Experimental Design Experimental Design Residential Residential - PDF document

8/24/2009 Evaluation of Evaluation of Sensor Sensor Based Based Residential Residential Irrigation Water Irrigation Water Application Application Melissa B. Haley Melissa B. Haley Agricultural & Biological Engineering Agricultural & Biological Engineering Michael D. Dukes Michael D. Dukes Agricultural & Biological Engineering Agricultural & Biological Engineering Experimental Design Experimental Design • Residential Residential Cooperators Cooperators – Palm Harbor Florida Palm Harbor Florida – Historical water use Historical water use – Landscape level Landscape level 1

8/24/2009 Experimental Design Experimental Design All homes have the following All homes have the following Automatic in Automatic in ‐ ground irrigation ground irrigation Water and irrigation meters Water and irrigation meters Automatic meter recording device Automatic meter recording device Experimental Experimental Treatments Treatments Homes are subdivided into 4 groupings Homes are subdivided into 4 groupings 1. 1. Monitoring Monitoring only…………………………….…. only…………………………….…. 2. 2. Current irrigation system Current irrigation system + plus rain sensor (6 mm)……………………….. plus rain sensor (6 mm )……………………….. 3. 3. Current irrigation system plus rain Current irrigation system plus rain g g y y p p + + + + sensor and educational sensor and educational materials………... materials………... 4. 4. Current irrigation system plus a Current irrigation system plus a + soil moisture soil moisture sensor………………………....... sensor………………………....... 2

8/24/2009 Timer Hot Common Valve Water Water Rain Sensor Timer Switch Common Hot Valve Water Water Water Water 3

8/24/2009 Rain Sensor Timer Switch Common Hot Valve Water W Water SMS Controller Timer Switch Common Hot Valve Water Water Water Water S oil Moisture S ensor (S MS ) 4

8/24/2009 SMS Controller Timer Switch Common Hot Valve W Water Water S oil Moisture S ensor (S MS ) 5

8/24/2009 Turf Quality Turf Quality • Turf Quality ratings based on NTEP procedures (1 ‐ 9 scale) – 1 dead turf 1 d d t f – 5 minimally acceptable turf quality – 9 perfect density and color Observed monthly precipitation (avg. of four weather stations) for the treatment period compared to historic monthly mean precipitation (St. Petersburg, FL) 300 250 200 Precipitation (mm) 150 100 50 0 Nov ‐ 06 Feb ‐ 07 May ‐ 07 Aug ‐ 07 Nov ‐ 07 Feb ‐ 08 May ‐ 08 Aug ‐ 08 Nov ‐ 08 Observed Precipitation Historic Mean Precipitation (1971 ‐ 2008) 6

8/24/2009 Estimated water use statistics two years prior to the study beginning, used for treatment determination. Estimated Irrigation Water Estimated Irrigation Water Application Depth (in/30d) Volume Usage (gal/30d) Quartile Average Min. Max. Average Min. Max. Low 1.2 0.8 1.4 5,029 1,875 9,000 Medium 2.4 1.6 3.4 9,999 4,281 17,063 High 5.3 3.6 8.4 19,517 6,719 33,000 Distribution Uniformity of Cooperating Homes 0% 9% 17% Fail 13% Fail (DU < 0.40) Excellent Poor (0.40-0.49) Poor Very Fair (0.50-0.59) 9% Good Good (0.60-0.69) Fair Very Good (0.70-0.74) 13% Excellent (0.75-0.84) Exceptional (DU > 0.85) Good 39% 7

8/24/2009 Results from Results from treatment designation treatment designation through through Dec ‘09 Dec ‘09 70 0 2 60 14% 4 y Effective Precipitation (inches) ation Application (inches) 50 6 8 40 45% 10 30 12 Monthly Irrig 65% 14 20 16 10 18 0 20 Nov ‐ 06 Feb ‐ 07 May ‐ 07 Sep ‐ 07 Dec ‐ 07 Mar ‐ 08 Jul ‐ 08 Oct ‐ 08 Jan ‐ 09 Effective Rainfall SMS EDU+RS RS WOS Results Results for 2008 only for 2008 only 30 0 25 5 20% Monthly Effective Precipitation (in) 20 10 Irrigation Application (in) 24% 15 15 10 65% 20 5 25 0 30 Jan Feb Apr Jun Jul Sep Oct Dec Effective Rainfall SMS EDU RS MO 8

