Soil-Water Relationship

SOIL PROPERTIES
• Texture
– Definition: relative proportions of
various sizes of individual soil particles
– USDA classifications
• Sand: 0.05 - 2 mm
• Silt: 0.002 - 0.05 mm
• Clay: <0.002 mm
– Textural triangle
– Coarse vs. Fine, light vs. Heavy
 SOIL PROPERTIES
• Structure
– Definition: how soil particles are
grouped or arranged
– Affects root penetration and water intake
and movement
 Ms
• Bulk density (b) b 
Vb
 b = soil bulk density, g/cm3
– Ms = mass of dry soil, g
– Vb = volume of soil sample, cm3
• Typical values: 1.1 - 1.6 g/cm3
M s
• Particle density (p) p 
Vs
 P = soil particle density, g/cm3
– Ms = Mass of solids
– Vs = volume of solids, g/cm3
• Typical values: 2.6 - 2.7 g/cm3
• Porosity ()

volume of pores
 
volume of soil

 b 
  1  100%
 p 

• Typical values: 30 - 60%

 Water in Soils
• Soil water content
Mw
m 
Ms
– Mass water content (m)
– Mw = mass of water evaporated (24 hours @
105oc)
– Ms = mass of dry soil
• Volumetric water content (v)
Vw
v 
Vb
 V = volumetric water content (fraction)
– Vw = volume of water
– Vb = volume of soil sample
– At saturation, v = 
 V = as m
– As = apparent soil specific gravity = b/w (w = density
of water)
– As = b numerically when units of g/cm3 are used
• Equivalent depth of water (d)
– D = volume of water per unit land area = (v A L) / A
= v L
– D = equivalent depth of water in a soil layer
– L = depth (thickness) of the soil layer
 Soil Water Potential
• Description
– Measure of the energy status of the soil water
– Important because it reflects how hard plants
must work to extract water
• Components
t  g  m  o
 t = total soil water potential
 g = gravitational potential (force of gravity
pulling on the water)
• Components
 M = matric potential (force placed on the
water by the soil matrix – soil water
“tension”)
 O = osmotic potential (due to the
difference in salt concentration across a
semi-permeable membrane such as a
plant root)
Water flows from a higher potential to a
lower potential
Matric potential has greatest effect on
release of water from soil to plants
• Field capacity (FC)
– Soil water content where gravity drainage
becomes negligible
– Soil is not saturated but still a very wet
condition
• Permanent wilting point (WP)
– Soil water content beyond which plants
can not recover from water stress
– Still some water in the soil but not enough
to be of use to plants
– Traditionally defined as the water content
corresponding to 15 bars tension
Matric Potential (Tension) Vs. Water Content
 Available Water

• Definition
– Water held in the soil between field capacity and
permanent wilting point
– “Available” for plant use
• Available water capacity (AWC)
– AWC = fc - wp
– Units: depth of available water per unit depth of
soil
– Measured using field or laboratory method
Representative Values for Various Soil Textures
Total available water (TAW)

– TAW = (AWC) (Rd)

– TAW = total available water capacity within
the plant root zone (inches)
– Rd = depth of the plant root zone (inches)
– If different soil layers have different AWC’s,
need to sum up the layer-by-layer TAW’s
Infiltration - entry of water into the soil
 Influencing Factors
• Soil texture
• Initial soil water content
• Surface sealing (structure, etc.)
• Soil cracking
• Tillage practices
• Method of application (e.g., Basin vs.
Furrow)
• Water temperature
 Depth of Penetration
• Can be viewed as sequentially filling the
soil profile in layers
• Deep percolation: water penetrating
deeper than the bottom of the root zone
• Leaching: transport of chemicals from the
root zone due to deep percolation
• Example problem
Example Problem
Example Problem Contd…
 Soil Water Measurement

