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06 DroughtSpotter

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Contact:

Jose Carlos Herrera

BOKU UFT, Konrad-Lorenz Str. 24, 3430 Tulln an der Donau

Email: jose.herrera@boku.ac.at
Phone: +43 1 47654 95812
Web: https://boku.ac.at/en/dnw/wob

Key facts:

Description:

Name Phenospex DroughtSpotter
Location BOKU UFT, Konrad-Lorenz Str. 24, 3430 Tulln an der Donau
Category Automate precision irrigation and collection of gravimetric data
Environment The system is located in open field conditions and under a fixed rain-shelter (film cover)
Sensors Phenospex FieldScale 50kg (400×400 mm load plate; maximum capacity 50kg (50g total error); irrigation module included). Weather station nearby (<50 m) recording temperature, rain, wind speed and direction, radiation. Below the rain-shelter temperature and humidity sensor.
Traits Plant transpiration / evapotranspiration
Capacity Max. 90 pots with a maximum weight of 50 kg each. The system is arranged in two blocks, one with 54 and the other with 36 scales. In each block, the scales are distributed in three rows. Plant cultivation can be adjusted to specific needs.
Limitations No environmental control possible. Usage availability limited to the growing season period (May-September).
References
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The system allows the performance of plant water-relations experiments under semi-field conditions and with the possibility to exclude rain. The DroughtSpotter solution features combine the possibility of continuous acquisition of gravimetric data (allowing to assess plant transpiration) together with automatic and individual irrigation scheduling per each scale. Irrigation scheduling is therefore flexible, allowing an automatic full control over the soil water content along the experiment on each individual pot in the system. By combining the system with further ecophysiology devices (e.g. to measure leaf gas exchange, plant water potential, etc.) and environmental data, very robust datasets can be acquired. The system is particularly suitable for studies on perennial crops (e.g. grapevines, apples or other fruit-trees).