Tule’s Four Deliverables
Tule sensors offer growers four main deliverables:
1 Daily Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) of your field
2 Daily water stress measurements of your field
3 Real-time irrigation monitoring in your field
4 Irrigation suggestions for your field
Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these deliverables so you know exactly the type of information you’ll get as a Tule customer.
1 Daily Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) of your field
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the process of evaporation from plant and soil surfaces and from within plant tissues. In most modern agricultural systems, ET is the dominant process of water loss from a field.
Tule sensors are a UC Davis research-based innovation for directly measuring the Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) of your field. I developed the technology during my PhD work. Understanding the Actual Evapotranspiration of a given field can serve as an excellent tool when making important irrigation decisions.
Knowing the ETa means you know the water use of your field – not just one point in the soil or just one plant.
Measuring ETa shows you how much water is being used by your crop. That helps you understand how much you should irrigate to replace water lost and achieve optimal plant water stress.
ETa will decrease when there is an inadequate supply of water in the soil. If the daily ETa decreases, it’s time to irrigate!
Having daily ETa records tell you how your crop is responding to your irrigation decisions, providing feedback on your irrigation strategy.
2 Daily Water Stress Measurements
In addition to measuring Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) every day, Tule sensors also measure the daily water stress of your crop. We show water stress in a graph that we call FieldStat. With FieldStat, a grower knows the status of all of their fields – at any time, from any place, and with confidence.
Before Tule, scientists measured ETa with lysimeters, which are basically giant pots on a buried truck scale. Using ETa data collected with lysimeters, scientists developed the water stress coefficient over fifty years ago. The water stress coefficient is a measure of the amount of water the plants are using (i.e., ETa) compared to the amount of water they could use, given the size of the plants and the current weather conditions. In other words, if the plant is using less water than it could use, then it’s water stressed.
Researchers have demonstrated in numerous peer-reviewed articles that the water stress coefficient, which we call FieldStat, correlates with crop yield, as well as various other measurements of plant water stress like leaf water potential (i.e., pressure bomb readings). But unlike the bomb, which only tells you about one plant, FieldStat measures the plant water status for a 1- to 10-acre area. As your crop becomes more water stressed, FieldStat decreases (as seen in the graph below).
3 Real-time Irrigation Monitoring
Each Tule sensor comes with a pressure switch that monitors irrigation applications. The irrigation data is reported and tracked on the Tule app and web dashboard. We use your irrigation data and sensor-based Actual ET measurements to build our irrigation suggestions.
With the pressure switch, you can see exactly when water turned on and off within minutes of it happening. Not only can you check irrigation events using the Tule app or web dashboard, but you can also now receive notifications to your phone! Extra peace of mind, right in your pocket.
4 Irrigation Suggestions
So you have a Tule sensor that measures the water use and water stress of your crop. And you have the pressure switch that tracks your irrigations.
Now what? What are you supposed to do with this information?
We’ve got you covered! Using the data collected by your Tule sensor and pressure switch along with contextual information about your field, we suggest the amount of water to apply to achieve your targeted level of water stress. For example, if you want to maximize yield, then we suggest the amount of water to apply to keep your plants experiencing water stress.
You can easily access your Tule information on the Tule web dashboard, email reports, or iPhone app. Suggestions are reported in hours as well as inches or gallons per vine, depending on your crop type.
Tule’s Four Main Deliverables
There you have it! Those are our four main deliverables! Our customers use our Actual ET, water stress, irrigation monitoring, and irrigation suggestions to make irrigation decisions. If you’re ready to learn more, please reach out to us!