Intermittent Drip Irrigation Soil Wet Front Prediction Model and Effective Water Storage Analysis

Zhu Zhu, Muhammad Waseem Rasheed, Muhammad Safdar, Baolin Yao, Hudan Tumaerbai (), Abid Sarwar and Lianyong Zhu ()
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Zhu Zhu: College of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Muhammad Waseem Rasheed: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Muhammad Safdar: Department of Irrigation and Drainage, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Baolin Yao: College of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Hudan Tumaerbai: College of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Abid Sarwar: Department of Irrigation and Drainage, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Lianyong Zhu: College of Water Conservancy and Architectural Engineering, Tarim University, Alaer 843300, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: The depth and width of drip infiltration play a critical role in designing effective irrigation strategies. However, existing models primarily focus on continuous irrigation and fail to predict wetting patterns under intermittent drip irrigation. This study developed an infiltration model to estimate soil moisture depth and width under intermittent drip irrigation and identified strategies that enhance effective water storage. Indoor soil box simulations were conducted, with continuous drip irrigation as the control. Results showed that intermittent irrigation increased infiltration width and reduced depth, maximizing water storage efficiency. We recommend adopting an intermittent irrigation system with 1.5 h of irrigation followed by a 0.5 h interval, repeated four times. This system increased effective water storage by up to 16.23% compared to continuous irrigation. The proposed method is suitable for sandy loam farmland in southern Xinjiang and can significantly improve water use efficiency in arid regions.

Keywords: intermittent drip irrigation; soil moisture prediction; infiltration modeling; water storage efficiency; irrigation management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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