Fertigation in Furrows and Level Furrow Systems. II: Field Experiments, Model Calibration, and Practical Applications
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Volume 135, Issue 4
Abstract
Furrow fertigation can be an interesting practice when compared to traditional overland fertilizer application. In the first paper of this series, a model for furrow fertigation was presented. The simulation model combined overland water flow (Saint-Venant equations), solute transport (advection-dispersion), and infiltration. Particular attention was paid to the treatment of junctions present in level furrow systems. In this paper, the proposed model is validated using five furrow fertigation evaluations differing in irrigation discharge, fertilizer application timing, and furrow geometry. Model parameters for infiltration and roughness were estimated using error minimization techniques. The error norm was based on observed and simulated values of advance time, flow depth, and fertilizer concentration. Model parameters could be adequately predicted from just one discharge experiment, although the use of more experiments resulted in decreased error. The validated model was applied to the simulation of a level furrow system from the literature. The model adequately reproduced irrigation advance and flow depth. Fertigation events differing in application timing were simulated to identify conditions leading to adequate fertilizer uniformity.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 4 • August 2009
Pages: 413 - 420
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 23, 2008
Accepted: Oct 28, 2008
Published online: Jul 15, 2009
Published in print: Aug 2009
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