USDA LTAR Common Experiment measurement: Irrigation water applied v1

Irrigation is the amount of water applied to a field or plot per unit area. Irrigation supplements rainfall to provide adequate soil moisture for successful crop production. Irrigation is a vital component of agriculture in the western and central United States and is becoming more prevalent throughout the United States. Different types of irrigation are used across the United States (e.g., overhead (linear or pivot), sprinkler gun, subsurface drip, surface drip, or gravity/furrow/flood). Using a flowmeter on the main distribution pipe is recommended for measuring irrigation amounts. To adequately measure irrigation in research plots, the characteristics of the distribution pipe for each individual plot must be considered.