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Simplified method for estimating throw radius of rotating sprinklers on

sloping land

Article  in  Irrigation Science · September 2018

DOI: 10.1007/s00271-018-0594-8

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Irrigation Science
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-018-0594-8

ORIGINAL PAPER

Simplified method for estimating throw radius of rotating sprinklers

on sloping land
Lin Zhang1 · Boyang Fu2 · Xin Hui2 · Naiwang Ren2

Received: 8 December 2017 / Accepted: 25 September 2018

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
Radius of throw is an important index for assessing sprinkler performance. In the design of a sprinkler system, lateral and
sprinkler spacings are determined on the basis of the radius of throw and the precipitation profile. Previous studies on sprin-
kler radius of throw focused on flat ground. Limited by experimental conditions, radius of throw on sloping land is difficult
to measure. The calculation of throw radius is an important issue in the design of sprinkler irrigation systems on sloping
land. In this study, a simplified method for calculating radius of throw for rotating sprinklers on sloping land is presented in
the form of a model and was experimentally verified. The model is valid for land slopes below 0.20. The effects of sprinkler
operating pressure, nozzle size and slope on radius of throw were analyzed using the model, and the results showed that
operating pressure significantly affects radius of throw on sloping land, with a 95% confidence interval. Nozzle size and land
slope were also found to be factors that affect the radius of throw. It is recommended that in the design of sprinkler irrigation
systems on sloping land, the sprinkler should not be rotated through a whole circle when the slope exceeds 0.10, and the
proper combination of pressure and nozzle size must be applied. These results are helpful to determine lateral spacing and
sprinkler spacing for sprinkler system design on sloping lands.

Introduction sprinkler operating pressure, nozzle diameter and elevation

Radius of throw is an important index for assessing the sprin-
kler performance in agricultural irrigation (Kincaid 1982;
Sheikhesmaeili et al. 2016). In the design of sprinkler sys-
tems, lateral spacing and sprinkler spacing are determined
on the basis of the radius of throw and the precipitation pro-
file (Rossi and Ares 2015; Ouazaa et al. 2016; Zapata et al.
2017). There are many factors affecting radius of throw, such
as operating pressure, nozzle size, riser height, and trajectory
angle (Zhang et al. 2013; Zhu et al. 2015; Felix-Felix et al.
2017). Feng (1984, 1986) put forward a theoretical formula
for calculating radius of throw, which derived from the basic
concepts of physics and theoretical mechanics, considering
Communicated by G. Merkley.
* Lin Zhang
zl0211wy@163.com
1
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F
University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
2
College of Water Resource and Architectural Engineering,
Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi,
China
angle. Khalil et al. (2002) investigated the effects of polymer
additives (to irrigation water) on sprinkler performance. Two
kinds of polymer additives with several concentrations were
used: a low molecular weight polymer (sodium carboxym-
ethylcellulose) and a high molecular weight polymer (poly-
acrylamide). The results show that with polymer additives
the radius of throw and the sprinkler flow rate both increase.
According to basic physics and hydraulics, a new theoretical
formula of radius of throw was deduced on the assumption
of considering atmosphere resistance without wind effects
(Tuo et al. 2006). And the formula was in good agreement
with the data of different types of sprinklers compared to
other empirical formulas, whereby the relative error was
only 5.05%. Wang et al. (2008a, b) established a 3-D theo-
retical model for radius of throw based on Newton’s second
law and aerodynamics principles, taking into account the
wind velocity on the water droplet travel. The effects of dif-
ferent trajectory angles of a gun sprinkler associated with
different nozzle diameters and working pressures on radius
of throw and water distribution profile were assessed, and a
potential equation was adjusted to estimate radius of throw
by do Prado et al. (2013).

