Analyzing the irrigation quality, besides evaluating its good operation, is a form of verifying the viability of its implantation and operation. As the distribution uniformity is one of the most used parameters for that evaluation, this work aimed to use techniques of quality engineering, by using the process capacity index (Cpl) to evaluate the uniformity of water distribution in overhead irrigation by sprinkler. The research was carried out at the Experimental Center of Agricultural Engineering, UNIOESTE, with 2 sprinklers Super10 model, NAANDAN, spaced 9m between themselves, during 25 irrigations with 1 h each. The Weather data were collected every 10 min. by a wireless weather station. It was found a medium CUC of 79.72% and a medium wind speed of 1.85 m s-1. It was applied quality control tests, elaborating SHEWHART control charts and it was calculated the process capacity index (Cpl). The obtained results allow us to affirm that the use of the process capacity index becomes a powerful tool to classify overhead irrigations in function of distribution uniformity.
Quality control; wind speed; distribution uniformity
