Advances in Irrigation: Select Works from 2010 Decennial Irrigation Symposium

This paper is an introduction to the Advances in Irrigation Special Collection in this issue of Transactions ASABE and the next issue of Applied Engineering in Agriculture of 14 papers selected from 88 papers and presentations at the ASABE 5th Decennial National Irrigation Symposium, December 2010, in Phoenix, Arizona. This symposium followed the objectives of the previous four decennial events to provide a forum to assess progress of research endeavors to advance the effectiveness of irrigation practices during the past 10 years, leading to further research priorities that respond to future challenges. The papers in this Collection address a wide range of topics grouped into broad categories: microirrigation, center pivot irrigation, crop water use for improved irrigation management, and smart irrigation controllers for landscape irrigation. While these papers are not inclusive of all irrigation work since the last decennial symposium, they do provide a snapshot of work considered important by researchers, funding agencies and other stakeholders. Many aspects of irrigation have changed since the first symposium in 1970. Although microirrigation is a small proportion of irrigated acreage, it will continue to increase in highly technical commercial food and fiber production as well as in subsistence farming. Center pivot irrigation systems have been an important tool to deliver water more efficiently in diverse settings. Advanced telemetry and control systems, developed during the past 10 years, are now common options for center pivots, but challenges remain to integrate those hardware developments into crop management practices. Possibilities are emerging for adding monitoring devices to center pivots to match crop water needs with water delivery. Energy balance models continue to be refined as tools to estimate crop water use from both ground and satellite based data. Evapotranspiration estimates are evolving from single location weather stations to whole-field or regional scopes. Finally, “smart” irrigation controllers have coupled evapotranspiration estimation or soil-water sensing with automated irrigation system water delivery. These controllers can increase the precision of irrigation to match crop or landscape water needs. Irrigation will continue to be an important practice for producing the world’s food. The irrigation research and education professions will need to respond to food production challenges with even more refined irrigation systems and water management in the next 10 years. However, research investment in irrigation continues to decline when important issues exist, such as: maintaining agricultural profitability with declining water supplies, integrating sensor-based information for real-time autonomous or semi-autonomous management, competition for limited water supplies between agriculture and other sectors, increasing energy cost, environmental impacts of irrigation, and use of alternative water sources (i.e., lower quality) for irrigation

Expanding neutrino oscillation parameter measurements in NOvA using a Bayesian approach

NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment that measures oscillations in charged-current $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\mu}$ (disappearance) and $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{e}$ (appearance) channels, and their antineutrino counterparts, using neutrinos of energies around 2 GeV over a distance of 810 km. In this work we reanalyze the dataset first examined in our previous paper [Phys. Rev. D 106, 032004 (2022)] using an alternative statistical approach based on Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo. We measure oscillation parameters consistent with the previous results. We also extend our inferences to include the first NOvA measurements of the reactor mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ and the Jarlskog invariant. We use these results to quantify the strength of our inferences about CP violation, as well as to examine the effects of constraints from short-baseline measurements of $\theta_{13}$ using antineutrinos from nuclear reactors when making NOvA measurements of $\theta_{23}$. Our long-baseline measurement of $\theta_{13}$ is also shown to be consistent with the reactor measurements, supporting the general applicability and robustness of the PMNS framework for neutrino oscillations

Supernova neutrino detection in NOvA

The NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment uses a pair of large, segmented, liquid-scintillator calorimeters to study neutrino oscillations, using GeV-scale neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. These detectors are also sensitive to the flux of neutrinos which are emitted during a core-collapse supernova through inverse beta decay interactions on carbon at energies of O(10 MeV). This signature provides a means to study the dominant mode of energy release for a core-collapse supernova occurring in our galaxy. We describe the data-driven software trigger system developed and employed by the NOvA experiment to identify and record neutrino data from nearby galactic supernovae. This technique has been used by NOvA to self-trigger on potential core-collapse supernovae in our galaxy, with an estimated sensitivity reaching out to 10 kpc distance while achieving a detection efficiency of 23% to 49% for supernovae from progenitor stars with masses of 9.6 M☉ to 27 M☉, respectively

The Savannah River Site's Groundwater Monitoring Program Second Quarter 2000 (April through June 2000)

This report summarizes the Groundwater Monitoring Program conducted by SRS during second quarter 2000. It includes the analytical data, field data, data review, quality control, and other documentation for this program; provides a record of the program's activities; and serves as an official record of the analytical results

The Savannah River Site Groundwater Monitoring Program Fourth Quarter 2000 (October thru December 2000)

This report summarizes the Groundwater Monitoring Program conducted by SRS during fourth quarter 2000. It includes the analytical data, field data, data review, quality control, and other documentation for this program

The Savannah River Site's Groundwater Monitoring Program - Second Quarter 2001 (April through June 2001)

This report summarizes the Groundwater Monitoring Program conducted by SRS during second quarter 2001. It includes the analytical data, field data, data review, quality control, and other documentation for this program; provides a record of the program's activities; and serves as an official record of the analytical results

The Savannah River Site's Groundwater Monitoring Program Third Quarter 2000 (July through September 2000)

This report summarizes the Groundwater Monitoring Program conducted by SRS during third quarter 2000. It includes the analytical data, field data, data review, quality control, and other documentation for this program; provides a record of the program's activities; and serves as an official record of the analytical results

Vitrification of transuranic and beta-gamma contaminated solid wastes

Vitrification of solid transuranic contaminated (TRU) wastes alone and with high-level liquid wastes (HLLW) was studied. Homogeneous glasses containing 20 to 30 wt % ash were made by using glass frits previously developed at the Savannah River Plant and Pacific Northwest Laboratories. If the ash is vitrified along with the HLLW, 1.0 wt % as can be added to the waste forms without affecting their quality. This loading of ash is well above the loading required by the relative amounts of HLLW and TRU ash that will be processed at the Savannah River Plant. Vitrification of TRU-contaminated electropolishing sludges and high efficiency particular air filter materials along with HLLW would require an increase in the quantity of glass to be produced. However, if these TRU-contaminated solids were vitrified with the HLLW, the addition of low-level beta-gamma contaminated ash would require no further increase in glass production

Dry-Out Periods of Rain Sensors vs. Soil Dry-Out: Water Saving Potential and Recommendations

Rain sensors (RSs) are devices that may help to irrigate residential landscapes more efficiently. When a predetermined amount of rain occurs, an RS interrupts the programmed irrigation cycle. When rainfall stops, RSs allow irrigation after a dry-out period. However, no actual RS dry-out times have been compared with soil dry-out times. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the seasonal dry-out periods of two RSs; (ii) to estimate the dry-out periods of three soil textures (sand, loam, and clay loam) through a soil water balance model using numerical flow equations; (iii) to compare the dry-out period of these soil textures to the dry-out period of two RSs; and (iv) to propose recommendations for increased or decreased RS dry-out period, if any. Existing RS dry-out data from previous studies performed in Central Florida were assembled along with hourly weather data to estimate hourly turfgrass evapotranspiration (ET). Precipitation data were used with ET to simulate soil dry-out, using the WAVE 3.0 model. Modeled soil dry-out times were compared against actual RS dry-out data. The average RS dry-out time was not different between the RS brands tested, which was around 19 h. The dry-out time of the sand-textured soil was different from the loam and clay loam, which were similar to one another. The dry-out times of the soils modeled were always above 52, 75, and 89 h for sand, clay loam, and loam, respectively. Therefore, these results show that the RSs tested do not follow the dry-out characteristics of any of the soil textures modeled. An electronic mechanism that could delay the RSs resuming to the allowing irrigation mode is recommended to the industry