ENGINEERING CHALLENGES IN THE DIMENSIONING OF THE 360 RAIN PRECISION IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Increasing climate variability and growing pressure on water resources have intensified the demand for more efficient and automated irrigation technologies. Among recent innovations, the 360 RAIN system has emerged as a mobile localized irrigation technology capable of applying water directly near the crop root zone while operating autonomously under GNSS guidance. This study evaluated the main hydraulic and operational challenges associated with the sizing of the 360 RAIN irrigation system under wheat production conditions. Hydraulic simulations were performed to analyze irrigation depth requirements, machine travel speed, head losses along the flexible supply hose, and pumping power demand. The results demonstrated that machine travel speed is one of the most critical operational variables, since small speed variations substantially affect the applied irrigation depth. In addition, hydraulic head losses increased considerably with hose length, directly influencing pumping requirements and energy demand. Despite presenting lower hydraulic complexity than conventional center pivot systems, the 360 RAIN system requires careful hydraulic sizing to ensure adequate pressure conditions, irrigation uniformity, and efficient water application. The study highlights the importance of integrating hydraulic and operational analyses to optimize the performance of localized mobile irrigation systems under precision agriculture conditions.

Keywords: climate change, mobile irrigation system, hydraulic design, precision irrigation, pumping system, head losses, wheat irrigation.