Smart irrigation controllers have demonstrated potential for turfgrass water conservation in humid and temperate environments but have not been comprehensively tested in arid environments. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of a wireless capacitance sensor over a wide soil moisture range and to ascertain if smart irrigation controllers resulted in water savings without reducing quality of tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.] and bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.). A two‐yr study was conducted to compare turfgrass quality, root morphology, and water use of plots irrigated with a constant run time to plots for which irrigation was scheduled using soil moisture sensors (SMS), evapotranspiration (ET) [Climate Logic (CL)] controllers, or 80% of historic ET (ET80) for tall fescue and 60% (ET60) for bermudagrass. Sensors accurately tracked soil moisture up to salinity levels of 4 dS m⁻¹. Turf performance and root morphology were not affected by irrigation treatments for either grass. Compared to tall fescue plots irrigated with constant run time, plots irrigated using ET80 and CL required 38% less water, and SMS plots used 44% less than tall fescue. Scheduling bermudagrass irrigation by ET60, CL, and SMS resulted in a 29, 42, and 39% reduction in water applied compared to constant run time. The majority of water savings was in spring and fall. Water requirement for bermudagrass during the summer did not differ between the scheduling treatments. Our study confirms that smart irrigation controllers can be used as an effective measure to conserve water in an arid environment.

中文翻译：

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灌溉调度技术可减少用水量并保持草皮质量

智能灌溉控制器已显示出在潮湿和温带环境中保护草坪草水的潜力，但尚未在干旱环境中进行全面测试。这项研究的目的是确定无线电容传感器在宽广的土壤湿度范围内的准确性，并确定智能灌溉控制器是否在节水的同时又不降低高羊茅（Schedonorus arundinaceus（Schreb。）Dumort。]和百慕大草的质量。 （狗牙根L.）。进行了为期两年的研究，以比较以恒定运行时间灌溉的样地的草皮质量，根系形态和用水情况，以及使用土壤湿度传感器（SMS），蒸散量（ET）计划灌溉的样地[气候逻辑（CL ）]控制器，或高羊茅的历史ET（ET80）的80％，百慕大草的60％（ET60）的比例。传感器精确跟踪土壤水分，直至盐度达到4 dS m ^-1。两种草的灌溉处理均不影响草皮性能和根系形态。与恒定运行时间灌溉的高羊茅地块相比，使用ET80和CL灌溉的地块所需水量减少了38％，而SMS地块所需的水量比高羊茅地少了44％。与恒定运行时间相比，通过ET60，CL和SMS安排百慕大草灌溉计划可减少29％，42％和39％的用水量。节水的大部分时间是在春季和秋季。在夏季之间的调度处理之间，百慕大草的需水量没有差异。我们的研究证实，智能灌溉控制器可以用作干旱环境中节水的有效措施。