• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

In this study, we analyzed the variability of irrigation water amounts based on the combination of various crops and soil textures using the Irrigation Water Management Model (IWMM). IWMM evaluates the degree of agricultural drought using the Soil Moisture Deficit Index (SMDI). When crops are damaged by the water scarcity under the drought condition indicating that the SMDI values are in negative (SMDI<0), IWMM irrigates appropriate water amounts that can shift the negative SMDI values to "0" to crop fields. To test the IWMM model, we selected the Bandong-ri (BDR) and Jucheon (JC) sites in Gangwon-do and Jeollabuk-do provinces. We derived the soil hydraulic properties using the near-surface data assimilation scheme form the Time Domain Reflectrometry (TDR)-based soil moisture measurements. The daily root zone soil moisture dynamics (R: 0.792/0.588 and RMSE: 0.013/0.018 for BDR/JC) estimated by the derived soil parameters were matched well with the TDR-based measurements for validation. During the long-term (2001~2015) period, IWMM irrigated the minimum water amounts to crop fields, while there were no irrigation events during the rainy days. Also, Sandy Loam (SL) and Silt (Si) soils require more irrigation water amounts than others, while the irrigation water were higher in the order of radish, wheat, soybean, and potato, respectively. Thus, the IWMM model can provide efficient irrigation water amounts to crop fields and be useful for regions at where limited water resources are available.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Crop damages due to agricultural drought has been increased in recent years. In Korea, water resources are limited indicating that proper management plans against agricultural drought are required for better water-use efficiency in agriculture. In this study, irrigation intervals and amounts for various crops and soil physical properties (sandy and silt loams) were estimated using the IWMM model. Five different crops (soybean, radish, potato, barley and maize) at the Bangdong-ri site in Chuncheon were selected to test the IWMM model. IWMM assessed agricultural drought conditions using the soil moisture deficit index (SMDI), and irrigation intervals and amounts were determined based on the degree of agricultural drought (SMDI). Additionally, we tested the effects of surface irrigation and sprinkler irrigation methods and various irrigation intervals of 2, 3, 5 and 7 days. In our findings, the irrigation intervals of 5 and 7 days showed the minimum rrigation amounts than others. When we considered that the intervals of 3 or 5 days are usually preferred to fields, the interval of 5 days was determined in our study. The estimated irrigation amounts for different crops were shown as maize > radish > barley > soybean > potato, respectively. The irrigation amounts for maize and barley were highly affected by soil properties, but other crops have less differences. Also, small differences in irrigation amounts were shown between the surface and sprinkler irrigation methods. These might be due to the lack of consideration of water loss (e.g., evapotranspiration, infiltration, etc.) in IWMM indicating model structural uncertainties. Thus, possible water loss (e.g., evapotranspiration, infiltration) need to be considered in application to fields. Overall, IWMM performed well in determining the irrigation intervals and amounts based on the degree of agricultural drought conditions (SMDI). Thus, the IWMM model can be useful for efficient agricultural water resources management in regions at where available water resources are limited.