Mini-lysimeter Hardware
Description
Development of more efficient and sustainable irrigation technology is critical to maintain horticultural production in a water scarce future. Sensor controlled irrigation is an emerging technology that has the potential to increase irrigation efficiency and reduce overwatering by using real-time data on container water status to control the timing and volume of irrigation events. This project presents a novel irrigation control system using lysimetry. We develop small scale lysimeters, referred to as mini-lysimeter, which provide a direct measure of actual evapotranspiration (ET) via a change in mass of containerized crops. This data repository provides the necessary documents and designs to reproduce a mini-lysimeter controlled irrigation system for use in container nurseries. The repository includes CAD files of the mini-lysimeter design, a bill of materials for device assembly, and documentation on data logger wiring.