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 Irrigation Science

The above studies are important for choosing appropri- when the ground slope is small. That is, line AE or EC in
ate sprinkler and lateral spacings in the design of sprinkler Fig. 1 is approximated by a straight line.
irrigation systems. However, these studies focused mainly on As seen in Fig. 1, the radius of throw on the uphill slope
flat ground, but sloping farmland covers about one-fourth of can be determined by the following equation:
the total cultivated area in China, and it is prevalent in many
other areas of the world. Because of its adaptability to com-
Ruphill slope = |OB| − |AB|, (1)
plex terrain, sprinkler irrigation is increasingly being used where
for sloping farmland. Limited by experimental conditions, |OB| = |OE| cos 𝛽 = R0 cos 𝛽, (2)
the radius of throw on sloping land is difficult to measure.
Calculation of the throw radius becomes an important issue ( )
𝜋
to be resolved in urgent need for the design of sprinkler
|AB| = |BE| tan − 𝛽 − 𝜃 = |BE| cot(𝛽 + 𝜃), (3)
2
irrigation systems on sloping land.
and
To overcome the difficulty of radius of throw measure-
ment on sloping land and provide some basic information |BE| = |OE| sin 𝛽 = R0 sin 𝛽. (4)
of radius of throw that could help to determine lateral and In Eqs. (1)–(4), Ruphill slope is the radius of throw for uphill
sprinkler spacings for sprinkler system design on sloping slope (m); R0 is the radius of throw on flat ground (m); 𝛽
land. The main objective of this study was to develop a is the projected angle [the angle between the projection
simplified model for estimating radius of throw of a rotat- of water jet trajectory on slope and that on level surface
ing sprinkler on sloping land, determine the key parame- (degrees)]; 𝜃 is the droplet landing angle on flat ground
ters (projected angle, droplet landing angle on flat ground, (degrees).
etc.), and experimentally verify the model. Furthermore, Substituting Eq. (4) into Eq. (3):
the model was used to study the effects of sprinkler operat-
ing pressure, nozzle size and ground slope on the radius of |AB| = R0 sin 𝛽 cot(𝛽 + 𝜃). (5)
throw. Substituting Eqs. (2) and (5) into Eq. (1), and rearranging:
Ruphill slope = R0 cos 𝛽[1 − tan 𝛽 cot(𝜃 + 𝛽)]. (6)
Model for estimating radius of throw Likewise, radius of throw for the downhill slope can be
for rotating sprinklers on sloping land estimated by Eq. (7):
Rdownhill slope = R0 cos 𝛽[1 + tan 𝛽 cot(𝜃 − 𝛽)]. (7)
Construction of the model
Determination of key parameters in the model
The design of sprinkler and lateral spacings is based pri-
marily on the radius of throw. The schematic diagram of Projected angle (β)
sprinkler water jet trajectory on various slopes is given in
Fig. 1. Other things (operating pressure, riser height, etc.) Projected angle (β) is related to the ground slope and the
being equal, the water jet trajectory is exactly the same on angle of the sprinkler rotating on a slope. It can be calculated
various slopes. The part of the water jet trajectory close to by the following equation:
the horizontal plane can be approximated by a straight line
180
𝛽=± arctan (i sin 𝛼), (8)
𝜋
where i is the terrain slope and 𝛼 is the sprinkler rotating
angle (degrees). Here, the plus and minus signs are for the 𝛽
term and specify 0◦ ≤ 𝛼 ≤ 180◦ and 180◦ < 𝛼 < 360◦ condi-
tions, respectively.

Radius of throw on flat ground (R0)

When sprinkler operating pressure is given, R0 can be meas-

Fig. 1  Schematic diagram of a sprinkler water trajectory on various
ground slopes
ured on flat ground. Additionally, R0 can be estimated by
formulas. There are many formulas regarding the radius of
throw on flat ground, including empirical and theoretical
formulas. Empirical formulas are obtained from experimen-
tal data and only apply to specific sprinklers. Theoretical

