Optimizing Soil Water Balance Components for Sustainable Crop Production in Dry Areas of South Africa

2015 ◽  
pp. 291-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danie J. Beukes ◽  
Alan T. P. Bennie ◽  
Malcolm Hensley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Sustainable Crop Production ◽  
Dry Areas

Temporal dynamics of soil water balance components in a karst range in southeastern Spain: estimation of potential recharge

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Cantón ◽  
Luis Villagarcía ◽  
María José Moro ◽  
Penelope Serrano-Ortíz ◽  
Ana Were ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Southeastern Spain ◽  
Potential Recharge

Estimation of Soil Water Balance Components Based on Continuous Soil Moisture Measurement and Inversed Richards Method in an Irrigated Agricultural Field of a Desert Oasis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Liu ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Zhongkai Li ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Qiyue Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Richards Equation ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources Management ◽  
Irrigation Drainage

<p>An accurate assessment of soil water balance components (<em>SWBCs</em>) is necessary for improving irrigation strategies in any water-limited environment. However, quantitative information of <em>SWBCs</em> is usually challenging to obtain, because none of the components (i.e., irrigation, drainage, and evapotranspiration) can be easily measured under actual conditions. Soil moisture is a variable that integrates the water balance components of land surface hydrology, and the evolution of soil moisture is assumed to contain the memory of antecedent hydrologic fluxes, and thus can be used to determine <em>SWBCs</em> from a hydrologic balance. A database of soil moisture measurements from six experimental plots with different treatments in the middle Heihe River Basin of China was used to test the potential of a soil moisture database in estimating the <em>SWBCs</em>. We first compared the hydrophysical properties of the soils in these plots, such as vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity (<em>K</em><sub>s</sub>) and soil water retention features, for supporting the <em>SWBC</em> estimations. Then we determined evapotranspiration and other SWBCs through a method that combined the soil water balance method and the inverse Richards equation (a model of unsaturated soil water flow based on the Richards equation). To test the accuracy of our estimation, we used both indirect methods (such as power consumption of the pumping irrigation well, and published SWBCs values at nearby sites), and the water balance equation technique to verify the estimated <em>SWBCs</em> values, all of which showed a good reliability of our estimation method. Finally, the uncertainties of the proposed methods were analyzed to evaluate the systematic error of the <em>SWBC</em> estimation and any restrictions on its application. The results showed significant variances among the film-mulched plots in both the cumulative irrigation volumes (652.1~ 867.3 mm) and deep drainages (170.7~364.7 mm). Moreover, the unmulched plot had remarkably higher values in both cumulative irrigation volumes (1186.5 mm) and deep drainages (651.8 mm) compared with the mulched plots. Obvious correlation existed between the volume of irrigation and that of drained water. However, the ET demands for all the plots behaved pretty much the same, with the cumulative ET values ranging between 489.1 and 561.9 mm for the different treatments in 2016, suggesting that the superfluous irrigation amounts had limited influence on the accumulated ET throughout the growing season because of the poor water-holding capacity of the sandy soil. This work confirmed that relatively reasonable estimations of the <em>SWBCs</em> in coarse-textured sandy soils can be derived by using soil moisture measurements; the proposed methods provided a reliable solution over the entire growing season and showed a great potential for identifying appropriate irrigation amounts and frequencies, and thus a move toward sustainable water resources management, even under traditional surface irrigation conditions.</p>

scholarly journals Quantification of soil water balance components based on continuous soil moisture measurement and the Richards equation in an irrigated agricultural field of a desert oasis

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 4685-4706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongkai Li ◽  
Hu Liu ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Qiyue Yang ◽  
Rong Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Richards Equation ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources Management ◽  
Irrigation Drainage

