Nondimensional Relationship for Root Water Uptake in Crops
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Volume 139, Issue 11
Abstract
Root water uptake is often modeled as a sink term in the Richards equation to account for evapotranspiration losses. The sink term is assumed to be a power law function in the nonlinear root uptake model (O-R model) to account for the decrease in root density and water uptake with depth. In order to extend the O-R model to other crops without requiring detailed and time-consuming experiments, two important dimensionless numbers (specific transpiration, , and specific root water uptake, ) are identified based on readily available plant parameters. Data for determining the relationship between these numbers are obtained by minimizing the deviations between the field-observed moisture depletions of 28 crops reported in literature and the numerically simulated soil moisture depletions. Field experiments on three Indian crops—maize, Indian mustard, and wheat—are used for validation of the proposed empirical relationship. This relationship shows promise for use in the O-R model for root water uptake for a variety of crops.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for the study is gratefully acknowledged. The writers wish to express their sincere thanks to Ms. Jennifer M. Smith, Administrative Associate, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Agriculture Experiment Station, Tucson, Arizona, for providing published evapotranspiration, crop water use, and moisture depletion data in the form of Technical Bulletin No. 169, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, from the library of the University of Arizona.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 11 • November 2013
Pages: 961 - 964
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 29, 2012
Accepted: May 13, 2013
Published online: May 15, 2013
Discussion open until: Oct 15, 2013
Published in print: Nov 1, 2013
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