Estimating nitrate loading from an intensively managed agricultural field to a shallow unconfined aquifer

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Kuipers ◽  
M. C. Ryan ◽  
B. J. Zebarth
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Nitrogen Budget ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Nitrogen Surplus ◽  
Nitrogen Budgets ◽  
Intensively Managed

Nitrate loading from an intensively managed commercial red raspberry field to groundwater in the Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer, British Columbia was estimated over a 1 yr period and compared with the nitrogen surplus calculated using a simple nitrogen budget. Nitrate loading was estimated as the product of recharge (estimated from climate data as total precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration (PET)) and monthly nitrate concentration measured at the water table. Most nitrate loading occurred when nitrate, accumulated in the root zone over the growing season, was leached following heavy autumn rainfall events. Elevated groundwater nitrate concentrations at the water table during the growing season when recharge was assumed to be negligible suggested that the nitrate loading was underestimated. The estimate of annual nitrate loading to the water table was high (174 kg N ha−1) suggesting that the tools currently available to growers to manage N in raspberry production are not adequate to protect groundwater quality. The calculated nitrogen surplus from the nitrogen budget (180 kg N ha−1) was similar to the measured nitrate loading suggesting that simple nitrogen budgets may be relatively effective indices of the risk of nitrate loading to groundwater.

scholarly journals Modeling the irrigation requirements for an experimental site in Northern Alberta, Canada

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Rahbeh ◽  
David Chanasyk ◽  
Shane Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Experimental Site ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Irrigation Requirements

A combined methodology of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM), the generation of stochastic rainfall realizations, and an historical meteorological record were used to determine the supplementary irrigation requirement for an experimental site located in northern Alberta. The site receives an annual rainfall of approximately 500 mm yr -1, and contains a fluctuating water table. The simulated results showed maximum irrigation requirements of 270 mm, however, half that amount can be required during an average or wet growing season of mean rainfall of 350 and 500 mm, respectively. The irrigation requirements were influenced by rainfall amount and distribution, downward flux and the subsequent fluctuation of the water table and the depth of water table at the beginning of the growing season, which was influenced by the winter season precipitation. The simulated results suggested that a water table less than 2 m deep from the ground surface can significantly reduce the irrigation requirements. Therefore, the winter precipitation and initial depth of the water table are suitable indicators of the likely requirement of irrigation during the growing season.

scholarly journals Calculation of evapotranspiration from potatoes.

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-299
Author(s):  
G. Endrodi ◽  
P.E. Rijtema
Keyword(s):  
Soil Cover ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Diffusion Resistance ◽  
Derived Relations ◽  
Moisture Extraction ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Good Agreement

Data from sprinkler irrigation experiments with potatoes were used to calculate the actual and potential evapotranspiration from the crop during the growing season, using standard meteorologie data. During the experiments the moisture extraction from the effective root zone was determined by soil sampling. The water-use by the crop for the different periods was also derived from the water balance and both values were in good agreement in periods without extreme conditions of precipitation, this showing that the derived relations between crop height and surface roughness, between soil cover, light intensity, crop characteristics, soil characteristics and diffusion resistance, and between maturation and internal plant resistance were reasonably established. F.s.-A.G.G.H. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

scholarly journals Modeling the irrigation requirements for an experimental site in Northern Alberta, Canada

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Rahbeh ◽  
David Chanasyk ◽  
Shane Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Experimental Site ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Irrigation Requirements

A combined methodology of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM), the generation of stochastic rainfall realizations, and an historical meteorological record were used to determine the supplementary irrigation requirement for an experimental site located in northern Alberta. The site receives an annual rainfall of approximately 500 mm yr -1, and contains a fluctuating water table. The simulated results showed maximum irrigation requirements of 270 mm, however, half that amount can be required during an average or wet growing season of mean rainfall of 350 and 500 mm, respectively. The irrigation requirements were influenced by rainfall amount and distribution, downward flux and the subsequent fluctuation of the water table and the depth of water table at the beginning of the growing season, which was influenced by the winter season precipitation. The simulated results suggested that a water table less than 2 m deep from the ground surface can significantly reduce the irrigation requirements. Therefore, the winter precipitation and initial depth of the water table are suitable indicators of the likely requirement of irrigation during the growing season.

