Effect of Salinity on Moisture Flow and Root Water Uptake in Sandy Loam Soil
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 25, Issue 3
Abstract
The present study analyzes the effect of salinity on crop growth and root zone soil moisture dynamics. A newly developed root water uptake (RWU) model was used for simulation of soil moisture and RWU for irrigation field experiments where paddy was grown with irrigation water with varying salinity concentrations (0.5, 7.9, 14.7, and 21.2 dS/m). The growth of the crop was monitored regularly, and crop parameters such as leaf area index (LAI) and root depth along with the soil moisture profile were measured during the crop growth period. The nonlinear parameter for the RWU model was estimated using an empirical relation in terms of observed crop variables (LAI and root depth) for each saline irrigation condition. Root zone soil moisture and RWU for the prevailing hydrometeorological conditions during the crop period and soil-crop parameters were simulated for the analysis. The irrigation experiments show that the growth of the crop is significantly affected by the salt concentration in soil-water, resulting in a decrease in the crop canopy (LAI) and root depth decreases with an increase in the salt concentration. The model simulation results show that an increase in salt concentration in irrigation water results in reduced root water extraction and reduced moisture content in the soil profile.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support received from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- Acm
- adjustment coefficient;
- C
- specific soil moisture capacity;
- ETc
- crop evapotranspiration;
- ETo
- reference evapotranspiration;
- Es
- soil evaporation;
- f(ψ)
- matric stress response function;
- f(π)
- osmotic stress response function;
- Kc
- crop coefficient;
- Kc adj
- adjusted crop coefficient;
- Ks
- saturated hydraulic conductivity;
- K(ψ)
- unsaturated hydraulic conductivity;
- LAIdense
- normal leaf area index;
- Rj max
- maximum root depth;
- S
- sink term for RWU;
- Smax
- maximum root water extraction;
- Tj
- crop transpiration;
- Tj max
- maximum daily crop transpiration;
- Ts
- specific transpiration;
- t
- time coordinate;
- tpeak
- time in days to maximum daily transpiration/root depth;
- z
- vertical coordinate;
- zrj
- root depth on jth day;
- α, β
- parameters of RWU model;
- αv, nv, mv
- van Genuchten water retention parameters;
- θ
- volumetric soil moisture content;
- θr
- residual water content;
- θs
- saturation water content;
- ψ
- soil pressure head;
- ψa
- soil pressure head at anaerobiosis;
- ψamc
- pressure head at available moisture content;
- ψfc
- soil pressure head at field capacity;
- ψw
- soil pressure head at wilting point;
- π
- osmotic potential head;
- πmax
- critical osmotic head; and
- πw
- wilting point osmotic head.
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Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 25 • Issue 3 • July 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 20, 2021
Accepted: Mar 10, 2021
Published online: Apr 28, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 28, 2021
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