Irrigation Performance Measures: Efficiency and Uniformity

Abstract

It is essential to standardize the definitions and approaches to quantifying various irrigation performance measures. The ASCE Task Committee on Defining Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity provides a comprehensive examination of various performance indices such as irrigation efficiency, application efficiency, irrigation sagacity, distribution uniformity, and others. Consistency is provided among different irrigation methods and different scales. Clarification of common points of confusion is provided, and methods are proposed whereby the accuracy of numerical values of the performance indicators can be assessed. This issue has two companion papers that provide more detailed information on statistical distribution uniformity and the accuracy of irrigation efficiency estimates.