[NOTE - 2022-09-07: this dataset is superseded by an updated version https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1526433 ]

This dataset consists of weather data for each year when maize was grown for grain at the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Laboratory (CPRL), Soil and Water Management Research Unit (SWMRU) research weather station, Bushland, Texas (Lat. 35.186714°, Long. -102.094189°, elevation 1170 m above MSL). Maize was grown for grain on four large, precision weighing lysimeters, each in the center of a 4.44 ha square field. The four square fields are themselves arranged in a larger square with the fields in four adjacent quadrants of the larger square. Fields and lysimeters within each field are thus designated northeast (NE), southeast (SE), northwest (NW), and southwest (SW). Irrigation was by linear move sprinkler system in 1989, 1990, and 1994. In 2013, 2016, and 2018, two lysimeters and their respective fields (NE and SE) were irrigated using subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), and two lysimeters and their respective fields (NW and SW) were irrigated by a linear move sprinkler system. Irrigations were managed to replenish soil water used by the crop on a weekly or more frequent basis as determined by soil profile water content readings made with a neutron probe to 2.4-m depth in the field.
The weather data include solar irradiance, barometric pressure, air temperature and relative humidity, and wind speed determined using sensors placed at 2-m height over a level, grass surface mowed to not exceed 12 cm height and irrigated and fertilized to maintain reference conditions as promulgated by ASCE (2005) and FAO (1996). Irrigation was by surface flood in 1989 through 1994, and by subsurface drip irrigation after 1994. Sensors were replicated and intercompared between replicates and with data from nearby weather stations, which were sometimes used for gap filling. Quality control and assurance methods are described by Evett et al. (2018).
These datasets originate from research aimed at determining crop water use (ET), crop coefficients for use in ET-based irrigation scheduling based on a reference ET, crop growth, yield, harvest index, and crop water productivity as affected by irrigation method, timing, amount (full or some degree of deficit), agronomic practices, cultivar, and weather. Prior publications have focused on maize ET, crop coefficients, and crop water productivity. Crop coefficients have been used by ET networks. The data have utility for testing simulation models of crop ET, growth, and yield and have been used by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), by OPENET, and by many others for testing, and calibrating models of ET that use satellite and/or weather data.