Basic Principles of Pulse Irrigation

Pulse irrigation is suggested as an irrigation technique achieving a relatively low application rate while using an irrigation device with a higher application rate. A complete pulse irrigation is composed of a series of irrigation time cycles where each cycle includes two phases: the operating phase followed by the resting or nonoperative phase. The variables of the pulse pattern, the real irrigation time, the resting time, and the total time of a single pulse are defined as a function of the irrigation parameters and the number of cycles in the irrigation. A method is suggested to determine the number of cycles in one pulse irrigation which in general will be in the range of 5-10 cycles. According to the suggested principles and procedure, the required steps for pulse irrigation design are given. Numerical examples are included.