent evaporation loss was calculates as:

Percent Evaporation loss = Actual discharge without loss – Actual discharge with loss
× 100
Actual discharge without loss

Results and Discussion

The different values of actual discharges, evaporation loss, mean daily temperature, humidity, and
wind speed were collected for different observations. Using these data graphs ware plotted and
relationships were developed.
 Evaporation loss during irrigation

Table 1 shows that, all the observations of discharge values (without loss) ranges from 0.062
to 0.295 l/sec with an average value of 0.180 l/sec. The evaporation loss values ranges from 1.25 to
1.72 percent with an average value of 1.42 percent. The result support those obtained by Thompson et
al. (1993) and Smajstrla and Zazueta (2003).

Table 1. Actual discharge and evaporation loss for different observations

Actual discharge without loss Actual discharge with loss Evaporation loss (%)
(l/sec) (l/sec)
0.178 0.175 1.38
0.248 0.244 1.51
0.149 0.147 1.34
0.062 0.061 1.25
0.231 0.227 1.42
0.247 0.244 1.50
0.063 0.062 1.31
0.196 0.193 1.41
0.295 0.290 1.72
0.121 0.120 1.32
0.225 0.221 1.42
0.063 0.062 1.28
0.249 0.245 1.68
0.245 0.242 1.48
0.135 0.133 1.33

Table 2 records the result on actual discharge, temperature, wind speed and humidity. The mean daily
temperature values ranges from 23.8 to 30.8 °C. The maximum temperature was 30.8 °C for a loss of
1.72 % and the minimum temperature was 23.8 °C for a loss of 1.25 %. The humidity values ranges
from 73 to 90 percent and the maximum humidity was 90 percent for a loss of 1.25 percent and the

Table 2. Mean daily temperature, wind speed and humidity for different observations

Actual discharge without loss Temperature (0C) Wind speed (Km/hr) Humidity (%)
(l/sec)
0.178 27.6 11.95 85
0.248 30.3 14.30 78
0.150 26.5 11.82 82
0.062 23.8 6.65 90
0.231 28.7 12.65 84
0.247 29.9 13.85 81
0.063 25.2 9.98 85
0.196 27.9 12.44 79
0.295 30.8 14.65 73
0.121 25.9 10.76 88
0.225 28.9 12.92 87
0.063 24.6 7.89 86
0.249 30.5 14.44 75
0.245 28.5 13.70 83
0.135 26.4 10.71 89
 Mila et al.,

minimum humidity was 73 percent for a loss of 1.72 percent. The wind speed values ranges from 6.65
to 14.65 km/hr. The highest wind speed was 14.65 km/hr for a loss of 1.72 percent and the lowest
wind speed was 6.65 km/hr for a loss of 1.25 percent.

Temperature, wind speed and humidity data were collected from Agro-Meteorology cum
pilot Balloon Observatory Station, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, under
Meteorological Department of Bangladesh.

The result showed that a non-linear relationship between actual discharge without loss and
evaporation loss (Figure 2). It was also observed that the evaporation loss increased with the increase
of discharge. The relationship developed is given by the following equation

EL= 48.305 Q13 - 15.815 Q12 + 2.3211 Q1 + 1.185……….. (1)

Where, EL = evaporation loss (%)

Q1 = actual discharge without loss (l/sec)

3 2
y = 48.305x - 15.815x + 2.3211x + 1.1851
R2 = 0.8826
1.8

1.7
Evaporation loss (%)

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
Actual discharge without loss (l/sec)

Figure 2. Relationship between actual discharge without loss (ADWL) and evaporation loss

The value of co-efficient of correlation (r2) was found to be 0.8826.

Figure 3shows that there also exists a non-linear relationship between temperature
and evaporation loss. It was also observed that evaporation loss increased with the increase
of temperature. The relationship developed between temperature and evaporation loss is
given in Equation 2:

E L=0.0028 T 3 - 0.2243 T 2 + 5.9388 T - 51.258...………… (2)

Where, T = temperature (°C)

Evaporation loss during irrigation

3 2
y = 0.0028x - 0.2243x + 5.9388x - 51.258
2
R = 0.9262
1.8

1.7

1.6

Evaporation loss (%)

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1
22 24 26 28 30 32
Temperature (°C)

Figure 3. Relationship between temperature and evaporation loss

The value of co-efficient of correlation (r2) was found to be 0.9262.

In Figure 4 it was observed that there is also a non-linear relationship between humidity
and evaporation. Evaporation loss decreased with the increase of humidity. The
relationship is given by the following equation

E L= -0.0001 H 3 + 0.0346H 2 - 2.9319H + 84.619 H………. (3)

Where, H = humidity (%)

3 2
y = -0.0001x + 0.0346x - 2.9319x + 84.619
2
R = 0.8349
1.8

1.7

1.6
Evaporation loss (%)

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92
Humidity (% )

Figure 4. Relationship between humidity and evaporation loss

The value of co-efficient of correlation (r2) found to be 0.8349.

From Figure 5 it is observed that there is a non-linear relationship between wind speed and
evaporation loss. It was also observed that evaporation loss increased with the increase of wind speed.
Thus, the relationship of wind speed and evaporation loss is in form of:
 Mila et al.,

E L=0.0026 Ws 3 - 0.0744 Ws 2 + 0.7165 Ws - 0.9955…….. (4.4)

Where, Ws = wind speed (km/hr)

3 2
y = 0.0026x - 0.0744x + 0.7165x - 0.9955
2
R = 0.9319
1.8

1.7

1.6
Evaporation loss (%)

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Wind speed (km/hr)

Figure 5. Relationship between wind speed and evaporation loss

The value of co-efficient of correlation (r2) was found to be 0.9319.

Conclusion

Evaporation loss from sprinkler irrigation was determined by using LEWA device. The average loss
of evaporation using sprinkler irrigation was predicted as 1.42 percent. Evaporation loss increased
with the increase of discharge, temperature, and wind speed but decreased with the increase
of humidity. The relationships of evaporation loss with discharge, temperature, humidity,
and wind speed were found to be non-linear having r 2 values of 0.8826, 0.9262, 0.8349, and
0.9319, respectively.

References

Hossain, M. M. 2007. Effect of Wind on Uniformity of Sprinkler Irrigation System. MS thesis

submitted to the Department of Irrigation and Water Management, Bangladesh
Agricultural University, Mymensingh.
Hossen, M. I. and L. R. Shaha. 2006. Determination of head discharge relationship of a LEWA device
(sprinkler system). Undergraduate project report submitted to the Department of
Irrigation and Water Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Mymensingh.
Karim, M. A. 2000. Variation of distribution uniformity and area coverage for different riser heads of
LEWA sprinkler system. MS thesis submitted to the Department of Irrigation and
Water Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.
Schwab, G. O., R. K. Frevert, T. W. Edminster and K. K. Barnes. 1981. Soil and Water Conservation
Engineering. 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York. 525P.
Smajstrla, A. G. and F. S. Zazueta. 2003. Evaporation Loss During Sprinkler Irrigation. U. S.
Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida.
 Evaporation loss during irrigation

Thompson, A. L., J. R. Gilley, and J. M. Norman. 1993. A sprinkler water droplet evaporation and
plant canopy model: II. Model application. Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Engg. 36(3): 743-
750.

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