• Gravimetric
– Measures mass water content (m)
– Take field samples  weigh  oven dry  weigh
• Advantages: accurate; Multiple locations
• Disadvantages: labor; Time delay
• Feel and appearance
– Take field samples and feel them by hand
– Table for description are available in many text book.
• Advantages: low cost; Multiple locations
• Disadvantages: experience required; Not highly
accurate
• Neutron scattering
– Measures volumetric water content (v)
 Advantages: samples a relatively large soil
sphere; Repeatedly sample same site and
several depths; Accurate
 Disadvantages: high cost instrument;
Radioactive licensing; Not reliable for shallow
measurements near the soil surface
• Dielectric constant
– A soil’s dielectric constant is dependent on soil
moisture
– Time domain reflectometry (TDR)
– Frequency domain reflectometry (FDR)
– Primarily used for research purposes at this time
• Tensiometers
– Measure soil water potential (tension)
– Show and describe
– Practical operating range is about 0 to 0.75 bar of
tension (this can be a limitation on medium- and fine-
textured soils)
• Electrical resistance blocks
– Measure soil water potential (tension)
– Show and describe
– Tend to work better at higher tensions (lower water
contents)
• Thermal dissipation blocks
– Measure soil water potential (tension)
– Show and describe
– Require individual calibration
Irrigation Water
Requirement
• How much water is needed to
be applied for a 5-ha field ?
• How long is the application?
• What's the size of the pump
needed?
• How large is the canal
needed?
 Evapotranspiration
• Terminology
– Evaporation
• Process of water movement, in the vapor form, into
the atmosphere from soil, water, or plant surfaces
– Transpiration
• Evaporation of water from plant stomates into the
atmosphere
– Evapotranspiration
• Sum of evaporation and transpiration (abbreviated
“ET”)
– Consumptive use
• Sum of ET and the water taken up by the plant and
retained in the plant tissue (magnitude approximately
equal to ET, and often used interchangeably)
 Magnitudes
• Generally, tenths of an inch per day, or tens
of inches per growing season
• Varies with type of plant, growth stage,
weather, soil water content, etc.
• Transpiration ratio
– Ratio of the mass of water transpired to mass of
plant dry matter produced
• Typical values: 250 for sorghum; 500 for
wheat.
 Plant Water Use Patterns
• Daily
– Sketch (generally peaks late afternoon; very
little at night)
• Seasonal
• Peak period has design implications
Curve Between Daily Water Use and Date
Curve Between Evaporation Rate and Days After
Irrigation
Energy Sources for ET
 Direct Measurement of ET
• Aerodynamic – method to determine ET
by measuring the rate of water vapor
above the plant canopy.
• Bowen ratio –
• Soil Water Balance –
– WBe = WBb+P+Ig+Uf+Ri-Ro-Dp-ET
• Lysimeter-
• Plant Monitoring Methods –
Components of Soil Water Balance
 ET ESTIMATION
• Based on climate, crop, and soil factors
– ETc = Kc ETo
• ETc = actual crop evapotranspiration rate
• ETo = the evapotranspiration rate for a
reference crop
• Kc = the crop coefficient
– Reference crop ET (ETo)
• The ET rate of an actively growing, well
watered, “reference” crop
• Usually grass or alfalfa is used as the
reference crop (alfalfa is higher)
 • Provides a measure of the amount of
energy available for ET
• Many weather-based methods available for
estimating ETo book: FAO Blaney-Criddle;
Jensen-Haise; Modified Penman
– Crop Coefficient (Kc)
• Empirical coefficient which incorporates
type of crop, stage of growth, and soil water
status (a dry soil can limit ET; a wet soil
surface can increase soil evaporation
• values generally less than 1.0, but not
always
• book provides a great deal of detail
 Efficiency
• Application efficiency (Ea)
dn
Ea 
dg
– dn = net irrigation depth
– dg = gross irrigation depth
– fraction or percentage
• Water losses
– Evaporation
– Drift
– Runoff
– Deep percolation