Simple Method for Determining the Emitter Discharge Rate in the Reclamation of Coastal Saline Soil Using Drip Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 10
Abstract
A laboratory experiment was carried out to study the relationships of emitter discharge rate (EDR) and distribution of water and salt for two typical coastal saline soils. The objective was to find a simple method to determine a suitable EDR for reclamation of coastal saline soil using drip irrigation. The experiment included five EDR treatments in a coastal saline sandy-loam soil (SAS): 0.23, 0.55, 0.8, 1.5, and ; another five EDR treatments were conducted in a coastal saline silt soil (SIS): 0.23, 0.55, 1.0, 1.5, and . The water distribution and the low-salinity zone (with electrical conductivity of the saturated soil extract , , and ) were clearly affected by EDR. The relationships of EDR and wetted front, wetted zone volume, and low-salinity zone were difficult to obtain because of the requirements of determining and calculating the vertical wetted front and the volume of wetted, saturated, and low-salinity zones in the field. For this reason, these relationships could not be used to directly calculate EDR. Steady-state ponding area radius and EDR were linearly related, and constant ponding area was related to EDR but not to time. A method was proposed to rapidly determine EDR from this linear relationship. Based on this method, a specific radius of the steady-state ponding area, proposed at 3–4 cm, was substituted into the linear relationship to calculate suitable EDRs of 1.3–1.9 and for SAS and SIS soils, respectively. Two field experiments were used to test the practicability of the method; there was no runoff or erosion in the irrigation period, and plant survival rates were not affected by salt. The method proposed can rapidly determine EDR (within 300 min) with a small amount of water (12 L), which saves labor (one or two persons), and it can be implemented in multiple locations without destroying soil and plants.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013BAC02B02, 2013BAC02B01, and 2012BAD08B02) and by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Action Plan for the Development of Western China (Grant No. KZCX2-XB3-16).
References
Al-Jabri, S. A., Horton, R., and Jaynes, D. B. (2002). “A point-source method for rapid simultaneous estimation of soil hydraulic and chemical transport properties.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 66(1), 12–18.
Brandt, A., Bresler, E., Diner, N., Benasher, I., Heller, J., and Goldberg, D. (1971). “Infiltration from a trickle source. I: Mathematical models.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 35(5), 675–682.
Bresler, E. (1977). “Trickle drip irrigation: Principles and application to soil water management.” Adv. Agron., 29, 343–393.
Bresler, E. (1978). “Analysis of trickle irrigation with application to design problems.” Irrig. Sci., 1(1), 3–17.
Bresler, E., Valles, V., and Carter, D. L. (1982). Saline and sodic soils: Principles, dynamics, modeling, Springer, Berlin.
Cao, W. Z., and Wong, M. H. (2007). “Current status of coastal zone issues and management in China: A review.” Environ. Int., 33(7), 985–992.
Dou, C. Y., Kang, Y. H., Wan, S. Q., and Hu, W. (2011). “Soil salinity changes under cropping with Lycium barbarum L. and irrigation with saline-sodic water.” Pedosphere, 21(4), 539–548.
Goldberg, D., Gornat, B., and Rimon, D. E. (1976). Drip irrigation-principles, design and agricultural practices, Drip Irrigation Scientific Publications, Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel.
Goldberg, S. D., Rinot, M., and Karu, N. (1971). “Effect of trickle irrigation intervals on distribution and utilization of soil moisture in a vineyard.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 35(1), 127–132.
Hachum, A. Y., Alfaro, J. F., and Willardson, L. S. (1976). “Water movement in soil from trickle source.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 102(2), 179–192.
Hanson, B. R., May, D. E., Simunek, J., Hopmans, J. W., and Hutmacher, R. B. (2009). “Drip irrigation provides the salinity control needed for profitable irrigation of tomatoes in the San Joaquin Valley.” California Agric., 63(3), 131–136.
Hu, W., Shao, M. A., and Si, B. C. (2012). “Seasonal changes in surface bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity of natural landscapes.” Eur. J. Soil Sci., 63(6), 820–830.
Jiao, Y. P., Kang, Y. H., Wan, S. Q., Sun, Z. J., Liu, W., and Dong, F. (2008). “Effect of soil matric potential on the distribution of soil salt under drip irrigation on saline and alkaline land in arid regions.” Trans. CSAE, 24(6), 53–58 (in Chinese).
Kang, Y., Wan, S., Jiao, Y., Tan, J., and Sun, Z. (2008). “Saline soil salinity and water management with tensiometer under drip irrigation.” Proc., 5th Annual Meeting of Agricultural Land and Water Engineering of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, Beijing, 124–131.
Kang, Y. H. (1998). “Microirrigation for the development of sustainable agriculture.” Trans. CSAE, 14, 251–255.