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Irrigation Science
formulas are more generally applicable because major fac-
tors affecting radius of throw for sprinklers are considered.
The formula of Feng (1984, 1986) is for calculating the
radius of throw on flat ground, which was derived from the
basic concepts of physics and theoretical mechanics, con-
sidering sprinkler operating pressure, nozzle diameter and
elevation angle:
( )
H 0.94
2 2
R0 = 4𝜇 Hsin 𝛾 cot 𝛾 − 0.216 , (9)
d
where 𝜇 is the flow rate coefficient and 𝜇 = 0.86 − 0.90 ; H is
the sprinkler operating pressure (m); 𝛾 is the nozzle elevation
angle (degrees); d is the nozzle diameter (mm).
Droplet landing angle on flat ground ( 𝜃)
Droplet landing angle on flat ground ( 𝜃 ) is an important
parameter for estimating the radius of throw for sprin-
klers operating on sloping land. It can be measured by
two-dimensional video disdrometer or by a photographic
method. Two-dimensional video disdrometer produced by
Joanneum Research (Austria) can be used for recording
the horizontal velocity and vertical velocity of a single
water droplet. Therefore, the droplet landing angle can
be obtained as the inverse tangent of the ratio of verti-
cal and horizontal velocities. The photographic method is
based on the use of a camera to photograph water droplets
at the end of the throw radius to record the instantane-
ous movement trajectory of droplets, and then the droplet
landing angle can be extracted from the photos with ease.
Each measurement method has its comparative advantages
Fig. 2  Comparison of different methods for measuring droplet landing angle
and disadvantages. Two-dimensional video disdrometer
is very expensive, but the measurement precision is rela-
tively high because it can record successively the velocity
and particle size information of multiple water droplets.
Although the cost of the photographic method is relatively
low, the measurement precision is lower than that of a two-
dimensional video disdrometer, as it can only obtain the
instantaneous trajectory of water droplets.
The Rainbird LF1200 sprinkler, which is very com-
monly used in agricultural irrigation, was selected for
the study. The nozzle diameter is 2.18 mm, the jet angle
is 17°, and the recommended operating pressure range
is from 210 to 410 kPa. The riser height was 30 cm, as
per the manufacturer’s recommendation. Figure 2 shows
the values of the droplet landing angle measured by two-
dimensional video disdrometer and the photographic
method on flat ground. As shown in Fig. 2a, the value of
the droplet landing angle measured by two-dimensional
video disdrometer ranged from 38° to 41.6°, with a mean
of 39.4°. It can be seen from Fig.  2b that the average
value of the droplet landing angle measured several times
using the photographic method was 40.2°. The difference
between the above two average values of droplet landing
angle measured by two-dimensional video disdrometer and
the photographic method was only 0.8°, indicating that
it is feasible to use the photographic method to measure
the droplet landing angle. To obtain reliable results, it is
suggested that the measurement be repeated at least three
times and the average value be used. Besides, it is better
to use the traditional plumb lines in the measurement for
calculating droplet landing angle accurately through the
photos.
13

Model validations
Experimental design
To verify the model, the experiment on radius of throw
under different ground slopes was conducted at the Irriga-
tion Hydraulics Laboratory (IHL) of the Northwest A&F
University, Yangling, China. Figure 3 shows the experi-
mental setup. The testing apparatus consisted of sprinkler,
height adjustable bracket and steel channel, catch-can,
pressure transducer, pump, stainless steel water tank, PVC
pipes, valves and other necessary test equipment.
The experimental ground slope surface was artificially
constructed by adjustable brackets and steel channels with
a length of 3.0 m and a width of 0.15 m. Before the test,
the height of the brackets was calculated according to the
experimental slope, and the actual height was adjusted
according to the calculation. Steel channels were placed
on the brackets to create an experimental slope surface
with a length of 12 m and width of about 11 m. Catch-
cans were white plastic containers with an opening diam-
eter of 10.6 cm and a height of 14.0 cm, and they were
placed in the steel channels and arranged by grid. The
grid size on the ground projection was 1 m × 1 m. There
were 12 rows with 11 catch-cans on each row, for a total
of 121 catch-cans. According to Agricultural irrigation
equipment-sprinklers—Part 3: Characterization of distri-
bution and test methods (ISO 15886-3 2012), the radius
of throw is the distance measured from the centerline of a
continuously operating sprinkler to the most remote point
at which the sprinkler deposits water at the minimum
effective water application rate (application rate equal
to or exceeding 0.26 mm/h for sprinklers with flow rates
exceeding 75 L/h).
Fig. 3  Experimental setup for
sprinkler water distribution on
sloping ground. (1) Rain gauge,
(2) stainless steel groove, (3)
height adjustable bracket, (4)
pressure sensor, (5) retaining
plastic, and (6) sprinkler
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Irrigation Science
The Rainbird LF1200 sprinkler selected for the tests
was installed vertically at the bottom and top of the left
of the slope surface, respectively. At the given operating
pressure, the sprinkler was installed at the top of the slope,
and then throw radius for the downhill slope was recorded.
After a 1-hour test, the sprinkler was installed at the bot-
tom of the slope, and radius of throw for the uphill slope
was recorded at exactly the same operating pressure. The
combination of radius of throw for the downhill slope and
uphill slope was radius of throw for the sprinkler on the
slope surface.
A sprinkler screen was constructed to prevent water from
splashing on the electronic instruments. The pressure trans-
ducer was a Xi’an Xinmin model CYB, with a range from 0
to 500 kPa and an accuracy of ± 0.1%. The pressure trans-
ducer, wrapped in a plastic bag, was installed at the inlet of
the sprinkler and connected to a data logger. The pressure
was recorded at 5-s intervals by the data logger during each
1-h sprinkler test. Then the average pressure was calculated
for each test.
Radius of throw on slope surface was measured under
five different ground slopes at a sprinkler operating pressure
of 300 kPa. The five different ground slopes were 0, 0.05,
0.10, 0.15 and 0.20, respectively. There were five trials in all,
and each trial included two 1-h tests; that is, radius of throw
measured for both the uphill and downhill slopes. Before the
test, the photographic method was used to measure droplet
landing angle on flat ground for estimating the radius of
throw on a sloping surface with the model.
Comparison of calculated and measured values
of radius of throw
Radius of throw ( R0 ) and droplet landing angle (θ) measured
at the sprinkler pressure of 300 kPa on flat ground were
substituted into Eqs. (6) and (7), and the radius of throw
Irrigation Science

