DEVICE FOR REGULATION WATER-THERMAL REGIME OF SOILS

Abstract

The paper presents the results of research on the possibility of compensating for the lack of thermal in the soil due to its forced supply to the estimated soil layer and ensuring the necessary water- thermal regime to create comfortable conditions for the vegetation of agricultural plants. The results of research known in hydrotechnical practice, aimed at solving the problem of creating the necessary water-thermal regime of the soil for the conditions of the steppe zone of Ukraine, were analyzed. It has been proved that for the conditions of the studied territory of the Black Sea Lowland, the water and thermal regimes of the soil are interrelated, especially in the root layer. To develop the idea of complex regulation of the water-thermal regime of soils, a theoretical justification of technical solutions was performed, which considers the movement of water in the system soil – plant – atmosphere. It was established that the occurrence of moisture flow when a temperature gradient is imposed shows that a relatively small temperature difference is enough to cause water movement in the soil, especially in a limited space. Therefore, the creation of an increased temperature difference along the depth of the soil profile allows you to speed up the provision of the necessary water and thermal regime. As a result of the research, a device was developed that can be used to irrigate crops and protect the soil from freezing. The design of the device for regulating the water- thermal regime of the soil, which was called the irrigator-heater according to the declaratory patent of Ukraine No. 20031211944 of one of the authors, was considered. The use of the proposed device allows you to reduce the costs of irrigation of agricultural crops, due to 60 % saving of irrigation water and significantly reduce operational costs.