Sprinkler Nonuniformity Characteristics and Yield

The characteristics of nonuniformity of sprinkler application that affect the yield of useful plant growth are shown to depend on the form of the relationship between yield per unit area and the local depth of water applied. If this yield relationship can be expressed as a polynomial of order r, the significant characteristics of the non-uniform application pattern are shown to be the moments to order r of the distribution of application depths. For example, if the local yield varies as the square of the depth of application; the total yield can be expressed only in terms of the mean depth and the standard deviation, as shown in an example. If a polynomial of a power higher that two is required to express the yield relationship, then additional terms, such as skewness and kurtosis, are needed to describe the effects on total yield.