Modeling Soil Water Redistribution under Gravity Irrigation with the Richards Equation

Sebastián Fuentes, Josué Trejo-Alonso, Antonio Quevedo, Carlos Fuentes and Carlos Chávez
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Sebastián Fuentes: Water Research Center, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Cerro de las Campanas SN, Col. Las Campanas 76010, Queretaro, Mexico
Josué Trejo-Alonso: Water Research Center, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Cerro de las Campanas SN, Col. Las Campanas 76010, Queretaro, Mexico
Antonio Quevedo: Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Paseo Cuauhnáhuac Núm. 8532, Jiutepec, Morelos 62550, Mexico
Carlos Fuentes: Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Paseo Cuauhnáhuac Núm. 8532, Jiutepec, Morelos 62550, Mexico
Carlos Chávez: Water Research Center, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Cerro de las Campanas SN, Col. Las Campanas 76010, Queretaro, Mexico

Mathematics, 2020, vol. 8, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Soil water movement is important in fields such as soil mechanics, irrigation, drainage, hydrology, and agriculture. The Richards equation describes the flow of water in an unsaturated porous medium, and analytical solutions exist only for simplified cases. However, numerous practical situations require a numerical solution (1D, 2D, or 3D) depending on the complexity of the studied problem. In this paper, numerical solution of the equation describing water infiltration into soil using the finite difference method is studied. The finite difference solution is made via iterative schemes of local balance, including explicit, implicit, and intermediate methods; as a special case, the Laasonen method is shown. The found solution is applied to water transfer problems during and after gravity irrigation to observe phenomena of infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, and percolation.

Keywords: differential equation; finite difference; irrigation gravity; infiltration; numerical methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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