Stanford News | April 27, 2023
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new tool for optimizing irrigation in smart agriculture. The tool estimates water loss from soils due to evapotranspiration, which involves the evaporation of water into the atmosphere and water uptake by plants. Compared to existing methods, the tool is 100 times faster while maintaining high accuracy. It can be used to devise efficient irrigation schedules and adjust irrigation in real time based on weather conditions. Conventional models for evapotranspiration have relied on the vertical-flow assumption, ignoring horizontal water flow. However, for smart agriculture practices like drip irrigation, which administers water slowly and precisely to plants' root zones, the vertical-flow assumption is inadequate. The new tool provides guidance for positioning moisture sensors and drippers based on real-time conditions. The researchers plan to test the tool in real-world settings on a working farm.