Measuring On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency with Chloride Tracing under Deficit Irrigation

Water is a limited resource in agricultural production in arid climates. Under such conditions, high irrigation efficiency can be obtained either through implementation of efficient irrigation systems such as drip or sprinkler systems or through the age-old practice of deficit irrigation with gravity systems. The method used to increase irrigation efficiency is often dictated by economic and/or social factors. In either case, the effectiveness of water management at the farm level needs to be evaluated by measuring irrigation efficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the irrigation efficiencies for three crops in Southern New Mexico using the chloride technique. The chloride technique is a simple method in which the natural chloride in the irrigation water is used as a tracer to estimate the leaching fraction and the irrigation efficiency at the farm level. Soil samples were collected from various fields in 15 cm increments to a depth of 180 cm at the end of the irrigation season. The samples were analyzed for moisture and chloride content. In addition to the chloride technique, on-farm irrigation efficiencies were measured using applied water, yield, and water production functions. Water production functions and yields were used to estimate total evapotranspiration while flow measurements were used to calculate the amount of applied water. The results showed that high irrigation efficiency can be accomplished using deficit irrigation. Irrigation efficiency values ranged from 83 to 98%. Irrigation efficiencies using the chloride technique were compared with efficiencies estimated from direct flow measurements. The differences between the two methods ranged from 2 to 11.4%. The results showed that even though the chloride technique is subject to sampling errors and simplified theoretical assumptions, it can be used to estimate on-farm irrigation efficiency with considerable accuracy.     

Optimal Irrigation Planning under Water Scarcity

In this study optimal irrigation planning strategies are developed for the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal command in the semiarid region of South India. The specific objective of the study is to allocate the available land and water resources in a multicrop and multiseason environment and to obtain irrigation weeks requiring irrigation of a fixed depth of 40 mm. The problem is solved in four stages. First, weekly crop water requirements are calculated from the evapotranspiration model by the Penman-Monteith method. Second, seasonal crop water production functions are developed using the single-crop intraseasonal allocation model for each crop in all seasons. Third, allocations of area and water are made at seasonal and interseasonal levels by deterministic dynamic programming, maximizing the net annual benefit from the project. And fourth, once optimal seasonal allocations have been attained, irrigation scheduling is performed by running a single-crop intraseasonal allocation model. Optimal cropping pattern and irrigation water allocations are then made with full and deficit irrigation strategies for various levels of probability of exceedance of the expected annual water available. The results reveal that the optimization approach can significantly improve the annual net benefit with a deficit irrigation strategy under water scarcity.     

Assessment of Subballast Filtration under Cyclic Loading

This paper presents an investigation into the seepage hydraulics of a layer of subballast filter subjected to cyclic loading in a fully saturated environment. A multilayer mathematical approach was used to predict the time-dependent permeability of this filter, with a reduction in porosity as a function of compression under cyclic loading, and the amount of base soil (<150?μm) trapped within the filter voids being the two main aspects of this proposed model. Laboratory test results conducted on a novel cyclic loading permeameter apparatus were used to validate the proposed model. The family of equations that are an integral part of the proposed model are then presented in the form of compact visual guidelines anticipated to provide a more practical tool for railway design practitioners.     

Furrow Irrigation Performance under Spatially Varying Conditions

A zero-inertia furrow irrigation model with specified space solution was used to investigate the effects of variability in furrow inflow rate and spatial variability in infiltration, geometry, and roughness on end-of-furrow advance, average infiltrated depth, and Christiansen's and distribution uniformities. Extensive field-gathered infiltration, geometry, and roughness data were used as input to the zero-inertia model. Simulations were performed on a single furrow as well as fieldwide. Variable furrow inflow was incorporated into the fieldwide analysis. Model simulations were evaluated to determine the importance to irrigation performance of variability in each input variable. Variability of furrow physical characteristics, in decreasing order of their relative impact on furrow irrigation performance, were furrow inflow rate, infiltration, geometry, and roughness for the conditions studied.     

