If you need a piece of software that is not available in our repository, you can check the list below to see if anyone else have a useful tool.
There are some programs around the world that help with some irrigation related calculations. These are mainly created by researchers. Our intention here is to help interested people to find tools that might be useful. Also we want to help researchers to spread the word about their software. Unfortunately we don’t provide technical support for any of these programs.
The software repository for irrigation
This repository only includes software that can be downloaded for free. Commercial applications are not considered here.
The repository will be updated continuously. If you have a suggestion, please let us know (by filling in the contact form) so we can include it in our list.
Description of the programs
AZSCHED
Authors: Edward C. Martin, Donald C. Slack (Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Arizona) & Henry Detwiler (U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation).
Description: Arizona Irrigation Scheduling System, the purpose of this program is to assist in the scheduling of irrigations. It is only an assistive program and does not take the place of a well-trained irrigator.
NOTE: It uses/retrieves soil and weather information for the Arizona state.
Download: here (It’s required to submit an e-mail address).
CropWat
Authors: Land and Water Development Division of FAO.
Description: CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers’ irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rainfed and irrigated conditions.
More information: at the CROPWAT site.
Download: here.
CRIWAR
Authors: Marinus G. Bos & Rob A. L. Kselik
Description: CRIWAR calculates the crop irrigation water requirements, either per month or per 10-day period, of a cropping pattern in an irrigated area, for various stages of crop development throughout the crops’ growing season. Application of the model can assist irrigation engineers to maintain soil water content at a level that will not limit plant growth and crop yield. The crop irrigation water requirement consists of two components: potential evapotranspiration ETp, minus the effective precipitation Pe.
This software belongs to the book “Water Requirements for Irrigation and the Environment“. It views water requirements for crop production and for a stable water balance in the irrigated area. Published by Springer.
The CRIWAR 3.0 program has been compiled for 32-bit platforms for computers running Windows 98 and more recent operating systems
More information: of the version 2 is available in this site.
Download: here.
Curve Number
Authors: Richard H. Hawkins & Armando Barreto-Munoz, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ.
A site to facilitate and encourage exchange of information on rainfall-runoff, with natural accent to the Curve Number method. The Curve Number method is a subset of the general topic of rainfall-runoff.
Link: http://curve-number.com/index.php
DRAINMOD
Author: Dr.Wayne Skaggs at the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC in 1980.
Description: The model simulates the hydrology of poorly drained, high water table soils on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis for long periods of climatological record (e.g. 50 years). The model predicts the effects of drainage and associated water management practices on water table depths, the soil water regime and crop yields.
Download: here.
Microirrigation Evaluator
Authors: Ronggui Yue & Vincent F. Bralts. Michigan State University, 1994.
This program runs under Windows & MS-DOS (32-bit). You can also run it with DOSBox.
Download: here.
Microirrigation Designer
Authors: Ronggui Yue & Vincent F. Bralts. Michigan State University, 1995.
This program runs under Windows & MS-DOS (32-bit). You can also run it with DOSBox.
Download: here.
RASPAWIN
Authors: Armando Barreto Muñoz, Francisco García Herrera, Francisco R. Hernández Saucedo, Rafael Sánchez Bravo. Departamento de Irrigación, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, México.
Description: Calculates evapotranspiration, irrigation schedule and crop pattern.
This program was developed as part of the VI Curso Internacional de Sistemas de Riego, at Universidad Autónoma Chapingo.
Download: here.
REDES
Author: Juan Saldarriaga, Universidad de los Andes. Bogotá, Colombia.
Description: This program is not entirely related to irrigation systems, but it allows to design pipe networks. Might be useful to design the network of primary and secondary pipes of an irrigation system.
This program comes with the book “Hidráulica de tuberías abastecimiento de agua, redes, riegos” by Saldarriaga, Juan. Both available in Spanish.
Download: here.
Riegos
Authors: Juan G. Saldarriaga V., Germán Villalba F. Universidad de los Andes. Bogotá, Colombia.
Description: A program to design high frequency irrigation systems and hydraulic calculations. It performs a design of irrigation modules and complete irrigation systems including primary and secondary pipes. Also it computes pipe diameters and pump power required.
This program comes with the book “Hidráulica de tuberías abastecimiento de agua, redes, riegos” by Saldarriaga, Juan. Both available in Spanish.
Download: here.
SPAW & Soil Water Characteristics
Author: Keith E. Saxton, USDA Agricultural Research Service & Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University.
Description: SPAW is a water budgeting tool for farm fields, ponds and inundated wetlands. The SPAW model performs daily hydrologic water budgeting using the SCS Runoff Curve Number method. The POND module incorporated within SPAW provides water budgeting modeling for small pond/reservoir/lagoon as well as a statistical analysis of pond inundation cycles based on the wetland growing season. POND simulations are performed based on SPAW water budget outputs from one or more fields.
Soil Water Characteristics is a program included with the SPAW installation. It is used to simulate soil water tension, conductivity and water holding capability based on the soil texture, with adjustments to account for gravel content, compaction, salinity, and organic matter. When using the given values it is important to understand they are estimations and may not reflect the actual values for a given situation. Upper and lower limits of input values have been set to maintain the validity of calculations. Documentation for the model is found within the Help menu on the Soil-Water Characteristics Toolbar.
More information:
Download: here (registration needed).
SURDEV
Authors: M. Jurriëns, D. Zerihun, J. Boonstra and J. Feyen.
Description: The SURDEV computer package was developed by the International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement (ILRI), presently Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra) and the Institute of Land and Water Management of the Catholic University of Leuven (ILWM), Belgium, in 2001. SURDEV consists of three software programs: BASDEV (for level basins), BORDEV (for sloping borders) and FURDEV (for graded furrows).
Download: here.
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Enjoy!
Last update: February, 2018