Model-based optimisation of nitrogen and water management for wheat–maize systems in the North China Plain

Flowing through the North China Plain, one of China’s major agricultural regions, the Yellow River has long represented a challenge to Chinese governments to manage. Preventing floods has been an overriding concern for these states in order to maintain a semblance of ecological equilibrium on the North China Plain. This region’s environment is heavily influenced by seasonal fluctuations in precipitation, leading to a long history of famine, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when water management structures disintegrated with the deterioration of the imperial system. In the 20th century, new civil and hydraulic engineering techniques and technologies held the promise for enhanced management of the region’s waterways. After 1949, the new government of the People’s Republic used a hybrid approach consisting of the tenets of multipurpose water management combined with the tools of mass mobilization that were hallmarks of the Chinese Communist Party. The wide-ranging exploitation of surface and groundwater resources during the Maoist period left a long shadow for the post-Mao period that witnessed rapid consumption of water to fuel agricultural, industrial, and urban reforms. The challenge for the contemporary state in China is creating a system of water allocation through increased supply and demand management that can sustain the economic and social transformations of the era.

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Model-Based Approach to Quantify Production Potentials of Summer Maize and Spring Maize in the North China Plain

Agronomy Journal ◽

10.2134/agronj2007.0226 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 100 (3) ◽

pp. AGJ2AGRONJ20070226 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Jochen Binder ◽

Simone Graeff ◽

Johanna Link ◽

Wilhelm Claupein ◽

Ming Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Summer Maize ◽

Model Based ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Spring Maize

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Integrated hydrological modeling of the North China Plain and implications for sustainable water management

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-10-3693-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 3693-3741 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

H. Qin ◽

G. Cao ◽

M. Kristensen ◽

J. C. Refsgaard ◽

M. O. Rasmussen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Hydrological Modeling ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Actual Evapotranspiration ◽

Sustainable Water Management ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Simulation Results

Abstract. Groundwater overdraft has caused fast water level decline in the North China Plain (NCP) since the 1980s. Although many hydrological models have been developed for the NCP in the past few decades, most of them deal only with the groundwater component or only at local scales. In the present study, a coupled surface water–groundwater model using the MIKE SHE code has been developed for the entire alluvial plain of the NCP. All the major processes in the land phase of the hydrological cycle are considered in the integrated modeling approach. The most important parameters of the model are first identified by a sensitivity analysis and then calibrated for the period 2000–2005. The calibrated model is validated for the period 2006–2008 against daily observations of groundwater heads. The simulation results compare well with the observations where acceptable values of root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) are obtained. The simulated evapotranspiration (ET) is then compared with the remote sensing (RS) based ET data to further validate the model simulation. The comparison result with a R2 value of 0.93 between the monthly averaged values of simulated actual evapotranspiration (AET) and RS AET for the entire plain shows a good performance of the model. The water balance results indicate that more than 69% of water leaving the flow system is attributed to the ET component. Sustainable water management analysis of the NCP is conducted using the simulation results obtained from the integrated model. An effective approach to improve water use efficiency in the NCP is by reducing the actual evapotranspiration, and that water-saving technologies based on this approach, such as change of crop rotation types, may be adopted.

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Modelling the effects of climate variability and water management on crop water productivity and water balance in the North China Plain

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2008.11.012 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 97 (8) ◽

pp. 1175-1184 ◽

Cited By ~ 130

Author(s):

Chao Chen ◽

Enli Wang ◽

Qiang Yu

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Balance ◽

Climate Variability ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Crop Water ◽

The North ◽

Crop Water Productivity ◽

The North China Plain

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Integrated hydrological modeling of the North China Plain and implications for sustainable water management

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-17-3759-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 17 (10) ◽

pp. 3759-3778 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

H. Qin ◽

G. Cao ◽

M. Kristensen ◽

J. C. Refsgaard ◽

M. O. Rasmussen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Hydrological Modeling ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Sustainable Water Management ◽

The North ◽

Groundwater Overdraft ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Simulation Results

Abstract. Groundwater overdraft has caused fast water level decline in the North China Plain (NCP) since the 1980s. Although many hydrological models have been developed for the NCP in the past few decades, most of them deal only with the groundwater component or only at local scales. In the present study, a coupled surface water–groundwater model using the MIKE SHE code has been developed for the entire alluvial plain of the NCP. All the major processes in the land phase of the hydrological cycle are considered in the integrated modeling approach. The most important parameters of the model are first identified by a sensitivity analysis process and then calibrated for the period 2000–2005. The calibrated model is validated for the period 2006–2008 against daily observations of groundwater heads. The simulation results compare well with the observations where acceptable values of root mean square error (RMSE) (most values lie below 4 m) and correlation coefficient (R) (0.36–0.97) are obtained. The simulated evapotranspiration (ET) is then compared with the remote sensing (RS)-based ET data to further validate the model simulation. The comparison result with a R2 value of 0.93 between the monthly averaged values of simulated actual evapotranspiration (AET) and RS AET for the entire NCP shows a good performance of the model. The water balance results indicate that more than 70% of water leaving the flow system is attributed to the ET component, of which about 0.25% is taken from the saturated zone (SZ); about 29% comes from pumping, including irrigation pumping and non-irrigation pumping (net pumping). Sustainable water management analysis of the NCP is conducted using the simulation results obtained from the integrated model. An effective approach to improve water use efficiency in the NCP is by reducing the actual ET, e.g. by introducing water-saving technologies and changes in cropping.

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