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Analysis of Water Flow under Trickle Irrigation: II. Experimental Evaluation
Author(s) -
Lafolie F.,
Guennelon R.,
Genuchten M. Th.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1989.03615995005300050003x
Subject(s) - soil water , hydraulic conductivity , soil science , loam , water retention curve , field capacity , water content , drip irrigation , environmental science , pedotransfer function , anisotropy , water flow , irrigation , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , geotechnical engineering , agronomy , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
A numerical solution for predicting soil water content distributions during trickle irrigation on stratified and anisotropic soils was compared with data from a field experiment carried out on a loamy clay soil using 24 field plots irrigated at different rates and frequencies. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was estimated from measured soil water retention and saturated hydraulic conductivities. Observed volumetric soil water contents and saturated areas on the soil surface were compared with model predictions. The effects of anisotropy and soil surface crusting on experimental and calculated soil water distributions were also investigated. Relatively good agreement was obtained between predicted and measured soil water content distributions vs. depth. The shape of the observed wetted soil volume was also predicted reasonably well. The effects of possible errors in the hydraulic characteristics on calculated water content distributions are discussed.