Abstract
AbstractSurge flow irrigation was developed, in part, to take advantage of the property of some soils whereby irrigation water is more evenly distributed along the field by applying the water in “surges” (on and off cycles) instead of continuously. Thus, if water advances more during the second on‐time of irrigation than the first, there must be some change in soil properties during the previous off‐time. Three soils were used in this study: Nibley silty clay loam (a fine, mixed, mesic Aquic Argiustoll), Millville silt loam (a coarse‐silty, carbonatic, mesic Typic Haploxeroll), and Kidman sandy loam (a coarse‐loamy, mixed, mesic Calcic Haploxeroll). It was demonstrated by field experiments that the soil surface of the coarse and medium‐textured soils consolidated markedly (soil surface elevation decreased about 3 mm) with surge compared to continuous water application for the first irrigation following spring tillage. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) of these soils decreased about 45% from the first to the second on‐time. The surge effect was more pronounced during the first than the second irrigation. Most of the effect measured occurred during the first 10 to 20 min of the first off‐time. Consolidation and Ksat of the fine‐textured soil was not changed significantly by the same treatment. Two simple and practical field methods to evaluate this surge effect on soil hydraulic properties were developed: (i) measurement of soil‐surface consolidation by measuring the soil‐surface elevation changes, and (ii) measurement of Ksat by the dripper method. The soil surface level decreased by more than 1 mm and Ksat changed by about 25% when the surge effect was significant. An infiltration model developed during this study showed that simulated cumulative infiltration for surge water application was similar to measured results for the three soils studied.
Published Version
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