LAUSR

A field evaluation study for a traveller irrigation system (TIS), which is a relatively new introduction for Indian conditions, was undertaken at the research farm of Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. The major objectives were to evaluate the hydraulic performance and to describe the operational aspects of a TIS under different travel speeds. The TIS, with a rated nozzle discharge of 18–26 m3 h−1, was operated at three travel speeds ranging from 25.4 to 82.9 m h−1. The depth of applied water and soil moisture were monitored on a regular grid over a 270 × 60 m area and characterized in terms of uniformity and distribution coefficients. As expected, the depth of irrigation water and soil moisture indicated an inverse relationship with the speed of travel. In contrast to a conical/triangular water distribution profile in a twin-nozzle medium-pressure fixed sprinkler system, the tested TIS leads to a trapezium/trapezoidal-shaped water distribution/precipitation profile. The uniformity and distribution coefficients as well as depth of water application were lower at the start and end sections as compared to the middle section of the total travel path of the TIS. A 20–30% overlapping between adjacent travel paths resulted in maximizing uniformity and distribution coefficients at different speeds. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.