Spatial-temporal analysis of soil water storage and deep drainage under irrigated potatoes in the Central Sands of Wisconsin, USA

Abstract. Soil water storage was monitored in three landscape elements in the forest (plateau, slope and valley floor) over a 3 year period to identify differences in sub-surface hydrological response. Under the plateau and slope, the changes of storage were very similar and there was no indication of surface runoff on the slope. The mean maximum seasonal storage change was 156 mm in the 2 m profile but it was clear that, in the dry season, the forest was able to take up water from below 3.6 m. Soil water availability was low. Soil water storage changes in the valley were dominated by the behaviour of a shallow water table which, in normal years, varied between 0.1 m below the surface at the end of the wet season and 0.8 m at the end of the dry season. Soil water storage changes were small because root uptake was largely replenished by groundwater flow towards the stream. The groundwater behaviour is controlled mainly by the deep drainage from beneath the plateau and slope areas. The groundwater gradient beneath the slope indicated that recharge beneath the plateau and slope commences only after the soil water deficits from the previous dry season have been replenished. Following a wet season with little recharge, the water table fell, ceasing to influence the valley soil water storage, and the stream dried up. The plateau and slope, a zone of very high porosity between 0.4 and 1.1 m, underlain by a less conductive layer, is a probable route for interflow during, and for a few hours after, heavy and prolonged rainfall.

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Effect of tillage and stubble management on soil water storage, crop growth and yield in a wheat-lupin rotation in southern NSW

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.1071/ar9960479 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 479 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

KY Chan ◽

DP Heenan

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Water Storage ◽

Early Growth ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Wheat Crop ◽

Yield Reduction ◽

Wagga Wagga ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Direct Drilling

The effects of tillage (conventional tillage v. direct drilling) and stubble management (stubble retained v. stubble burnt) on soil water storage, growth and yield of wheat were assessed over two seasons (1989-1990) in a wheat-lupin rotation on a red earth at Wagga Wagga, NSW. Soil water storage and efficiency of water use were different for the two seasons. Both direct drilling and stubble retention maintained the soil surface (0-0.1 m) at higher water content at sowing time. However, their effectiveness in increasing soil water storage at sowing was evident only in the 1990 season which, with average rainfall during the summer fallow, was drier than 1989. Average wheat grain yield was similar (4.02 v. 4.08 t/ha) for the two seasons even though the 1989 season had 245 mm more rain, the difference mainly occurring in March-April. Most of the excess water in seasons like 1989 was likely to have been lost by deep drainage, with implications for leaching of soluble nutrients, increasing subsoil acidity and rising watertables. Poor early growth of wheat when the stubble was retained and the crops direct drilled was season dependent. It was observed in the wheat crop only in the 1989 season which had a wet autumn. In that season, poor early growth which resulted in a significant yield reduction of 0.5 t/ha was associated with reduced water extraction before anthesis despite the availability of adequate soil water. No corresponding differences in growth and yield were observed for the lupin crop.

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Deep infiltration - Significant or not

Soil Research ◽

10.1071/sr9890471 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 471

Author(s):

J Brouwer

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Water Balance ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Storage ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Balance Problem ◽

Deep Infiltration ◽

Improved Pasture

For those involved with evaluating the effects on the water balance of changes in land use, it is always interesting and pleasing to see a report on a study involving paired catchments. One such report was presented by Prebble and Stirk (1988). From their study, Prebble and Stirk concluded that the killing of trees and establishment of improved pasture in an open grassy woodland did not affect evapotranspiration. While this result was not quite what they expected, they thought it could be explained by the fact that the killing of the trees resulted in an increase in wind run and in radiation to the grass. This in turn would have increased evapotranspiration from the grass, which would have compensated for the reduction in interception and evapotranspiration by the trees. This explanation, to some extent, ignores the observed increase in average soil water storage following the death of the trees. Perhaps, then, the answer to this water balance problem lies not in the evapotranspiration term, but in the increased soil water storage and associated increased deep drainage.

