Mapping Farmland-Soil Moisture at a Regional Scale Using a Distributed Hydrological Model: Case Study in the North China Plain
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 9
Abstract
Currently, point measurement and remote sensing technique are two frequently used methods to study the spatial-temporal distribution and pattern of soil moisture. However, point measurement is known as cost-intensive and time-consuming, whereas remote sensing is limited in precision to describe spatial and temporal characteristics of soil moisture especially for deep layer soil. This study introduced a method to map farmland soil moisture using a distributed hydrological model (MODCYCLE) combined with the kriging interpolation method (KIM) at the regional scale. Handan City in the North China Plain was chosen as the study area to verify the method. According to the result, there is a significant consistency relationships between observed soil moisture data collected, respectively, from 12 monitoring stations and simulated results in this paper. The maximum relative error coefficient is as low as 8.8%, and even the minimum correlation coefficient is more than 0.66, which shows a good reliability and feasibility of this method. Moreover, the authors also analyzed the spatial characteristics of the soil moisture and assessed the drought vulnerability in the study area based on the soil moisture distribution map. Meanwhile, this paper also summarized a series of suggestions that could cope with agricultural water scarcity and ensure the sustainable development of grain production in this study area.
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Acknowledgments
The researchers thank the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (No. 51409275, No. 51522907, No. 51409078 and No. 51309246) for their support of this study. The study was also supported by the Open Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research. The help provided by Shan Jiang and Xining Zhao is also appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 9 • September 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 15, 2015
Accepted: Jan 26, 2016
Published online: Apr 27, 2016
Published in print: Sep 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Sep 27, 2016
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