Influence of biotic and abiotic factors and water partitioning on the kinetic energy of sprinkler irrigation on a maize canopy

The splash and erosion phenomena of sprinkler water droplets with dynamic characteristics directly affect the water and fertilizer efficiency of crop plants and the hydrogeochemical cycle processes of the farm ecosystem, causing farmers to doubt the suitability and adaptability of sprinkler irrigation technology. To clarify the connection between the partitioning process of sprinkler water and the kinetic energy of throughfall water droplets, stemflow and throughfall were measured. The physical information of water droplets was analyzed using 2DVD to examine the impact of pluviometry and droplet diameter on the kinetic energy of throughfall water droplets. Additionally, changes in drop diameter as sprinkler water passed through maize canopy were observed. Bio-morphological parameters of maize plants were monitored to understand how the growing maize canopies reduce the kinetic energy of sprinkler water droplets. The results showed that the kinetic energy of throughfall water droplets under the maize canopy increased with increasing pluviometry and droplet diameter. The maize canopy reduced the kinetic energy of sprinkler water droplets with the reduction level increasing as maize plant grew. Specifically, the jointing, flare opening, tasseling, and filling stages corresponded to 21%, 40%, 73%, and 74% reductions in kinetic energy, respectively. Except for the inclination angle of the larger leaves, all other ten common morphological parameters were developed the significantly positive power function models (R2 >0.50, P < 0.05) with reduced levels of the kinetic energy of sprinkler water droplets. Drippings formed by the convergence behavior between the small sprinkler droplets on maize leaves contributed the unexpected change in the percentage of the kinetic energy of throughfall water droplets. Although the reduction level of the large diameter was greater, the corresponding diameter of the throughfall water droplets was still larger than that of the medium sprinkler irrigation condition. The fitting regression equations were developed between the partitioning of sprinkler water by the maize canopy and kinetic energy transformation. However, only throughfall showed the significantly positive linear connection with throughfall water droplet kinetic energy (R2 =0.97, P < 0.001). The results have positive implications on understanding the mechanism of kinetic energy dissipation in sprinkler water droplets, preventing soil splash erosion and degradation of cropland quality in agroecosystems, as well as appreciating the degree to which sprinkler irrigation participates in biogeochemical cycling processes on Earth.