多轴非对称循环下材料的循环特性

在不同应变比下,按照总应变控制等幅循环阶梯加载方式,测定了材料在拉-压、拉-拉及扭转循环下相应的循环载荷-变形曲线,得出了材料的循环应力及应力比随应变比的变化关系。     

Economics of Furrow Irrigation under Partial Infiltration Information

The effects of partial infiltration and furrow geometry information on furrow irrigation design and economic return to water were quantified on a single furrow (reference furrow) and field-wide (10-furrow set) basis using a kinematic-wave furrow irrigation model in conjunction with an economic optimization model. A furrow sampled at 10 locations was assumed to represent the actual field condition. Subsamples were randomly drawn from the 10 samples and return to water was maximized. These suboptimal designs were applied to the actual furrows and monetary loss due to lack of information was simulated. The monetary loss was less for furrow irrigation designs having high inflow rates ($0.38∕furrow, $17∕ha) than for the low inflow rates ($2.27∕furrow, $100∕ha). Average loss decreased from $31∕ha ($0.71∕furrow) to $0∕ha in the case of the reference furrow, and from $1.0∕furrow ($44∕ha) to $0.3∕furrow ($13∕ha) in the case of the 10-furrow set for the samples sizes of 1 and 10, respectively.     

土培草坪植物对外源铈的生态响应特征

探讨了外源铈对黑麦草和高羊茅两种草坪植物种子萌发和初期生长的影响,结果表明,在培养土壤中施加一定量的硝酸铈有助于提高草坪植物的种子活力和发芽指数,当硝酸铈的施加浓度为400mg·kg-1时效果最好,其中黑麦草和高羊茅种子活力分别比对照提高了23.1%和42.1%,发芽指数分别提高了18.7%和29.4%.当硝酸铈的浓度为400mg·kg-1时,黑麦草的叶绿索含量和地上生物量为最高,分别高出对照20.6%和16.4%.当硝酸铈的浓度为200mg·kg-1时,高羊茅的叶绿素含量和地上生物量为最高,分别高出对照46.7%和15.4%.硝酸铈能明显增加黑麦草和高羊茅的根长、根干重、须根数和根冠比,这些都有利于提高草坪植物的抗旱性.     

Cyclic Filtration Apparatus for Testing Subballast under Rail Track

An apparatus capable of testing subballast-subgrade filtration behavior under cyclic loading is presented. The apparatus can be used to accurately monitor the pressure fluctuations, permeability of the filtration system, and turbidity variations of the effluent with time. The test results show that the frequency of cyclic loading has an influence on the filtration behavior of subballast material used in railway tracks. Further, the effect of cyclic load on the design and selection of subballast materials over a wet subgrade must be considered to avoid filter malfunctioning.     

Fracture Mechanics Based Model for Joints under Cyclic Loading

A generalized interface model for joints and cracks in quasi-brittle materials is formulated. The proposed model marries an existing fracture mechanics based one developed for monotonic loading of concrete with another frictional based model developed for the cyclic response of rock joints to address the (reverse) cyclic response of rough surfaces in the presence of cohesive stresses. The properties of the model and its capability to capture several experimentally observed behaviors are shown by the numerical simulations performed. This joint constitutive model is particularly suitable to simulate the seismic response of dam/rock joints subjected to seismic excitation, or of concrete joints under reverse cyclic loading.     

Behavior of Railroad Ballast under Monotonic and Cyclic Loading

A relatively new method for mechanized maintenance of railroad ballast (stoneblowing) puts a layer of single size stone between the ballast and each tie creating a two-layer gravel support. To get a better understanding of the behavior of this arrangement series of large diameter, triaxial tests have been carried out on single size and layered specimens. A new method of quantifying particle breakage during testing has been developed, and a conceptual model used to explain the combined effects of shearing and breakage on observed specimen behavior.     

Hydraulic Behavior of Filter Protected Silt under Cyclic Flow

The spatial distribution of hydraulic gradients within a soil sample under cyclic flow with different frequencies was measured and compared with calculated results. The permeability within the soil before and after cyclic flow was compared. This study shows that a lower ratio of consolidation coefficient of the soil to the angular velocity of cyclic flow will result in higher hydraulic gradients at the boundaries, and lower gradients within the soil. This study suggests that besides geometrical parameters of soil and geosynthetics, the consolidation coefficient of the soil and the frequency of cyclic flow need to be considered as well in the design of filters under cyclic flow.     

Predicting Soil Salinity under Various Strategies in Irrigation Systems

This paper presents a model to estimate the soil salinity for different on-farm management strategies under irrigated conditions. It is based on research in the Mani?oba irrigation scheme in northeast Brazil, where upward flow from the shallow water table is the main cause of soil salinization. The model calculates soil water and salt balances for the topsoil. It is calibrated for the topsoil of abandoned plots and for the root zone (0.9?m) of mango trees. Simulating the effect of different management scenarios on soil salinity may help to organize the switch from intensive surface irrigation to more efficient irrigation practices.     