scholarly journals Real-time monitoring of nitrate transport in deep vadose zone under a crop field – implications for groundwater protection

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Turkeltaub ◽  
D. Kurtzman ◽  
O. Dahan
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Vadose Zone ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Nitrate Transport ◽  
Natural Soil ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
Table Analysis ◽  
Concentration Time Series

Abstract. Nitrate is considered the most common non-point pollutant in groundwater. It is often attributed to agricultural management, when excess application of nitrogen fertilizer leaches below the root zone and is eventually transported as nitrate through the unsaturated zone to the water table. A lag time of years to decades between processes occurring in the root zone and their final imprint on groundwater quality prevents proper decision-making on land use and groundwater-resource management. In this study, water flow and solute transport through the deep vadose zone underlying an agricultural field were monitored using a vadose-zone monitoring system (VMS). Data obtained by the VMS over a period of 6 years allowed detailed tracking of water percolation and nitrate migration from the surface through the entire deep vadose zone to the water table at 18 m depth. The temporal variations in the vadose zone sediment water content were used to evaluate the link between rain patterns and water fluxes. A nitrate concentration time series, which varied with time and depth, revealed – in real time – a major pulse of nitrate mass propagating down through the vadose zone from the root zone toward the water table. Analysis of stable nitrate isotopes indicated that manure is the prevalent source of nitrate in the deep vadose zone, and these isotopes were barely affected by natural soil or industrial nitrogen components. Total nitrate mass estimations and simulated pore-water velocity using the analytical solution of the convection–dispersion equation indicated dominance of nitrate vertical transport, and excluded the possibility of lateral nitrate input. Accordingly, prevention of groundwater pollution from surface sources such as agriculture has to include effective and continuous monitoring of the entire vadose zone.

scholarly journals Modeling the irrigation requirements for an experimental site in Northern Alberta, Canada

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Rahbeh ◽  
David Chanasyk ◽  
Shane Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Experimental Site ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Irrigation Requirements

A combined methodology of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM), the generation of stochastic rainfall realizations, and an historical meteorological record were used to determine the supplementary irrigation requirement for an experimental site located in northern Alberta. The site receives an annual rainfall of approximately 500 mm yr -1, and contains a fluctuating water table. The simulated results showed maximum irrigation requirements of 270 mm, however, half that amount can be required during an average or wet growing season of mean rainfall of 350 and 500 mm, respectively. The irrigation requirements were influenced by rainfall amount and distribution, downward flux and the subsequent fluctuation of the water table and the depth of water table at the beginning of the growing season, which was influenced by the winter season precipitation. The simulated results suggested that a water table less than 2 m deep from the ground surface can significantly reduce the irrigation requirements. Therefore, the winter precipitation and initial depth of the water table are suitable indicators of the likely requirement of irrigation during the growing season.

Dissolved Phosphorus Losses in Tile Drainage under Subirrigation

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Stämpfli ◽  
Chandra A. Madramootoo
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Residual Effect ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Quality Standard ◽  
Tile Drainage ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
Shallow Water Table ◽  
Dissolved Phosphorus ◽  
Water Table Control