Fig. 4  Comparison of measured and simulated values of radius of throw on sloping ground. Note: the positive vertical axis represents the uphill
slope direction, and the negative vertical axis represents the downhill slope direction. The horizontal and vertical axes are both in meters

was calculated for different ground slopes. Calculated val-
ues were compared with the measured radius of throw at
the sprinkler pressure of 300 kPa under different slopes in
Fig. 4. The results show that calculated values were in good
agreement with the measured values of radius of throw
because differences between them were within 8.5%. There
are two reasons for the difference between calculated and
measured values. First, because the model was derived based
on the hypothesis that the part of water jet trajectory close
to the horizontal plane could be approximated by a straight
line; second, the model assumes that the sprinkler operating
pressure remains constant and rotation speed is uniform, but
actually there was a very small pressure fluctuation due to
water supply by a centrifugal pump. That is why the curve
of calculated values is smooth, while the curve of measured
values is irregular for the radius of throw on sloping land.
It is noted that the model is not applicable to steep slopes
due to its hypothesis. Results of the comparison in Fig. 4
indicate that the model can be applied when the ground
slope is less than or equal to 0.20. The model is appropriate
in most cases in practice, because most sprinkler irrigation
systems are never installed on very steep slopes.

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 Irrigation Science

Table 1  Factors and levels for sprinkler testing on sloping ground Effect of sprinkler operating pressure on radius
Operating pressure Nozzle diameter Ground slope of throw
(kPa) (mm)
Figure  5 shows radius of throw with various sprinkler
1 100 1.50 0.05
operating pressures, where the nozzle size is 2.0  mm
2 200 2.00 0.10
and the slope is 0.15. As shown in Fig. 5, for downhill
3 300 2.50 0.15
slope, the radius of throw increases first and then begins
4 400 5.00 0.20
to decrease when the pressure is increased beyond a cer-
5 500 – 0.25
tain value. When the pressure increases with an increment
"–" Means no value value of 100 kPa from 100 to 500 kPa, the marginal benefit
of radius of throw on downhill slope is 3.26 m, 0.91 m,
− 0.64  m and − 0.10  m, respectively. For uphill slope,
radius of throw increases as the pressure increases, but
the marginal benefit gradually decreases with the increased
pressure (we did not see a certain threshold value for
radius of throw which decreased with the increased pres-
sure like the downhill slope experiment, perhaps that’s
because the pressure is not large enough). When the pres-
sure increases with an increment value of 100 kPa from
100 to 500 kPa, the marginal benefit of radius of throw on
uphill slope is 2.75 m, 0.77 m, 0.77 m and 0.22 m, respec-
tively. As water sprays from the sprinkler it breaks up into
small drops. When the pressure is high, drops tend to be
much smaller as the water jet breaks up easily. Generally,
the smaller the drop is, and the shorter the flight distance.
Therefore, a relatively high pressure is useful to improve
the atomization effect but has a small (or even negative)
contribution to the marginal benefit of radius of throw.

