The 'EMIRE' large rainfall simulator: Design and field testing

A rainfall simulator for 5 x 10 m plots was designed and tested within the EMIRE (Etude et Modelisation de l'Infiltration, du Ruissellement et de l'Er osion) program, The simulator is intended to be used in the field and to re produce natural tropical rain storms, The simulator is composed of fixed st and pipes. The nozzle (Spraying Systems Co. 1H106SQ) mounted on the top of the pipes sprays square areas. At a water pressure of 41.18 kPa the mean dr op diameter is 2.4 mm and the calculated kinetic energy 23.5 J m(-2) mm(-1) . The pipes are located at the corners of a 5.5 x 5.5 m square grid. The ra infall intensity is constant (65 mm h(-1)) and spatially uniform (Christian sen's coefficient of uniformity is 78 to 92 per cent) over the plot. Repeat ability of application rate and spatial variability of rainfall intensities were tested by analysing (1) variations in intensity for different experim ents on the same plot, and (2) variations in intensity between different pl ots. The study is based on data collected during nine field rainfall simula tion experiments. Three replications of the same rain were applied on three 50 m(2) plots. The results show good performance in all cases. The values of the mean rainfall intensities and coefficient of uniformity obtained fro m field data agreed with the laboratory values. The performance of this sim ulator is comparable to others described in the literature. Copyright (C) 2 000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.