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Soil Water Balance (soil + water_balance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Engineering	75%

Selected Abstracts

Water fluxes at a fluctuating water table and groundwater contributions to wheat water use in the lower Yellow River flood plain, China

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 6 2007
Jianfeng Yang
Abstract Capillary upflow from and deep percolation to a water table may be important in crop water supply in irrigated areas of the lower Yellow River flood plain, north China. These fluxes at the water table and the variations of the capillary upflow in relation to crop evapotranspiration need to be investigated to quantify the effect of a water table on soil water balance and to improve agricultural water management. A large weighing lysimeter was used to determine daily crop evapotranspiration, daily capillary upflow from and daily percolation to a fluctuating water table during a rotation period with wheat growing in a dry season and maize in a rainy season. The water table depth varied in the range 0·7,2·3 m during the maize growth period and 1·6,2·4 m during the wheat growth period. Experimental results showed that the capillary upflow and the percolation were significant components of the soil water balance. Three distinctly different phases for the water fluxes at the water table were observed through the rotation period: water downward period, the period of no or small water fluxes, and water upward period. It implied that the temporal pattern of these water fluxes at the water table was intimately associated with the temporal distribution of rainfall through the rotation period. An empirical equation was determined to estimate the capillary upflow in relation to wheat evapotranspiration and root zone soil water content for local irrigation scheduling. Coupled with the FAO-Penman,Monteith equation, the equation offers a fast and low cost solution to assess the effect of capillary upflow from a water table on wheat water use. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Linear and non-linear optimization models for allocation of a limited water supply,

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 1 2004
Bijan Ghahraman
optimisation de l'irrigation; déficit d'irrigation; Iran Abstract One partial solution to the problem of ever-increasing demands on our water resources is optimal allocation of available water. A non-linear programming (NLP) optimization model with an integrated soil water balance was developed. This model is the advanced form of a previously developed one in which soil water balance was not included. The model also has the advantage of low computer run-time, as compared to commonly used dynamic programming (DP) models that suffer from dimensionality. The model can perform over different crop growth stages while taking into account an irrigation time interval in each stage. Therefore, the results are directly applicable to real-world conditions. However, the time trend of actual evapotranspiration (AET) for individual time intervals fluctuates more than that for growth-stage AETs. The proposed model was run for the Ardak area (45,km NW of the city of Mashhad, Iran) under a single cropping cultivation (corn) as well as a multiple cropping pattern (wheat, barley, corn, and sugar beet). The water balance equation was manipulated with net applied irrigation water to overcome the difficulty encountered with incorrect deep percolation. The outputs of the model, under the imposed seasonal irrigation water shortages, were compared with the results obtained from a simple NLP model. The differences between these two models (simple and integrated) became more significant as irrigation water shortage increased. Oversimplified assumptions in the previous simple model were the main causes of these differences. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. L'allocation optimale des ressources d'eau disponibles est une réponse partielle au problème de la demande sans cesse croissante de consommation d'eau. Un modèle d'optimisation à programmation non linéaire (NLP) qui intègre un bilan hydrique a été développé. Ce modèle est une version avancée d'un modéle précédent qui n'intégrait pas ce bilan hydrique. Il présente l'avantage de nécessiter moins de puissance informatique en comparaison des modèles à programmation dynamique (DP) généralement utilisés. Le modèle peut s'appliquer à différentes étapes de la croissance des cultures et prend en compte des fréquences d'irrigation variables. Ainsi, les résultats sont directement applicables aux conditions réelles. Le modèle proposé a été utilisé sur une seule culture (maïs) dans la région d'Ardak à 45,km nord-ouest de Mashad, Iran, et sur de multiples cultures (blé, orge, maïs, betterave sucrière). L'équation de bilan hydrique a été calibrée pour maîtriser les difficultés rencontrées avec des mesures d'infiltration incorrectes. Les résultats du modèle, dans le cadre de restrictions d'irrigation saisonnière imposées, ont été comparés avec ceux obtenus par un modèle simple NLP. Les différences entre ces deux modèles (simple et intégré) deviennent plus significatives à mesure que les restrictions d'irrigation augmentent. Les hypothèses trop simplistes du modèle simple sont la cause de ces différences. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Ecohydrological effects of grazing-induced degradation in the Patagonian Monte, Argentina

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
ALEJANDRO JORGE BISIGATO
Abstract Water-limited ecosystems have undergone rapid change as a consequence of changing land use and climate. The consequences of these changes on soil quality and vegetation dynamics have been documented in different regions of the world. In contrast, their effects on soil water, the most limiting resource in these environments, have received less attention, although in recent years increasing efforts have been made to relate grazing, soil water and vegetation functioning. In this paper, we present the results of field observations of plant phenology and soil water content carried out during two successive years at four sites along a degradation gradient caused by grazing in the Patagonian Monte, Argentina. We also developed a simplified soil water balance model to evaluate how changes in plant cover could affect water balance. Our field observations showed that the soil water content in the soil layer where roots of grasses are abundant (0,25 cm) was higher and the growing cycles were longer in degraded than in preserved sites. Similarly, our modelling approach showed that the deep soil (depth > 10 cm) was wetter in the degraded than in the preserved situation. Simulation also suggested a switch from transpiration to a direct evaporation dominance of water losses with degradation. Although reductions in plant cover related to grazing degradation were associated with a decrease in annual transpiration, the simulated soil water loss by transpiration was higher during summer in the degraded than in the well preserved situation. Thus, our field observations seem to be a consequence of ecohydrological changes causing an accumulation of water in the soil profile during the cold season and its transpiration during summer. In conclusion, our results showed that changes in plant cover caused by grazing disturbance can alter the soil water balance, which in turn can affect vegetation function. [source]