Assessment of Field Spatial and Temporal Variabilities to Delineate Site-Specific Management Zones for Variable-Rate Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
Quantification and analysis of field variability are important initial steps in delineating potential variable-rate irrigation (VRI) management zones within an agricultural field. This study seeks to utilize variability in soil physical and chemical properties and in field elevation across a 27-ha field at the Alberta Irrigation Technology Centre (AITC) in southern Alberta, Canada, to define site-specific management zones. All geospatial data were collected during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. A stepwise multivariate regression approach was used to investigate how multiple measured parameters affect wheat yield. An unsupervised clustering algorithm, fuzzy c-means, was used to delineate the irrigation management zones. Fuzziness performance index (FPI) and normalized classification entropy (NCE) were used as verification criteria to determine the optimal number of management zones. Results revealed that soil electrical conductivity (EC) and field elevation were better suited for management zone delineation. Three management zones were identified based on the verification criteria using EC and field elevation variables. Measured crop yield differences corresponding to the three noncontiguous management zones were significant. The study area was categorized as low, medium, and high productive zones. The maximum wheat yield () was attained in the high-productivity zone; the lowest (), in the low-productivity zone.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for financial support and would like to extend their appreciation to the Alberta Irrigation Technology Center for providing equipment and extensive in-kind support. The authors are also grateful to Jim Parker, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, and Jeff Bronsch, Sunrise AG Company, for providing the soil apparent electrical conductivity and field elevation data.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 9 • September 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 18, 2016
Accepted: Apr 6, 2017
Published online: Jul 5, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Dec 5, 2017
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