8/24/2009 Automatic Meter Recorded Data Automatic Meter Recorded Data • Data ‐ loggers installed at all homes D l i ll d ll h – Attached to existing water meter – Installation in May 2007 – Water use data collection interval • Initially 10 minute • Now collecting hourly Average Number of Average Number of Irrigation Events per Month Irrigation Events per Month Number of Irrigation Events Z N Y T I actual Max Min Std Dev CV I calc (# S / mth) (#) (#/mth) (#/mth) (#/month) (%) (#/month) ent R SMS 2.1c Q 185 11 0 2.8 136 Treatme RS S 4 4.7a 195 19 22 22 0 0 5.6 6 114 114 4 MO 5.2a 173 29 0 6.5 125 EDU 3.6b 187 20 0 4.1 113 __N __ __ __ __ __ __ Spring 2007 Summer 2.1 32 21 0 4.3 210 5 Season P by Year Fall 4.5 81 29 0 6.7 153 4 Winter 4.1 46 21 0 4.9 137 2 Spring 5.6a 144 29 0 5.6 109 7 008 Summer 4.1b 138 26 0 5.0 135 3 S F ll Fall 2.8c 2 8 117 117 20 20 0 0 3 6 3.6 143 143 5 5 2 Winter 3.5bc 138 29 0 4.7 O 151 2 Note: Uppercase superscript letters indicate footnotes. Z Monthly average number of irrigation events applied. Y N = number of observations in the comparison. T Number of irrigation events per month, calculated from the SWB. S Conversion: 1 inch = 25.4 mm R Treatments are: SMS, time-based controller plus soil moisture sensor system; RS, time-based controller plus rain sensor; MO, time-based controller only; EDU, time-based controller plus rain sensor and educational 9

8/24/2009 SMS SMS Home Home Rain Sensor Rain Sensor + + Edu Edu Home Home 10

8/24/2009 Rain Sensor Rain Sensor Home Home 200 0 200 0 180 180 160 50 160 50 RS RS Monthly Precipitation (mm) SMS SMS Monthly Precipitation (mm) Irrigation Application (mm) Irrigation Application (mm) 140 140 Homes Homes Homes Homes 120 100 120 100 100 100 80 150 80 150 60 60 40 200 40 200 20 20 0 250 0 250 200 0 200 0 180 180 160 50 160 50 RS + Edu RS + Edu. . n (mm) n (mm) n (mm) Meter Only Meter Only (mm) 140 140 Homes Homes Homes Homes Homes Homes H Monthly Precipitation Irrigation Application Monthly Precipitation Irrigation Application 120 100 120 100 100 100 80 150 80 150 60 60 40 200 40 200 20 20 0 250 0 250 Effective Rainfall Actual Irr. Applied Calculated Irr. Need 11

8/24/2009 Summary Summary • The soil moisture sensor group – has statistically the lowest cumulative and mean has statistically the lowest cumulative and mean irrigation application – least number of weekly irrigation events • By inspection of the frequency of the irrigation events for each treatment (from AMR data) – the soil moisture sensor effectively bypasses irrigation – the soil moisture sensor effectively bypasses irrigation events • this is the only treatment in which the range of monthly irrigation events is successfully governed Next Household Phase Lessons Learned • Location – Socioeconomics S i i – Neighborhood aesthetics • Educational Materials – Type – Distribution • Method • Timing • Water Source Watering Day Restrictions 12

8/24/2009 Thank You I will gladly answer any questions… This research was supported by the Pinellas ‐ Anclote Basin Board of the Southwest Water Anclote Basin Board of the Southwest Water Management District, the Florida Department of Agriculture, and the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association. Acknowledgements Robert Peacock, Sean Hannigan, Diane Weaver, and Sheryl Powers from the Pinellas County Utilities y Conservation Department, and from the University of Florida, F. Wayne Williams, Bernard Cardenas ‐ Lailhacar, Mary Shedd McCready, Stacia Davis, Daniel Rutland, Eban Bean, and Kristen Femminella for their assistance and on this project. Average irrigated areas for each of the treatments. Irrigated Area (ft 2 ) Treatment Mean Med Min Max SMS 5,318 5,176 2,018 8,605 RS 7,279 5,919 3,899 18,976 MO MO 7,118 7 118 6 559 6,559 2 929 2,929 12 773 12,773 EDU 6,113 6,042 2,788 10,736 13