Application for evaluation of the uniformity of systems of pressurized irrigation

Abstract

The evaluation and monitoring of the performance of irrigation systems are crucial in maintaining water efficiency and conservation of water and energy resources. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop and validate an application for the coefficient of uniformity coordinators of pressurized irrigation systems. So, the UniIrrig® application was developed, using the integrated development environment Android Studio10 version 4.0.1, in JAVA language, with applicability in devices with the Android operating system. For quantitative verification, the same input values in the UniIrrig® application were also inserted in Microsoft® Excel 2010, in all uniformity conductors used in the application. For the qualitative analysis, together with the experience of the user, 68 students of the Agronomy course at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) participated in tests in order to evaluate the perception of usability, design, usefulness, and general satisfaction of the tool. To validate the application in the field, a uniformity test was carried out on a center pivot in the municipality of Cascavel, Ceará state, with the aid of collectors (Kit Fabrimar) to deliver the applied depth and the consequent result of the distribution uniformity coefficient (DUC), of Hart (HDC) and weighted mean depth analysis. These values were compared to the results obtained in Microsoft® Excel 2010. The dynamic analysis of the data evolved in “r”= 1, thus providing perfect adaptation between the results obtained by the application and by Microsoft® Excel, finding an error equal to zero. In the qualitative assessment, 84.1% consider the application a good tool for coefficient determination. It is concluded that the UniIrrig® application, designed for the Android operating system, can be used to quantify the assessed irrigation uniformity coefficients.