Modeling of soil moisture movement and wetting behavior under point-source trickle irrigation

Dinesh Kumar Vishwakarma; Rohitashw Kumar; Salwan Ali Abed; Nadhir Al-Ansari; Amit Kumar; Nand Lal Kushwaha; Devideen Yadav; Anita Kumawat; Alban Kuriqi; Abed Alataway; Ahmed Z Dewidar; Mohamed A Mattar

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-41435-4

Modeling of soil moisture movement and wetting behavior under point-source trickle irrigation

Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 11;13(1):14981. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-41435-4.

Authors

Dinesh Kumar Vishwakarma¹, Rohitashw Kumar², Salwan Ali Abed³, Nadhir Al-Ansari⁴, Amit Kumar⁵, Nand Lal Kushwaha⁶, Devideen Yadav⁷, Anita Kumawat⁸, Alban Kuriqi^{9

10}, Abed Alataway¹¹, Ahmed Z Dewidar^{11

12}, Mohamed A Mattar^{13

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, 263145, India. dinesh.vishwakarma4820@gmail.com.
² College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar Campus, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190025, India.
³ College of Science, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Qadisiyyah, 58002, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Civil, Environmental, and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, 97187, Lulea, Sweden. nadhir.alansari@ltu.se.
⁵ Division of Fruit Science, Faculty of Horticulture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar Campus, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190025, India.
⁶ Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India.
⁷ Division of Soil Science and Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, India.
⁸ ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Kota, 324002, Rajasthan, India.
⁹ CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1649-004, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹⁰ Civil Engineering Department, University for Business and Technology, Pristina, Kosovo.
¹¹ Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
¹² Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia. mmattar@ksu.edu.sa.
¹⁴ Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia. mmattar@ksu.edu.sa.
¹⁵ Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI), Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, 12618, Egypt. mmattar@ksu.edu.sa.

Abstract

The design and selection of ideal emitter discharge rates can be aided by accurate information regarding the wetted soil pattern under surface drip irrigation. The current field investigation was conducted in an apple orchard in SKUAST- Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, a Union Territory of India, during 2017-2019. The objective of the experiment was to examine the movement of moisture over time and assess the extent of wetting in both horizontal and vertical directions under point source drip irrigation with discharge rates of 2, 4, and 8 L h^-1. At 30, 60, and 120 min since the beginning of irrigation, a soil pit was dug across the length of the wetted area on the surface in order to measure the wetting pattern. For measuring the soil moisture movement and wetted soil width and depth, three replicas of soil samples were collected according to the treatment and the average value were considered. As a result, 54 different experiments were conducted, resulting in the digging of pits [3 emitter discharge rates × 3 application times × 3 replications × 2 (after application and 24 after application)]. This study utilized the Drip-Irriwater model to evaluate and validate the accuracy of predictions of wetting fronts and soil moisture dynamics in both orientations. Results showed that the modeled values were very close to the actual field values, with a mean absolute error of 0.018, a mean bias error of 0.0005, a mean absolute percentage error of 7.3, a root mean square error of 0.023, a Pearson coefficient of 0.951, a coefficient of correlation of 0.918, and a Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient of 0.887. The wetted width just after irrigation was measured at 14.65, 16.65, and 20.62 cm; 16.20, 20.25, and 23.90 cm; and 20.00, 24.50, and 28.81 cm in 2, 4, and 8 L h^-1_, at 30, 60, and 120 min, respectively, while the wetted depth was observed 13.10, 16.20, and 20.44 cm; 15.10, 21.50, and 26.00 cm; 19.40, 25.00, and 31.00 cm_, respectively. As the flow rate from the emitter increased, the amount of moisture dissemination grew (both immediately and 24 h after irrigation). The soil moisture contents were observed 0.4300, 0.3808, 0.2298, 0.1604, and 0.1600 cm³ cm^-3 just after irrigation in 2 L h^-1 while 0.4300, 0.3841, 0.2385, 0.1607, and 0.1600 cm³ cm^-3 were in 4 L h^-1 and 0.4300, 0.3852, 0.2417, 0.1608, and 0.1600 cm³ cm^-3 were in 8 L h^-1 at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 cm soil depth in 30 min of application time. Similar distinct increments were found in 60, and 120 min of irrigation. The findings suggest that this simple model, which only requires soil, irrigation, and simulation parameters, is a valuable and practical tool for irrigation design. It provides information on soil wetting patterns and soil moisture distribution under a single emitter, which is important for effectively planning and designing a drip irrigation system. Investigating soil wetting patterns and moisture redistribution in the soil profile under point source drip irrigation helps promote efficient planning and design of a drip irrigation system.