Infiltration Evaluation Strategy for Border Irrigation Management
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 9
Abstract
Water infiltration into soil plays a vital role in the performance of surface irrigation. Real-time information on infiltration characteristics is necessary to use surface irrigation models to manage irrigation systems. The present field study deals with the evaluation of the Kostiakov infiltration parameters using water front advance information at three different locations (50, 75, and 100% of the field length) along the alfalfa irrigated borders. Two irrigations were conducted on four border checks. The parameters of the Kostiakov infiltration model were determined using the one-point and two-point methods for these locations. The infiltration parameters for each border were used in a surface irrigation model to evaluate their impact on irrigation performance measures. The mean irrigation performance measures, such as inflow volume, application efficiency, tailwater ratio, deep percolation ratio, and low quarter distribution uniformity, were significantly different for one-point and two-point methods. However, the mean performance measures were not significantly different for infiltration functions evaluated at three different locations using the two-point method. Furthermore, performance of individual irrigation events was in close agreement for all three locations. Thus, infiltration parameters can be estimated using the water front advance information up to 75% of the field length (to reduce the impact of soil spatial variability) and can be used to predict irrigation performance measures reasonably well. A cutoff strategy that ensures the advancement of the wetting front to the downstream end of the field was devised on the basis of the infiltration parameters evaluated at 75% of the field length. This cutoff strategy resulted in savings of applied water (18%) and reduction in both tailwater and deep percolation losses, which gave higher application efficiency. The methodology presented in this article has the potential for use in real-time management of border irrigation systems.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The first author is thankful to Fulbright Commission for providing an opportunity to carry out this research under a Fulbright Nehru Senior Research Fellowship program. The authors are also thankful to the California Department of Water Resources for providing support under grant UNSPECIFIED# 4600004168.
References
Bali, K. M., Grismer, M. E., and Tod, I. C. (2001). “Reduced-runoff irrigation of alfalfa in Imperial Valley, California.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 127(3), 123–130.
Bautista, E., Clemmens, A. J., and Strellkoff, T. S. (2009). “Structured application of the two point method for the estimation of infiltration parameters in surface irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 135(5), 566–578.
Buller, O. H., Manges, H. L., Stone, L. R., and Williams, J. R. (1988). “Benefits from improving flood irrigation efficiency.” Progress Rep. No. 544, Agricultural Experiment Station, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS.
Burgan, B. (1995). “National water quality inventory: 1994 report to Congress.” EPA841-R-95-005, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water, Washington, DC.
Clemmens, A. J. (1992). “Feedback control of basin irrigation system.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 118(3), 480–496.
Clemmens, A. J., El-haddad, Z., and Strelkoff, T. S. (1999). “Assessing the potential for modern surface irrigation in Egypt.” Trans. ASAE, 42(4), 995–1008.
Clemmens, A. J., Strelkoff, T. S., and Playan, E. (2003). “Field verification of 2-D surface irrigation model.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 129(6), 402–411.
Elliott, R. L., and Walker, W. R. (1982). “Field evaluation of furrow infiltration and advance functions.” Trans. ASAE, 25(2), 396–400.
Guardo, M. (1988). “Kinematic model for designing level basins.” Ph.D. dissertation, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO.
Grismer, M. E. (2001). “Regional alfalfa yield, ETc, and water value in western states.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 127(3), 131–139.
Greyline Instruments, Inc. (2007a). Portable Doppler flow meter (PDFM 4.0) user manual, Massena, NY.
Greyline Instruments, Inc. (2007b). Area velocity flow meter (AVFM II) user manual, Massena, NY.
Hanson, B. R. (2003). “Options for reducing nonpoint pollution from surface-irrigated fields.” ASAE Pub. No. 701P1503, A. Saleh, ed., American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, MI.
Hanson, B. R., Prichard, T. L., and Schulbach, H. (1993). “Estimating furrow infiltration.” Agric. Water Manage., 24(4), 281–298.
Khatri, K. L., and Smith, R. J. (2005). “Evaluation of methods for determining infiltration parameters from irrigation advance data.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 54(4), 467–482.
Mailapalli, D. R., Wallender, W. W., Raghuwanshi, N. S., and Singh, R. (2008). “Quick method for estimating furrow infiltration.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 134(6), 788–795.
Mailapalli, D. R., Wallender, W. W., Raghuwanshi, N. S., and Singh, R. (2010). “Closure to ‘A quick method for estimating furrow infiltration’ by D. R. Mailapalli, W. W. Wallender, N. S. Raghuwanshi, and R. Singh.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 136(1), 75.
Raghuwanshi, N. S., and Wallender, W. W. (1997). “Economic optimization of furrow irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 123(5), 377–385.
Renault, D., and Wallender, W. W. (1992). “ALIVE (advance linear velocity): Surface irrigation rate balance theory.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 118(1), 138–155.
Saha, R. (2010). “An investigation of surface and subsurface flow characteristics during an alfalfa irrigation event.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of California, Davis, CA.
Singh, V., and Murthy, B. S. (1996). “Complete hydrodynamic border strip irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 122(4), 189–197.
SIRMOD—Surface Irrigation Modeling Software [Computer software]. (1998). Utah State Univ., Logan, UT
Strelkoff, T. S., and Clemmens, A. J. (2006). “Hydraulics of surface systems.” Design and operation of on-farm irrigation systems, 2nd Ed., Chap. 13, G. J. Hoffman, R. G. Evans, M. E. Jensen, D. L. Martin, and R. L. Elliott, eds., ASABE Special Monograph, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, MI.
Strelkoff, T., Clemmens, A. J., El-Ansary, M., and Awad, M. (1999). “Surface irrigation evaluation models: Application to level basin in Egypt.” Trans. ASAE, 42(4), 1027–1036.
Strelkoff, T. S., Clemmens, A. J., and Schmidt, B. V. (1998). SRFR: Computer program for simulating flow in surface irrigation: Borders-basins-furrows, V. 3.31, USDA Agricultural Research Services, U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory, Phoenix.
Upadhyaya, S. K., and Raghuwanshi, N. S. (1999). “Semi-empirical infiltration equation for furrow irrigation systems.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 125(4), 173–178.
Valiantzas, J. D., Aggelides, S., and Sassalou, A. (2001). “Furrow infiltration estimation from time to a single advance point.” Agric. Water Manage., 52, 17–32.
Wallender, W. W. (1986). “Furrow irrigation with spatially variable infiltration.” Trans. ASAE, 29(4), 1012–1016.
Wallender, W. W., and Rayej, M. (1987). “Economic optimization of furrow irrigation with uniform and non-uniform soil.” Trans. ASAE, 30(5), 1425–1429.
Walker, W. R., and Busman, J. D. (1990). “Real-time estimation of furrow infiltration.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 116(3), 299–318.
Walker, W. R., and Skogerboe, G. V. (1987). Surface irrigation: Theory and practice, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Yonts, C. D., Eisenhauer, D. E., and Fekersillassie, D. (1996). “Impact of surge irrigation on furrow water advance.” Trans. ASAE, 39(3), 973–979.
Yu, F. X., and Singh, V. P. (1990). “Analytical model of furrow irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 116(2), 154–171.
Zerihun, D., Sanchez, C. A., and Farrell-Poe, K. L. (2005). “Analysis and design of border irrigation systems.” Trans. ASAE, 48(5), 1751–1764.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 9 • September 2011
Pages: 602 - 609
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 23, 2010
Accepted: Dec 8, 2010
Published online: Dec 11, 2010
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.