Influencing Factors and Simplified Model of Film Hole Irrigation

• Main Authors: Yi-Bo Li, Yan-Wei Fan, Ye Liu, Xiao-Yi Ma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-07-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: film hole irrigation; simplified model; SWMS-2D
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/9/7/543

Film hole irrigation is an advanced low-cost and high-efficiency irrigation method, which can improve water conservation and water use efficiency. Given its various advantages and potential applications, we conducted a laboratory study to investigate the effects of soil texture, bulk density, initial soil moisture, irrigation depth, opening ratio (ρ), film hole diameter (D), and spacing on cumulative infiltration using SWMS-2D. We then proposed a simplified model based on the Kostiakov model for infiltration estimation. Error analyses indicated SWMS-2D to be suitable for infiltration simulation of film hole irrigation. Additional SWMS-2D-based investigations indicated that, for a certain soil, initial soil moisture and irrigation depth had the weakest effects on cumulative infiltration, whereas ρ and D had the strongest effects on cumulative infiltration. A simplified model with ρ and D was further established, and its use was then expanded to different soils. Verification based on seven soil types indicated that the established simplified double-factor model effectively estimates cumulative infiltration for film hole irrigation, with a small mean average error of 0.141–2.299 mm, a root mean square error of 0.177–2.722 mm, a percent bias of −2.131–1.479%, and a large Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient that is close to 1.0.