Effect of nozzle size on radius of throw

The flow rate, radius of throw, water distribution, kinetic

Fig. 5  Radius of throw at various pressures on a ground slope of 0.15
Model applications
Effects of sprinkler operating pressure, nozzle size and
slope on radius of throw were analyzed using the model.
The Rainbird 5000 sprinkler was selected for model
application. The operating pressure range is from 170 to
460 kPa for the sprinkler according to the manufacturer’s
recommendations. The riser height was 45 cm. Factors and
levels for the simulation are presented in Table 1. Before
simulating radius of throw on different slopes, the droplet
landing angle was measured for given pressures and nozzle
sizes (seen in Table 1) on flat ground.
energy and atomization effect of sprinkler are affected
directly by nozzle size. Figure 6 shows the relationship
between radius of throw and pressure on slope of 0.15 for
various nozzle sizes. As indicated by Fig. 6, for both uphill
and downhill slopes, the smaller the nozzle size, the slower
the radius of throw increases with increasing pressure. For
example, for the nozzle size of 1.5 mm, when the pressure
increases from 100 to 500 kPa, the radius of throw on uphill
slope increases from 4.99 to 6.72 m and the radius of throw
on the downhill slope increases from 7.42 to 10.41 m, and
the magnitude of increase for radii of throw on the uphill
and downhill slopes are 2.63 m, and 2.99 m, respectively.
However, for the nozzle size of 5.0 mm, the magnitude of
increase for radius of throw on uphill slope and downhill
slope are 8.16 m, and 7.35 m, respectively, when the pres-
sure increases from 100 to 500 kPa.
The relationship between ratio of pressure to nozzle
and operating pressure is given in Fig. 7. It can be seen
from Fig. 7 that at the same pressure, the smaller the noz-
zle size, the larger the ratio of pressure to nozzle. That is,
the smaller the nozzle size, the faster the ratio of pressure

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Irrigation Science

Fig. 6  Relationship between radius of throw and pressure on a ground slope of 0.15 for various nozzle sizes

to nozzle size, the smaller the drop size. In general, the

Fig. 7  Relationship between ratio of pressure to nozzle and operating
pressure
to nozzle increases with increasing pressure. The ratio of
pressure to nozzle size, which can reflect the size of drops
ejected from the sprinkler, is an index for assessing the
droplet atomization effect. The larger the ratio of pressure
smaller the drops are, the shorter the flight distance. That
is why the smaller the nozzle size, the slower the radius of
throw increases with increased pressure.
Therefore, in the design of sprinkler system on sloping
land, a proper combination of pressure and nozzle size
should be selected to increase the radius of throw for a
sprinkler under the condition of meeting the required flow
rate and water application uniformity. If the selected noz-
zle size is very small, on one hand, the radius of throw
is short even at a high pressure, and the operational cost
of the system will be increased; on the other hand, many
more small drops are ejected from the sprinkler, and
consequently the drift loss will be large. If the selected
nozzle size is very large, many more large drops ejected
from sprinkler cause high kinetic energy intensity, which
is harmful to some soils and crops. However, further
research on the relationship among droplet size, drift loss
and kinetic energy intensity on sloping land should be con-
ducted to answer the question on how to select the proper
combination of pressure and nozzle size in the design of a
sprinkler system on sloping land.

Table 2  Radius of throw on the uphill and downhill slopes for various ground slopes

Slope Radius of throw on Radius of throw on Radius of throw ratio of Radius of throw ratio of Radius of throw ratio of
uphill slope (m) downhill slope (m) uphill slope to flat ground downhill slope to flat ground downhill slope to uphill
slope

0.05 11.11 12.41 0.95 1.06 1.12

0.10 10.59 13.24 0.90 1.13 1.25
0.15 10.15 14.21 0.87 1.21 1.40
0.20 9.77 15.35 0.83 1.31 1.57
0.25 9.45 16.71 0.81 1.43 1.77

