To examine the working principle of vertical tube irrigation, variations in vertical tube emitter discharge and their causes were analyzed in the laboratory experiment. The effects of the pressure head, initial soil water content, and tube diameter on the emitter discharge of the vertical tube were studied. The results show that quantitative relationship between the time and cumulative infiltration and emitter discharge of the vertical tube is obtained, and R 2 is more than 0.98. Emitter discharge exhibits a positive and negative correlation with the pressure head and soil water content, respectively. Tube dia- meter has a nonsignificant effect on the emitter discharge. Changes of the soil water content around the emitter water outlet are the main causes of emitter discharge variations. In the experiments, the range of vertical tube emitter discharge is 0.056-1.102 L/h. The emitter of vertical tube irrigation automatically adjusts the soil water content and maintains the root zone soil water content within an appropriate range, which achieves continuous irrigation, and further achieves the effect of water-saving.
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