Original Article
Irrigation network management
Omid Raja; Sajjad Veysi; Ali Barzegar
Abstract
Extend AbstractIntouductionMany factors have contributed to the drop in the water table of groundwater, including the increase in cultivated area, decrease in rainfall, climate change, and the continuation of drought in recent years, and withdrawing excessive amounts of surface water sources and groundwater ...
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Extend AbstractIntouductionMany factors have contributed to the drop in the water table of groundwater, including the increase in cultivated area, decrease in rainfall, climate change, and the continuation of drought in recent years, and withdrawing excessive amounts of surface water sources and groundwater from unauthorized wells, which has faced serious challenges in the water sector in Alborz province. The Hashtgerd plain is located in the Alborz province. The current situation of the Hashtgerd plain is the result of a series of human and natural factors over the past few decades, and the restoration and balance of the underground water of the plain is a priority. According to long-term statistics, the groundwater level has decreased by 19.8 m in 29 years (1990-2019) on average, there is a drop in the groundwater level of about 68 cm. per year. The total aquifer deficit is 487.85 million cubic meters, and the average annual amount of the aquifer deficit is 16.82 million cubic meters (6.2%). Given these conditions, it is essential to apply effective solutions for optimal and efficient water management.MethodologyThe purpose of this study was to provide practical and low-cost solutions to save water consumption in Hashtgerd Plain. There are different solutions with minimal cost, such as improving irrigation efficiency, changing the planting date, and different patterns of deficit irrigation. The approach of this study is to present and examine solutions that do not require changing the irrigation system or even changing the cultivation pattern and also not reducing the cultivated area in the region. It is the examination of the solutions that can be implemented at the lowest possible cost without adversely affecting the livelihood of farmers. The objective of the study was to reduce water consumption or prevent from excessive groundwater of Hashtgerd plain aquifer. The proposed solutions do not require new tools such as precision leveling machines and, so on. Each of the above strategies was evaluated based on the actual conditions in the region. The main objective was to evaluate and estimate the water requirements of the dominant crops in the Hashtgerd Plain, and to present different scenarios for improving irrigation efficiency according to the superior conditions in the region. The feasibility of saving water consumption through strategies to change the planting date and deficit irrigation was evaluated using the AquaCrop 6.0 model.Results and discussionIn this study, the AquaCrop model was used to simulate the yield of crops and the amount of water use in the region. The calibration of the AquaCrop model for regional conditions has demonstrated that the AquaCrop model is capable of predicting crop yield with the lowest relative error (RE) for wheat, barley, fodder corn, and alfalfa for the plains during the calibration phase of the simulation model. According to the levels of efficiency improvement in different regions and for different crops, it will lead to savings of 17.7 million cubic meters (5.9%) in the amount of allocated water consumption. This will can provide the possibility of supplying water to a larger area of land without reducing yield under water scarcity conditions. The outcomes of the scenario involving a change in planting date through AquaCrop model simulation demonstrated that this management pattern has the potential to reduce water consumption by 2.4 million cubic meters (0.8%) in the region. In addition, different levels of deficit irrigation can save 19.3 million cubic meters of water consumption.ConclusionThe obtained results show that in many cases, it is possible to provide without modern facilities and huge costs, applying different scenarios such as improving efficiency, changing planting dates and deficit irrigation has achieved significant savings in the required irrigation water consumption. Naturally, the share of each crop in the amount of savings is proportional to the average water consumption per hectare and the area of land under each crop. In general, the AcuCrop model can be used as a practical tool for simulating crop yield and evaluating management scenarios.
Original Article
River engineering
Iman Karimi Sarmeydani; Mohammad Heidarnejad; Aslan Egdernezhad
Abstract
Extend Abstract
Intouduction
Groynes at water intake locations significantly increase the flow diverted from rivers by optimizing incoming water control. Vaghefi and Ghodsian (2017) experimentally studied flow patterns around a T-shaped Groyne within a 90-degree arc using a moving bed. Shaker and Kashfipour ...
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Extend Abstract
Intouduction
Groynes at water intake locations significantly increase the flow diverted from rivers by optimizing incoming water control. Vaghefi and Ghodsian (2017) experimentally studied flow patterns around a T-shaped Groyne within a 90-degree arc using a moving bed. Shaker and Kashfipour (2013) compared flow velocity and shear stress distribution with and without Groynes. Behnam-Talab et al. (2018) simulated porous Groynes using FLOW-3D software. Shahinejad et al. (2022) applied a multi-objective algorithm to optimize T-shaped Groyne dimensions, achieving superior results, compared to previous designs. Zare and Honer (2016) investigated how simple Groynes reduce lateral erosion in river arches under laboratory conditions, emphasizing the influence of Groynes on erosion patterns. These studies collectively highlight the importance of Groyne design in enhancing water extraction and mitigating erosion.
