Evaluation of ET Based “Smart” Controllers

A smart controller testing facility was established by the Irrigation Technology Center at Texas AM and those which ET values are sent via cellular, radio or the internet. Controller performance was compared to total ETo, plant water requirement (ETc) and the weekly irrigation recommendation of the TexasET Network (http://TexasET.tamu.edu). Results so far indicate that controllers using on-site sensors for calculating irrigation water requirements produced lower water requirements and were more often within the irrigation recommendations of the TexasET Network. Significant seasonal differences in controller performance were also found. Results also indicate problems in quantifying effective rainfall, particularly when using a rain sensor. Continued evaluation of ET based controllers is needed to identify the causes of inconsistency among controllers.