Abstract. An accurate assessment of soil water balance components (SWBCs) is necessary for improving irrigation strategies in any water-limited environment. However, quantitative information on SWBCs is usually challenging to obtain, because none of the components (i.e., irrigation, drainage, and evapotranspiration) can be easily measured under actual conditions. Soil moisture is a variable that integrates the water balance components of land surface hydrology, and the evolution of soil moisture is assumed to contain the memory of antecedent hydrologic fluxes, and can thus be used to determine SWBCs from a hydrologic balance. A database of soil moisture measurements from six experimental plots with different treatments in the middle Heihe River basin of China was used to test the potential of a such a database for estimating SWBCs. We first compared the hydrophysical properties of the soils in these plots, such as vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and soil water retention features, for supporting SWBC estimations. We then determined evapotranspiration and other SWBCs using a method that combined the soil water balance method and the inverse Richards equation (a model of unsaturated soil water flow based on the Richards equation). To test the accuracy of our estimation, we used both indirect methods (such as power consumption of the pumping irrigation well and published SWBCs values at nearby sites) and the water balance equation technique to verify the estimated SWBCs values, all of which showed good reliability with respect to our estimation method. Finally, the uncertainties of the proposed methods were analyzed to evaluate the systematic error of the SWBC estimation and any restrictions regarding its application. The results showed significant variances among the film-mulched plots in both the cumulative irrigation volumes (652.1–867.3 mm) and deep drainages (170.7–364.7 mm). Moreover, the un-mulched plot had remarkably higher values in both cumulative irrigation volumes (1186.5 mm) and deep drainages (651.8 mm) compared with the mulched plots. Obvious correlation existed between the volume of irrigation and that of drained water. However, the ET demands for all of the plots behaved pretty much the same, with the cumulative ET values ranging between 489.1 and 561.9 mm for the different treatments in 2016, suggesting that the superfluous irrigation amounts had limited influence on the accumulated ET throughout the growing season due to the poor water-holding capacity of the sandy soil. This work confirmed that relatively reasonable estimations of the SWBCs in coarse-textured sandy soils can be derived by using soil moisture measurements; the proposed methods provided a reliable solution over the entire growing season and showed a great potential for identifying appropriate irrigation amounts and frequencies, and thus a move toward sustainable water resources management, even under traditional surface irrigation conditions.

scholarly journals Quantification of soil water balance components during the vegetation period in 2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Balejčíková ◽  
Branislav Kandra ◽  
Andrej Tall
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Vegetation Period ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Water Balance Components

Influence of Rice Husk - Mulch on Soil Water Balance Components under Sorghum and Millet Crops in Maiduguri, Semi Arid Northeast Nigeria

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
P. C. Eze ◽  
A. J. Odofin ◽  
I. N. Onyekwere ◽  
J. J. Musa ◽  
P. A. Tsado
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Rice Husk ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Crop Evapotranspiration ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Moisture Storage

A 2 x 3 factorial experiment was conducted at two sites in Maiduguri, Borno State during the 2009 cropping season. The objective was to evaluate the influence of rice husk-mulch on soil water balance components under sorghum and millet crops. The treatments comprised of two test crops (sorghum and millet) and three rates of application (0, 10 and 15 t ha-1) of rice husk mulch, fitted in a split-plot design. The test crops were assigned to the main plot, while the mulch application rates were assigned to the sub-plot. The treatments were replicated three times.  The components of soil water balance determined were annual rainfall, moisture storage within sorghum and millet root zone, drainage below crop root zone and seasonal crop evapotranspiration. Profile moisture content was measured weekly with the aid of a neutron probe installed at a depth of 2.0 m using access tubes. Also, soil (0 – 30 cm depth) moisture content was determined gravimetrically on weekly basis. Rainfall was measured using a manual rain gauge installed at each of the two sites. Findings in this study indicated that, under the prevailing circumstances, annual rainfall was lower than the amount observed over a ten-year period in Maiduguri. Consequently, soil moisture storage, drainage and seasonal crop evapotranspiration generally declined. An average of over 90 % of this low annual rainfall was lost as seasonal crop evapotranspiration. Sorghum plots stored higher moisture within the root zone, had higher drainage and lower seasonal evapotranspiration than millet plots. Moisture storage and drainage increased with increasing mulch application rate, while, seasonal crop evapotranspiration decreased with it.

Estimation of Soil Water Balance Components Using an Iterative Procedure

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Schwartz ◽  
R. L. Baumhardt ◽  
T. A. Howell
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Iterative Procedure ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Water Balance Components

Determining soil water-balance components using an irrigated grass lysimeter in NE Austria

2013 ◽  
Vol 177 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Nolz ◽  
Peter Cepuder ◽  
Gerhard Kammerer
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Water Balance Components

Modeling the Effect of Floodwater Spreading Systems on the Soil–Water Balance and Crop Production in the Gareh Bygone Plain of Southern Iran

2008 ◽  
pp. 243-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Raes ◽  
Donald Gabriels ◽  
Sayyed Ahang Kowsar ◽  
Peter Corens ◽  
Nosratollah Esmaeili
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Soil Water Balance ◽  
Southern Iran
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