Drip irrigation soil-adapted sector design and optimal location of moisture sensors in vineyard plots: a proposed action protocol

To optimise sector design in drip irrigation systems, a protocol based on the use of soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) data is presented and applied in a commercial vineyard plot. In a first step, before planting, ECa data up to 90 cm deep provided by the VERIS 3100 soil sensor were mapped using block ordinary kriging and then classified (k-means algorithm) to delimit two soil classes within the plot with different properties in terms of potential soil water content and/or soil water regime. Contrasting the difference between soil classes (through discriminant analysis of soil properties at different sampling locations that covered a large part of the plot), irrigation sectors were then designed in size and shape to match the previous soil zoning. The second step additionally allowed the optimal location of moisture sensors within the plot, based on a purposive soil sampling strategy, for better soil moisture monitoring and adaptation of irrigation rates and scheduling to soil classes.