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Drainage and change in soil water storage below the root-zone under long fallow and continuous cropping sequences in the Victorian Mallee

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.1071/ar02079 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 54 (7) ◽

pp. 663 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Mark G. O'Connell ◽

Garry J. O'Leary ◽

David J. Connor

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Root Zone ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Water Storage ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Annual Rainfall ◽

Continuous Cropping ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Mean Annual Rainfall ◽

Fallow System

A field study investigated drainage and changes in soil water storage below the root-zone of annual crops on a sandy loam soil in the Victorian Mallee for 8 years. It was designed to compare the effects of the common long (18-month) fallow in a 3-year rotation (fallow–wheat–pea, FWP) with a rotation in which the fallow was replaced with mustard (Brassica juncea), viz. mustard–wheat–pea (MWP). Drainage was measured over 2 periods (1993–98 and 1998–2001) using 9 in situ drainage lysimeters in each rotation. The first period of ~5 years was drier than average (mean annual rainfall 298 cf. 339 mm) and drainage was low and variable. Drainage was greater under the fallow rotation (average 0.24 mm/year) than under the non-fallow rotation (average <0.01 mm/year). The result for the fallow rotation did, however, include one lysimeter that recorded substantial drainage (10.6 mm over the 5 years). During the second period of measurement (~3 years), rainfall was above average (mean annual rainfall 356 cf. 339�mm) and drainage was greater. On average, drainage from the fallow rotation was 6.7 mm/year compared with the non-fallow rotation at 4.0 mm/year. There was again substantial variation between lysimeters. One lysimeter under MWP recorded 31.4 mm/year, and as in the earlier drier period, there were many lysimeters that recorded no drainage. During the drier first period (1993–98), changes in soil water storage between 1.5 and 5.5 m depth confirmed the tendency of the fallow rotation to increase deep drainage. Despite increases and decreases in subsoil water storage during the study, the cumulative change in water storage was positive and greatest under FWP (range: 2.8–14.8 mm/year, ave. 9.6 mm/year) compared with MWP (range: 5.3–9.8 mm/year, ave. 7.4 mm/year) cropping sequences. Overall, the long fallow system has the potential to increase deep drainage by approximately 2 mm/year compared with a fully cropped system, over a wide annual rainfall range (134–438 mm). Further, this experiment reinforces the focus for the reduction of fallow practices for dryland salinity control in the Mallee region.

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The effect of improved pastures and grazing management on soil water storage on a basaltic plains site in south-west Victoria

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea03019 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

pp. 559 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

P. R. Bird ◽

T. T. Jackson ◽

G. A. Kearney ◽

G. R. Saul ◽

R. A. Waller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Perennial Ryegrass ◽

Water Storage ◽

Grazing Management ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Crop Species ◽

Gravelly Soil ◽

The Impact

Soil salinity of non-irrigated farmlands in Australia has been largely attributed to tree clearing and their replacement by annual pasture and crop species. This paper deals with the effects of sowing perennial ryegrass and greater inputs of fertiliser, and the effect of grazing management, on water use and the potential to improve recharge control on a gravelly soil derived from basalt.In 1991, neutron access tubes were inserted into plots on a project established in 1989 to examine the impact of upgrading the pasture on sheep productivity. These plots were subdivided in 1996 to examine the impact of grazing management (tactical v. set-stocking) and pasture type (pastures dominated by annual species v. upgraded pastures) on productivity. Neutron probe readings were taken periodically from tubes in each plot, at depth intervals of 25 cm (December 1991–March 1995) or 20 cm (August 1995–April 1999) to 170 cm. There was no effect of treatment on soil moisture. Data for 2 wet years (1995 and 1996) indicate that the effective soil-water storage capacity to 170 cm depth for these pastures was a mean of 125 mm of water. This represents the potential buffer before winter rainfall exceeds the water use by the pasture, fills the soil profile to capacity and then either runs off or allows deep drainage to occur.We did not achieve a significant reduction in soil-water storage, and therefore potential recharge of groundwater, by re-sowing the pasture with perennial ryegrass and applying more fertiliser, or by altering the grazing management to a form of rotational grazing. Compared with set-stocked annual pasture, the impact of such treatments was to reduce soil-water storage to a depth of 170 cm in autumn by less than 20 mm/year. There was no association between total herbage production and soil-water storage, however an increased percentage of perennial ryegrass in the pasture was associated with a small reduction in soil-water storage in 1 year. Greater use of soil-water may depend upon using deeper-rooted perennials or maintaining a higher proportion of perennial species in the sward (the perennial ryegrass in the re-sown pastures declined from 53% in October 1996 to 4% in October 1998).