Keller, J., and Bliesner, R. D. (1990). Sprinkle and trickle irrigation, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Li, M. S., Kang, S. Z., and Sun, H. Y. (2006). “Relationships between dripper discharge and soil wetting pattern for drip irrigation.” Trans. CSAE, 22(4), 32–35 (in Chinese).
Li, Y. G., and Zeng, D. C. (1997). “The mathematical method for calculating the characteristic value of wetted volume under surface drip irrigation.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 28(7), 1–6 (in Chinese).
Liu, C. Q., Yang, J. S., Chen, X. B., and Chen, D. M. (2007). “Movement and redistribution of water and salt in relation to emitter discharge rate.” Acta Pedologica sinica, 44(6), 1016–1021 (in Chinese).
Mao, J. H., and Liu, T. X. (2010). “Effects of soil improvement greening on sea reclamation land in Caofeidian.” Tianjin Agric. Sci., 16(2), 1–4 (in Chinese).
Mass, E. V., and Hoffman, G. J. (1977). “Crop salt tolerance-current assessment.” J. Irrig. Drain. Div., 103(IR2), 115–134.
Mokady, R. S., and Bresler, E. (1968). “Reduced sodium exchange capacity in unsaturated flow.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 32(4), 463–469.
Revol, P. H., Clothier, B. E., Vachaud, G., and Thony, J. L. (1991). “Predicting the field characteristics of drip irrigation.” Soil Technol., 4(2), 125–134.
Richards, L. A., ed. (1954). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils, Agriculture Handbook No. 60, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Schwartzman, M., and Zur, B. (1986). “Emitter spacing and geometry of wetted soil volume.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 242–253.
Shani, U., Hanks, R. J., Bresler, E., and Oliveira, C. A. S. (1987). “Field method for estimating hydraulic conductivity and matric potential-water content relations.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 51(2), 298–302.
Sun, J. X., Kang, Y. H., and Wan, S. Q. (2013). “Effects of an imbedded gravel-sand layer on reclamation of coastal saline soils under drip irrigation and on plant growth.” Agric. Water Manage., 123, 12–19.
Sun, J. X., Kang, Y. H., Wan, S. Q., Hu, W., Jiang, S. F., and Zhang, T. B. (2012). “Soil salinity management with drip irrigation and its effects on soil hydraulic properties in north China coastal saline soils.” Agric. Water Manage., 115, 10–19.
Surfer 8.0 [Computer software]. Golden, CO, RockWare.
Taghavi, S. A., Marino, M. A., and Rolston, D. E. (1984). “Infiltration from trickle irrigation source.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 331–341.
Tan, J. L., and Kang, Y. H. (2009). “Changes in soil properties under the influences of cropping and drip irrigation during the reclamation of severe salt-affected soils.” Agric. Sci. Chin., 8(10), 1228–1237.
Wan, S. Q., et al. (2013). “Growth and yield of oleic sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) under drip irrigation in very strongly saline soils.” Irrig. Sci., 31(5), 943–957.
Wang, Q. J., and Lai, J. B. (2006). “Indoor experiment on measurement of soil hydraulic parameter using the method without restrict point-source infiltration.” Trans. CSAE, 22(3), 191–192 (in Chinese).
Wang, Q. J., Wang, W. Y., Lv, D. Q., Wang, Z. R., and Zhang, J. F. (2000). “Water and salt transport features for salt-effected soil through drip irrigation under film.” Trans. CSAE, 16(4), 54–57 (in Chinese).
Wang, Z. Q., et al. (1993). China saline and sodic soils, Science Press, Beijing.
Warrick, A. W. (1985). “Point and line infiltration–calculation of the wetted soil surface.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 49(6), 1581–1583.
Xing, L., Guo, H., and Zhan, Y. (2013). “Groundwater hydrochemical characteristics and processes along flow paths in the north China Plain.” J. Asian Earth Sci., 70–71, 250–264.
Zhang, T. B., Kang, Y. H., and Wan, S. Q. (2013). “Shallow sand-filled niches beneath drip emitters made reclamation of an impermeable saline-sodic soil possible while cropping with Lycium barbarum L.” Agric. Water Manage., 119, 54–64.
Zhang, Z. H., Cai, H. J., Guo, Y. C., and Geng, B. J. (2002). “Experimental study on factors effecting soil wetted volume of clay loam under drip irrigation.” Trans. CSAE, 18(2), 17–20 (in Chinese).
Zur, B. (1996). “Wetted soil volume as a design objective in trickle irrigation.” Irrig. Sci., 16(3), 101–105.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 30, 2014
Accepted: Jan 30, 2015
Published online: Mar 9, 2015
Discussion open until: Aug 9, 2015
Published in print: Oct 1, 2015
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.