Irrigation water management system
First Claim
1. A method for determining the operating efficiency of an irrigation system comprising:
- identifying a remotely located property, said remotely located property having an irrigation system for regulating an actual irrigation water usage volume for irrigating an irrigated area of the remotely located property;
calculating, at the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, the actual irrigation water usage volume;
regulating, at the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, the actual irrigation water usage volume calculated by the irrigation system for irrigating the irrigated area of the remotely located property;
receiving property data for the remotely located property at a local computer from a remotely located computer, said property data comprising at least a location description of said remotely located property and the irrigated area of said remotely located property;
receiving climatic data for the remotely located property from a source other than the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, said climatic data determined by the location description of said remotely located property;
receiving the actual irrigation water usage volume for the remotely located property for a predetermined time period;
calculating, by the local computer, a reference plant water usage for the irrigated area of the remotely located property using the climatic data for the predetermined time period using the property data and at least a portion of the climatic data;
calculating, by the local computer, a water need volume for the remotely located property over the predetermined time period from the reference plant water usage and the irrigated area of said remotely located property;
comparing, by the local computer, the water need volume and the actual irrigation water usage volume for the remotely located property for the predetermined time period; and
forwarding results of the comparison for the irrigation system to one of the remotely located computer and a second remotely located computer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The efficiency of an irrigation system on a property is determined as a difference between the actual water usage at a property and the irrigation water need of the plant on the property. Data for the property are received including at least the location and irrigation area of the property. A reference evapotranspiration value for the property is determined using the solar radiation data derived from the location of the property. The irrigation water need of the property is then calculated from the reference evapotranspiration value and area. The irrigation water need is compared to the actual water use at the property to determined the efficiency of the irrigation system operating thereon.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for determining the operating efficiency of an irrigation system comprising:
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identifying a remotely located property, said remotely located property having an irrigation system for regulating an actual irrigation water usage volume for irrigating an irrigated area of the remotely located property; calculating, at the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, the actual irrigation water usage volume; regulating, at the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, the actual irrigation water usage volume calculated by the irrigation system for irrigating the irrigated area of the remotely located property; receiving property data for the remotely located property at a local computer from a remotely located computer, said property data comprising at least a location description of said remotely located property and the irrigated area of said remotely located property; receiving climatic data for the remotely located property from a source other than the irrigation system located at the remotely located property, said climatic data determined by the location description of said remotely located property; receiving the actual irrigation water usage volume for the remotely located property for a predetermined time period; calculating, by the local computer, a reference plant water usage for the irrigated area of the remotely located property using the climatic data for the predetermined time period using the property data and at least a portion of the climatic data; calculating, by the local computer, a water need volume for the remotely located property over the predetermined time period from the reference plant water usage and the irrigated area of said remotely located property; comparing, by the local computer, the water need volume and the actual irrigation water usage volume for the remotely located property for the predetermined time period; and forwarding results of the comparison for the irrigation system to one of the remotely located computer and a second remotely located computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification