HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Clawson, E. L. Articles by Thomas, D. L. PubMed Articles by Clawson, E. L. Articles by Thomas, D. L. Agricola Articles by Clawson, E. L. Articles by Thomas, D. L. Related Collections Agroclimatology Evapotranspiration Irrigation

AGROCLIMATOLOGY

Weighing Lysimeters for Evapotranspiration Research on Clay Soil

^a Louisiana State Univ. Agricultural Center, Northeast Research Station, P.O. Box 438, Saint Joseph, LA 71366
^b Louisiana State Univ. Agricultural Center, 4243 Burbank Dr., Apt. 109, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
^c Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Pkwy. West, Mail Stop GG6A, Saint Louis, MO 63017
^d Louisiana State Univ., Dep. of Geography and Anthropology, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
^e Louisiana State Univ. Agricultural Center, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dep., 155 E. B. Doran, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

^* Corresponding author (eclawson{at}agcenter.lsu.edu).

Local crop evapotranspiration (ET) measurements are needed for northeastern Louisiana. Objectives were to install, calibrate, and assess soil water characteristics of paired weighing lysimeters at Saint Joseph, LA. Installed in 2005, the lysimeters have inner tanks 1.5 m long, 1.5 m deep, and 1.0 m wide that rest on load cells within outer tanks. The inner tanks contain refilled Sharkey clay (very-fine, smectitic, thermic Chromic Epiaquerts) and allow removal of freely draining water. Available irrigated fetch is 50 m in all directions with two discontinuities. Calibration yielded, with little hysteresis, a linear relationship (R² > 0.99) between applied mass and summed load cell output for each lysimeter. Measurement errors for mass changes during calibration were consistently equivalent to <0.2 mm water. In 2007, at a 1.2-m depth, lysimeter and surrounding field soil water potentials were similar. The lysimeters appear suitable in mechanical operation and drainage to measure daily well-watered crop ET.

Abbreviations: ET, evapotranspiration

All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Received for publication May 6, 2008.