New Strategy for Optimizing Water Application under Trickle Irrigation

The determination of water application parameters for creating an optimal soil moisture profile represents a complex nonlinear optimization problem which renders traditional optimization into a cumbersome procedure. For this reason, an alternative methodology is proposed which combines a numerical subsurface flow model and artificial neural networks (ANN) for solving the problem in two, fully separate steps. The first step employs the flow model for calculating a large number of wetting profiles (output), obtained from a systematic variation of both water application and initial soil moisture (input). The resulting matrix of corresponding input/output values is used for training the ANN. The second step, the application of the fully trained ANN, then provides the irrigation parameters which range from a specified initial soil moisture to a desired crop-specific soil moisture profile. In order to avoid substantial disadvantages associated with the common feedforward backpropagation approach, a self-organizing topological feature map is implemented to perform this task. After a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, the new methodology is applied to the outcome of an irrigation experiment. The convincing results recommend the new methodology as a positive contribution towards an improved irrigation efficiency.     

Method for Measurement of Canopy Interception under Sprinkler Irrigation

A procedure called water wiping is developed to measure the amount of water intercepted by the canopy of winter wheat under sprinkler irrigation. Macromolecule bibulous materials with high water absorption is used to collect sprinkler water intercepted by winter wheat canopy by wiping water from leaves, sheathes, heads, and stems. A procedure is developed for application and verified using field experiments. The results show that this method is rational and applicable. This method could be used to measure canopy interception of other crops with small leaves and short heights.     

Plasticity Model for Sand under Small and Large Cyclic Strains

A plasticity constitutive model for sands is proposed, which combines a bounding surface framework for large cyclic strains with a Ramberg-Osgood-type hysteretic formulation for relatively smaller strains. The distinction between small and large cyclic strains is based on the volumetric threshold cyclic shear strain γtv, a well-established geotechnical parameter. The state parameter ψ is used explicitly to interrelate the critical, peak, and dilatancy deviatoric stress ratios. The plastic modulus is expressed as a particular function of accumulated plastic volumetric strain, which simulates empirically the effect of fabric evolution during shearing. Extensive comparisons with experiments show accurate simulation of the basic aspects of cyclic behavior for a wide range of cyclic strain amplitudes, specifically, (1) the degradation of shear modulus and increase of hysteretic damping with cyclic shear strain amplitude; (2) the evolving rates of shear strain and excess pore pressure (or volumetric strain) accumulation with number of cycles; and (3) the resistance to liquefaction. The 14 model parameters are proven independent of initial and drainage conditions, as well as the cyclic shear strain amplitude. The simulation of monotonic shearing is equally accurate.     

黑龙江省西部灌溉区膜下滴灌技术推广运行机制探索

根据黑龙江省西部灌溉区的地理气候特点和通常的节水灌溉措施,以及膜下滴灌节水灌溉技术的实施特点和效果,分析了大面积推广膜下滴灌技术的必备条件,并通过大庆市杜蒙县玉米膜下滴灌示范区的建设实践,探索出大面积推广膜下滴灌技术的运行机制,并对完善大面积推广膜下滴灌技术运行机制提出了几点意见.     

压应力条件下缺口产生疲劳裂纹的研究

对超高强钢和铝合金的研究表明,在压-压交变载荷下缺口前端能引发疲劳裂纹,但其门槛值比拉应力高三倍。压应力下缺口裂纹长到一定尺寸(如0.2~0.5mm)后就将停止扩展。如果压应力的最小载荷(绝对值)接近零,则裂纹容易形成(门栏值和拉应力相近),且能扩展较长的距离。     

Stress Deformation and Fluid Pressure of Bone Specimens under Cyclic Loading

Cyclic loading has been known to induce fluid flow and thus mechanotransduction in bones. In the past, four-point bending tests have been used exclusively in studying fluid flow in bones. In order to better understand the mechanism of deformation and fluid flow under loading, compression tests were done on trabecular bone specimens under drained and undrained conditions. In the drained tests, the volume change was observed, whereas in the undrained tests, excess pore fluid pressure was measured. Cyclic loading tests were conducted in addition to monotonic loading tests to observe the permanent volume change or excess pore fluid pressure with loading cycles. A fast loading rate gave a sharp rise in the excess fluid pressure compared to a slow loading rate. The strength and stiffness of the specimens appeared to deteriorate with an increased speed of loadings, but there was no appreciable difference between the results obtained from drained and undrained tests. The drained and undrained tests as described allowed a better understanding of bone behavior under loadings for a coupled stress-flow analysis.