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Effect of slope on radius of throw Table 3  Analysis of variance between each factor and radius of throw
on the uphill slope
Table 2 gives values of radius of throw on downhill slope Factors Type III SS Degrees Standard F value P value
and uphill slope with various slopes, where the pressure of free- deviation
is 300 kPa and the nozzle size is 2.0 mm. It is seen from dom
Table 2, under the condition of the same pressure and Nozzle size 364.9 3 121.6 197.0 0.000
nozzle size, radius of throw on the uphill slope decreases Operating 353.7 4 88.4 143.2 0.000
and radius of throw on the downhill slope increases as the pressure
ground slope increases. The reason is that, when water Slope 23.8 4 6.0 9.6 0.000
sprays in the uphill direction, the landing of water jet tra-
jectory is nearer to the sprinkler than the landing on flat
ground. The greater the ground slope, the nearer the land- Table 4  Analysis of variance between each factor and radius of throw
ing, and the shorter the radius of throw. When water sprays on the downhill slope
in the downhill direction, the result described above is the Factors Type III SS Degree Standard F value P value
opposite. of free- deviation
In addition, the radius of throw ratio of uphill slope to dom
flat ground decreases as the slope increases. The ratio is Nozzle size 585.1 3 195.0 324.7 0.000
0.90 when the slope is 0.10, indicating radius of throw on Operating 276.3 4 69.1 115.0 0.000
uphill slope losses 10% compared with radius of throw on pressure
flat ground. The radius of throw ratio of downhill slope to Slope 161.6 4 40.4 67.3 0.000
flat ground increases as the slope increases. The ratio is 1.13
when the slope is 0.10, suggesting that radius of throw on
the downhill slope increases by 13% compared to the radius uphill part of the circle should not be irrigated from a down-
of throw on flat ground. hill sprinkler) when the ground slope exceeds 0.10.
It is assumed that wetted areas on the uphill and down-
hill slopes are both half ellipses. The semi major-axes of a Analysis of variance between each factor and radius
half ellipse are R0, the semi minor-axes of a half ellipse are of throw
Ruphill slope, and the wetted area (Suphill slope) is 𝜋R0 Ruphill slope ∕2
on the uphill slope. The semi major-axes of a half ellipse are Regardless of the interaction between factors, the effects
Rdownhill slope, the semi minor-axes of a half ellipse are R0, of operating pressure, nozzle size and slope on radius of
and the wetted area (Sdownhill slope) is 𝜋R0 Rdownhill slope ∕2 on throw were statistically analyzed. The results are described
the downhill slope. Assuming that the sprinkler rotates with in Tables 3 and 4, where it can be seen that the effects of
a constant speed, the water volume from the sprinkler to operating pressure, nozzle size and slope on the radius of
downhill slope is the same as that to the uphill slope. Thus, throw are all significant at the confidence level of 95% for
the average application rate ratio of uphill to downhill slope both uphill and downhill slopes. The influence of each fac-
( 𝛾  ) is expressed as follows: tor on radius of throw for uphill and downhill slopes follows
the following parameters in order of importance: operating
Rdownhill slope pressure, nozzle size and ground slope. As shown in Table 3,
𝛾= . (10) F values for operating pressure and nozzle size are much
Ruphill slope
greater than that for ground slope, and F values for oper-
According to Eq. (10), 𝛾 for slopes of 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, ating pressure and nozzle size are very similar, indicating
0.20 and 0.25 is equal to 1.12, 1.25, 1.40,1.57 and 1.77, that operating pressure and nozzle size are major factors
respectively, where the pressure is 300 kPa and the nozzle affecting the radius of throw on uphill slopes. These results
size is2.0 mm. Thus, 𝛾 increases quickly with increasing demonstrate that it is important to select a proper combina-
ground slope. If nonuniform water distribution for the sin- tion of pressure and nozzle size in the design of sprinkler
gle sprinkler is considered, the actual average application systems on sloping land.
rate ratio of uphill to downhill slope will be larger than the
above values of 𝛾  . When the slope is 0.1, the relative differ-
ence of the actual average application rates between uphill Summary and conclusions
and downhill slopes is larger than 25%, and radius of throw
on the uphill slope is reduced by10% compared to that of The model for estimating radius of throw of rotating sprin-
flat ground. Therefore, it is recommended that the sprinkler kler on sloping land was put forward, and key parameters
should not be rotated through a whole circle (that is, the (such as projected angle and droplet landing angle on flat

13
Irrigation Science
ground) in the model were determined. Furthermore, the
model was verified by the experiment, and it is available
when the slope is less than or equals to 0.20.
In this study, the effects of sprinkler operating pressure,
nozzle size and slope on radius of throw were analyzed using
the model. The results show that radius of throw increases
first and then begin to decrease when the pressure increases
beyond a certain value. The smaller the nozzle size is, the
slower the radius of throw increases with the increased pres-
sure. The radius of throw on the uphill slope decreases, and
the radius of throw on the downhill slope increases as the
slope increases.
The effects of operating pressure, nozzle size and slope
on radius of throw are all significant at the confidence level
of 95% for the uphill and downhill slopes. The influence of
each factor on the radius of throw for uphill and downhill
slopes follows the following factors in the order of impor-
tance: operating pressure, nozzle size and ground slope.
In the design of sprinkler systems on sloping land, it is
important to select a suitable combination of operating pres-
sure and nozzle size, and it is recommended that the uphill
part of the circle not be sprinkler-irrigated when the ground
slope exceeds 0.10.
Acknowledgements  The authors gratefully thank the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51779246), Key Research and
Development Program of Shaanxi Province (Grant no. 2017NY-118)
and Key Science & Technology Innovation Team Program of Shaanxi
Province (Grant no. 2017KCT-15). This work was also supported by
the National Science and Technology Support Program (Grant no.
2015BAD22B01-02).
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