Abstract Recent studies have shown subirrigation (SI) to be effective in reducing nitrate losses from agricultural tile drainage systems. A field study was conducted from 2001 to 2002 in southwestern Québec to evaluate the effect of SI on total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) losses in tile drainage. In an agricultural field with drains installed at a 1-m depth, a SI system with a design water table depth (WTD) of 0.6 m below the soil surface was compared with conventional free drainage (FD). Subirrigation increased drainage outflow volumes in the autumn, when drains were opened and water table control was interrupted for the winter in the SI plots. Outflows were otherwise similar for both treatments. Throughout the study, the TDP concentrations in tile drainage were significantly higher with SI than with FD for seven out of 17 of the sampling dates for which data could be analyzed statistically, and they were never found to be lower for plots under SI than for plots under FD. Of the seven dates for which the increase was significant, six fell in the period during which water table control was not implemented (27 September 2001 to 24 June 2002). Hence, it appears that SI tended to increase TDP concentrations compared with FD, and that it also had a residual effect between growing seasons. Almost one-third of all samples from the plots under SI exceeded Québec's surface water quality standard (0.03 mg TDP L-1), whereas concentrations in plots under FD were all below the standard. Possible causes of the increase in TDP concentrations in tile drainage with SI are high TDP concentrations found in the well water used for SI and a higher P solubility caused by the shallow water table.

scholarly journals Combined simulation and optimization framework for irrigation scheduling in agriculture fields

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Fontanet ◽  
Daniel Fernàndez-Garcia ◽  
Gema Rodrigo ◽  
Francesc Ferrer ◽  
Josep Maria Villar
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Simulation And Optimization ◽  
Optimization Framework ◽  
Net Margin ◽  
Combined Simulation

AbstractIn the context of growing evidence of climate change and the fact that agriculture uses about 70% of all the water available for irrigation in semi-arid areas, there is an increasing probability of water scarcity scenarios. Water irrigation optimization is, therefore, one of the main goals of researchers and stakeholders involved in irrigated agriculture. Irrigation scheduling is often conducted based on simple water requirement calculations without accounting for the strong link between water movement in the root zone, soil–water–crop productivity and irrigation expenses. In this work, we present a combined simulation and optimization framework aimed at estimating irrigation parameters that maximize the crop net margin. The simulation component couples the movement of water in a variably saturated porous media driven by irrigation with crop water uptake and crop yields. The optimization component assures maximum gain with minimum cost of crop production during a growing season. An application of the method demonstrates that an optimal solution exists and substantially differs from traditional methods. In contrast to traditional methods, results show that the optimal irrigation scheduling solution prevents water logging and provides a more constant value of water content during the entire growing season within the root zone. As a result, in this case, the crop net margin cost exhibits a substantial increase with respect to the traditional method. The optimal irrigation scheduling solution is also shown to strongly depend on the particular soil hydraulic properties of the given field site.

The Australian National Windbreaks Program: overview and summary of results

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 649 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. Cleugh ◽  
R. Prinsley ◽  
P. R. Bird ◽  
S. J. Brooks ◽  
P. S. Carberry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growing Season ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Wind Climate ◽  
Wind Events ◽  
Differing Effect ◽  
Economic Analyses ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Variable Wind