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Determining and Comparing Deep Drainage between Two Years – Dry (2012) and Wet (2013) – using Darcy’s Law

SURG Journal ◽

10.21083/surg.v12i1.3798 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Archana Tamang

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Conductivity ◽

Soil Water ◽

Root Zone ◽

Darcy’S Law ◽

Plant Root ◽

Water Storage ◽

Darcy's Law ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity

Understanding of the downward flux of water below the plant root zone, known as deep drainage (DD), is significant in agriculture and soil water conservation. It plays a key role to determine the amount of water that travels below the plant root zone and can potentially cause groundwater recharge. The DD in soil varies with location, soil texture, and topography. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water storage, and DD for the years 2012 (dry year) and 2013 (wet year) at the University of Guelph’s Arboretum. The depths to the water table data were collected using a Mini Water Level Meter. CS616 sensors were used to determine the soil volumetric water content. The soil temperature was extracted with the use of T107 Temperature Probes. The slug test, based on the Hvorslev method, was performed to determine the field saturated hydraulic conductivity. The soil moisture retention curve was produced based on the data collected in the lab with the use of pressure plate systems, using van Genuchten’s equation. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was also determined using van Genuchten’s equation. Darcy’s law was used to determine the specific discharge, which was then converted to the total DD. In general, the soil water storage was 38.5 mm higher in 2013 relative to 2012. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was approximately 2 times higher in 2013 than 2012. The average DD was approximately 25 mm higher in 2013. This study provides information needed to better understand the movement and amount of water flux and DD in larger details.

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Simulating the water balance of border-check irrigated pasture on a cracking soil

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea02125 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 163 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

M. Bethune ◽

Q. J. Wang

Keyword(s):

Water Balance ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Storage ◽

Dairy Industry ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Deep Drainage ◽

Annual Crop ◽

Murray Darling Basin ◽

Physically Based ◽

Soil Cracks

The irrigated dairy industry relies on perennial pasture and is a major user of water in the Murray–Darling Basin of Australia. The sustainability of the irrigated dairy industry is threatened by high watertables and land salinisation. Options to alleviate these problems by reducing deep drainage are required. This paper assesses the potential to use the simulation model 'SWAP' to appraise options for reducing deep drainage. Minor modifications were made to SWAP so that it could simulate border-check irrigated pasture on a cracking soil. The model was tested against lysimeter data describing the water balance of irrigated pasture. Evapotranspiration, runoff, infiltration, soil water storage and deep drainage were well simulated when infiltration through soil cracks was modelled using the physically based approached in SWAP. Large errors in evapotranspiration, infiltration, runoff, soil water storage and deep drainage occurred when the process of infiltration through cracks was not simulated. Slight improvements in model predictions were achieved by specifying monthly crop factors, as opposed to a constant annual crop factor. However, a constant annual crop factor should be sufficiently accurate for most studies of deep drainage under border-check irrigated pastures.

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ISLSCP II TOTAL PLANT-AVAILABLE SOIL WATER STORAGE CAPACITY OF THE ROOTING ZONE

ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center Datasets ◽

10.3334/ornldaac/1006 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

A. Kleidon,

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Storage Capacity ◽

Water Storage ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Water Storage Capacity ◽

Rooting Zone ◽

Soil Water Storage Capacity ◽

Total Plant

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Regression Models for Soil Water Storage Estimation Using the ESA CCI Satellite Soil Moisture Product: A Case Study in Northeast Portugal

Water ◽

10.3390/w13010037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 37

Author(s):

Tomás de Figueiredo ◽

Ana Caroline Royer ◽

Felícia Fonseca ◽

Fabiana Costa de Araújo Schütz ◽

Zulimar Hernández

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Water ◽

Regression Models ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Water Storage ◽

Model Performance ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

The Relationship

The European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative Soil Moisture (ESA CCI SM) product provides soil moisture estimates from radar satellite data with a daily temporal resolution. Despite validation exercises with ground data that have been performed since the product’s launch, SM has not yet been consistently related to soil water storage, which is a key step for its application for prediction purposes. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between soil water storage (S), which was obtained from soil water balance computations with ground meteorological data, and soil moisture, which was obtained from radar data, as affected by soil water storage capacity (Smax). As a case study, a 14-year monthly series of soil water storage, produced via soil water balance computations using ground meteorological data from northeast Portugal and Smax from 25 mm to 150 mm, were matched with the corresponding monthly averaged SM product. Linear (I) and logistic (II) regression models relating S with SM were compared. Model performance (r2 in the 0.8–0.9 range) varied non-monotonically with Smax, with it being the highest at an Smax of 50 mm. The logistic model (II) performed better than the linear model (I) in the lower range of Smax. Improvements in model performance obtained with segregation of the data series in two subsets, representing soil water recharge and depletion phases throughout the year, outlined the hysteresis in the relationship between S and SM.

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