Assessment of Variations of Three Infiltration Models for Furrow Irrigation

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• M Emdad

Abstract

Soil infiltration rate is the most important factor in designing irrigation systems. Therefore, selection of a suitable infiltration equation is a prerequisite for achieving the best performance of any irrigation system. As a plant’s performance integrates numerous factors, particularly water demand in arid environments, providing adequate and timely water in irrigated fields passes a challenge. In this regard, the coefficients of three popular infiltration equations, namely: Kostiakov-Lewis, Philip and SCS, were investigated along the volume balance equation. The cumulative infiltration depths in furrows planted with sweat corn were also compared using different equations. Three periods: first, mid and end of maize growth season were considered in this study. Results indicated that the application of Philip equation (one point method) was not applicable because it over-predicted the infiltration depths. Moreover, the mean absolute error (AAE) of the Philip equation (0.00683) and SCS equation (0.00373) were larger than that of the Kostiakov-Lewis equation (0.00253). Finally, the results revealed that the Kostiakov-Lewis equation were the best predictor of the three infiltration equations used in this study.

Keywords

• Volume balance
• Infiltration
• furrows irrigation
• Kostiakov-Lewis
• Philip and SCS

20.1001.1.20086377.1392.6.17.5.3

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