• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.336-344
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• 2017

The soil water characteristics curve (SWCC) represents the relation between soil water potential and soil water content. The shape and range of SWCC according to the relation could vary depending on soil characteristics. The objective of the study was to estimate SWCC depending on soil types and layers and to analyze the trend among them. To accomplish this goal, the unsaturated three soils were considered: silty clay loam, loam, and sandy loam soils. Weighable lysimeters were used for exactly measuring soil water content and soil water potential. Two fitting models, van Genuchten and Campbell, were applied. Two models entirely fitted well the measured SWCC, indicating low RMSE and high $R^2$ values. However, the large difference between the measured and the estimated was found at the 30 cm layer of the silty clay loam soil, and the gap was wider as soil water potential increased. In addition, the non-linear decrease of soil water content according to the increase of soil water potential tended to be more distinct in the sandy loam soil and at the 10 cm layer than in the silty clay loam soil and at the lower layers. These might be seen due to the various factors such as not only pore size distribution, but also cracks by high clay content and plow pan layers by compaction. This study clearly showed difficulty in the estimation of SWCC by such kind of factors.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.300-309
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• 2016

The monolithic weighing lysimeter is a useful facility that could directly measure water movement via layers, drainage, and evapotranspiration (ET) with precise sensors. We evaluated water movement through layers and water balance using the lysimeter with undisturbed paddy sandy loam soil, Gangseo soil series (mesic family of Anthraquic Eutrudepts classified by Soil Taxonomy) during winter season from Dec. 2014 to Feb. 2015. Daily ET indicated up to 1.5 mm in December and January and 2 mm in February. The abrupt increase of soil water tension at the depth of 0.1 m, when soil temperature at the same depth was below $2^{\circ}C$, was observed due to temporary frost heaving. The surface evaporation was less than reference ET below -15 kPa of soil water potential at the depth of 0.1 m. The maximum drainage rate was similar to the saturated hydraulic conductivity of a plow pan layer. Both upward and downward water movement, related to ET and drainage, were retarded by a plow pan layer. This study demonstrated that the lysimeter study could well quantify water balance components even under frost heaving during winter season and that a plow pan with low permeability could act as a boundary that affects drainage and evapotranspiration.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.205-214
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• 2020

In this study, we performed to evaluate the water balance during the cultivation of Chinese cabbage and maize according to the soil type and water management method using weighable lysimeters, and to estimate the crop water stress coefficient and minimal water requirement by considering crop productivity and water deficiency. In 2018, Chinese cabbage cultivation period was not irrigated due to frequent rainfall two weeks after planting, so there was no difference in irrigation amount between the non-irrigated and the irrigated and little difference in crop yield. Excluding the Chinese cabbage cultivation in 2018, in the cultivation of Chinese cabbage and maize, the crop yield of irrigated plots was higher than that of non-irrigated plots. The evapotranspiration of irrigated plots was also generally higher than non-irrigated plots. Crop yield and evapotranspiration are closely related, and transpiration is active as biomass increases. The crop water stress coefficients in the middle and the late stage were 0.8 and 0.8 for Chinese cabbage and 0.8 and 0.5 for maize, respectively. The minimal water requirements for Chinese cabbage and maize were 82.0% and 68.8%, respectively, compared to the optimal water requirements (239.4 mm for Chinese cabbage and 466.9 mm for maize). These results can be used as basic data for water management for crop cultivation by securing the minimum amount of irrigation in case of water deficiency.