Bookshelf

In this issue we take you to a virtual bookshelf of some useful industry tools and calculators. Have them at your fingertips on your smartphone or computer so you can access them in a flash.

SILO https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/ Designed for researchers, consultants, academics and agency staff. This database of Australian climate data from 1889 to the present provides daily meteorological datasets for a range of climate variables in ready-to-use formats suitable for biophysical modelling, research and climate applications

BoM http://www.bom.gov.au/watl/eto/ Designed for industry users including irrigators, farmers, consultants, and agency staff. A range of maps provided by the Bureau of Meteorology showing daily and average evapotranspiration, average evaporation and vegetation index (NDVI). This information is used to help with determining crop water use and scheduling irrigation.

IrriSAT https://irrisat-cloud.appspot.com/ Designed for irrigators and water managers. IrriSAT is a weather-based irrigation scheduling service that uses satellite images to determine the NDVI for each field, from which a crop coefficient (Kc) is estimated. This is combined with ET0 observations from a nearby weather station, to inform farmers how much water their crop has used and how much how much irrigation they need to apply. Information is produced daily and can work across large spatial scales.

Designed for general users. CropWat 8.0 http://www.fao.org/land-water/databasesand-software/cropwat/en/ for Windows, developed by the FAO, calculates crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. It also can be used to develop irrigation schedules for different management conditions, to calculate scheme water supply for varying crop patterns, to evaluate irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rainfed and irrigated conditions.

Friction loss. Go to the National Pump and Energy website https://www.nationalpump.com.au/calculators/friction-losscalculator/ and enter flow rate, internal pipe diameter and type of pipe to calculate friction loss. Designed for technical users.

Metric conversion. One of many websites you can access to convert a range of measurements (e.g. temperature, volume, area, length, pressure and weight) to metric. Go to website https://www.metric-conversions.org/ Designed for general users.

The Blue House shows users where they can save water around the house and garden using Smart Approved WaterMark products Designed for homeowners and general users.

The Home Water Calculator allows homeowners to go through each area of their property and calculate water use and compares this with the average use in the user’s area. It will also give the user a goal to meet. Designed for homeowners and general users in Victoria and Northern Territory.

The Tankulator is an online rain harvesting calculator that can help users plan for a new rainwater tank or improve the performance of an existing tank. The Tankulator has been developed by the Alternative Technology Association, an Australia not-for-profit organisation promoting sustainable solutions for the home. Designed for homeowners and general users.

KMSI, the Knowledge Management System for Irrigation was developed by University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Agricultural Engineering. It includes a range of free and subscription tools and calculators useful to people working in irrigation, e.g. calculating centre pivot capacity, hydraulic assessor, scheduling for centre pivot and lateral move machines and evaluating costs and benefits associated with a new irrigation system. Designed for industry users including irrigators, farmers, consultants, and agency staff.