This overview paper presents a description of the National Windbreaks Program (NWP) — its objectives, the main methods used to achieve these objectives and a summary of the key results. It draws these from the individual papers appearing in this special issue, which provide detailed descriptions and discussion about the specific research sites and research methods used, in addition to interpreting and discussing the results. The key findings were the following: (i) Two broad areas of crop and pasture response can be identified downwind of a porous windbreak: a zone of reduced yield associated with competition with the windbreak trees that extended from 1 H to 3 H, where H is the windbreak height, and a zone of unchanged or slightly increased yield stretching downwind to 10 H or 20 H. (ii) Averaged over the paddock, yield gains due to the effect of shelter on microclimate were smaller than expected — especially for cereals. Yield simulations conducted using the APSIM model and 20 years of historical climate data confirmed this result for longer periods and for other crop growing regions in Australia. Larger yield gains were simulated at locations where the latter part of the growing season was characterised by high atmospheric demand and a depleted soil water store. (iii) Economic analyses that account for the costs of establishing windbreaks, losses due to competition and yield gains as a result of shelter found that windbreaks will either lead to a small financial gain or be cost neutral. (iv) Part of the reason for the relatively small changes in yield measured at the field sites was the variable wind climate which meant that the crop was only sheltered for a small proportion of the growing season. In much of southern Australia, where the day-to-day and seasonal variability in wind direction is large, additional windbreaks planted around the paddock perimeter or as closely-spaced rows within the paddock will be needed to provide more consistent levels of shelter. (v) Protection from infrequent, high magnitude wind events that cause plant damage and soil erosion was observed to lead to the largest yield gains. The main forms of direct damage were sandblasting, which either buries or removes seedlings from the soil or damages the leaves and stems, and direct leaf tearing and stripping. (vi) A corollary to these findings is the differing effect that porous windbreaks have on the air temperature and humidity compared to wind. While winds are reduced in strength in a zone that extends from 5 H upwind to at least 25 H downwind of the windbreak, the effects of shelter on temperature and humidity are smaller and restricted mainly to the quiet zone. This means that fewer windbreaks are required to achieve reductions in wind damage than for altering the microclimate. (vii) The wind tunnel experiments illustrate the important aspects of windbreak structure that determine the airflow downwind, and subsequent microclimate changes, in winds oriented both perpendicular and obliquely to porous windbreaks. These results enable a series of guidelines to be forwarded for designing windbreaks for Australian agricultural systems.

scholarly journals A MODEL FOR ESTIMATING ACTUAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION FROM POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

1975 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. KRISTENSEN ◽  
S. E. JENSEN
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Actual Evapotranspiration ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Rainfall Distribution ◽  
Sugar Beets

A model for calculating the daily actual evapotranspiration based on the potential one is presented. The potential evapotranspiration is reduced according to vegetation density, water content in the root zone, and the rainfall distribution. The model is tested by comparing measured (EAm) and calculated (EAc) evapotranspirations from barley, fodder sugar beets, and grass over a four year period. The measured and calculated values agree within 10 %. The model also yields information on soil water content and runoff from the root zone.

scholarly journals Climate Change Patterns of Wild Blueberry Fields in Downeast, Maine over the Past 40 Years

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 594
Author(s):  
Rafa Tasnim ◽  
Francis Drummond ◽  
Yong-Jiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Spatial Average ◽  
Climate Variables ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wild Blueberry ◽  
Crop Health

Maine, USA is the largest producer of wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton), an important native North American fruit crop. Blueberry fields are mainly distributed in coastal glacial outwash plains which might not experience the same climate change patterns as the whole region. It is important to analyze the climate change patterns of wild blueberry fields and determine how they affect crop health so fields can be managed more efficiently under climate change. Trends in the maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin) and average (Tavg) temperatures, total precipitation (Ptotal), and potential evapotranspiration (PET) were evaluated for 26 wild blueberry fields in Downeast Maine during the growing season (May–September) over the past 40 years. The effects of these climate variables on the Maximum Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVImax) were evaluated using Remote Sensing products and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. We found differences in the increase in growing season Tmax, Tmin, Tavg, and Ptotal between those fields and the overall spatial average for the region (state of Maine), as well as among the blueberry fields. The maximum, minimum, and average temperatures of the studied 26 wild blueberry fields in Downeast, Maine showed higher rates of increase than those of the entire region during the last 40 years. Fields closer to the coast showed higher rates of warming compared with the fields more distant from the coast. Consequently, PET has been also increasing in wild blueberry fields, with those at higher elevations showing lower increasing rates. Optimum climatic conditions (threshold values) during the growing season were explored based on observed significant quadratic relationships between the climate variables (Tmax and Ptotal), PET, and EVImax for those fields. An optimum Tmax and PET for EVImax at 22.4 °C and 145 mm/month suggest potential negative effects of further warming and increasing PET on crop health and productivity. These climate change patterns and associated physiological relationships, as well as threshold values, could provide important information for the planning and development of optimal management techniques for wild blueberry fields experiencing climate change.

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