Use of sprinkler profiles to predict field performance

Three basic geometric profile shapes were investigated. The method utilizes the shift in the center of mass of the single sprinkler pattern to characterize wind speed. Values of UC versus spacing along the main as a percentage of the effective diameter, 100 Sm/De, were plotted for a sprinkler spacing on the lateral of 3% of De. From these plots, called "basic UC curves," functional relationships were developed to predict the field performance of a particular sprinkler nozzle pressure combination under a variety of steady state wind conditions from a knowledge of the zero wind basic UC curve for the combination.