The review of literatures confirms that both laboratory and numerical studies have been conducted to examine the characteristics of various types of Groynes and the impact of flow patterns on them. However, there is a lack of studies addressing the simultaneous application and comparison of numerical and data-driven models in the investigation of geometric and hydraulic characteristics, particularly concerning the effect on the amount of diverted discharge from a canal into intake featuring T-shaped and L-shaped Groynes. Consequently, this research aims to evaluate the performance of two MLMs, specifically SVM and GEP in comparison with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based FLOW-3D model, on a laboratory scale.
Materials and Methods
Groynes play a crucial role in river engineering by regulating river flow. This study assesses the efficacy of two machine learning algorithms—support vector machine (SVM) and gene expression programming (GEP)—in comparison with FLOW-3D software for simulating diverted flow in a laboratory setting. The experimental model was tested in a laboratory flume with T-shaped and L-shaped Groynes positioned at 90 and 135-degree angles to channel the discharge into the intake system. The machine learning models incorporated three independent variables: the flow Froude number, the angle of water intake, and the relative length of the Groynes. Out of 96 laboratory data points, 70% were allocated for model training and 30% for model testing. Model performance was assessed using the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and coefficient of determination (R²) indices.
Results and Discussion
The results indicated that the GEP model surpassed the SVM model. For the L-shaped Groyne, the values for (R², MAE, RMSE) during both the training and testing phases were (0.9325, 0.9878, 1.2536) and (0.9836, 0.4102, 0.6325), respectively. For the T-shaped Groyne, the corresponding values were (0.9025, 1.2534, 1.8502) during training and (0.9873, 0.3337, 0.4972) during testing. In the FLOW-3D model, after calibration and validation, a Manning's roughness coefficient of 0.035 and the Prandtl's mixing length model were chosen for turbulence simulation. The performance indices during the testing phase for the L-shaped and T-shaped Groynes were (0.9607, 0.9363, 1.2070) and (0.9513, 1.1256, 1.3759), respectively. The GEP model showed a relative advantage over the FLOW-3D model.
Concutions
This study compares the performance of MLMs (SVM, GEP) with FLOW-3D in simulating diverted flow using T-shaped and L-shaped Groynes. Results from laboratory flume tests showed GEP outperformed SVM and FLOW-3D, particularly in simulating flow diversion, evaluated by RMSE, MAE, and R² performance indices.
Original Article
Pressurized Irrigation Systems
Mohammad Joleini; Ardalan Zolfagharan
Abstract
Extended AbstractIntroductionRazavi Khorasan province is one of Khorasan provinces in northeastern of Iran, the center of this province is Mashhad. The area of this province is 118854 square kilometers. Due to having high evaporation potential and low rainfall, mostly associated with inappropriate distribution, ...
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Extended AbstractIntroductionRazavi Khorasan province is one of Khorasan provinces in northeastern of Iran, the center of this province is Mashhad. The area of this province is 118854 square kilometers. Due to having high evaporation potential and low rainfall, mostly associated with inappropriate distribution, this region is among the dry and semi-arid regions of our country, so that water is considered the most important factor limiting the development of agriculture. Nowadays, limitations in water resources has made it necessary to create ways to increase water productivity. This is a proof of the importance of careful planning and finding the use of different irrigation methods to increase water productivity in agricultural activities. Reviewing the sources indicated that the volume of water used in the cherry orchards varied in different regions and with different irrigation systems. This research aims to measure the volume of applied water, the yield, and the productivity of cherry under the management of farmers in three plains: Mashhad - Chenaran, Torghabe - Shandiz, and Nyshabor, and to compare the volume of applied water with the volume of water requirement of cherry mentioned in the national document and calculated by Penman- Monteith method using meteorological data.MethodologyThis project was carried out in the field in order to determine the optimum water requirement of cherry in the orchards under the management of farmers during one cropping season (2021). Three plains: Mashhad - Chenaran, Torghabe – Shandiz, and Nyshabor were selected in Razavi Khorasan province, these plains have the largest area under cherry cultivation in the province. Based on the data required to implement the project, a questionnaire containing necessary information and logical conclusion was prepared. The required data of the selected farms in each plain were either measured or gained through interviews with the farmer or were calculated and completed according to the data obtained. The measurements were carried out in type of water source, irrigation network, irrigation method, and water source discharge. The field and area under cultivation of cherry, variety, planting arrangement, planting date, soil texture, electrical conductivity of irrigation water and soil saturation extract, date of first irrigation, irrigation cycle, different irrigation methods, etc. The volume of applied water were compared with the net irrigation water requirement estimated by the Penman- Monteith method using the last 10 years meteorological data (2011 to 2021) and also with the national water document values. Crop yield was recorded at the end of the growing season and water productivity was calculated as the ratio of yield to total water (irrigation applied water and effective rainfall). Results and DiscussionIn Razavi Khorasan province, underground water sources are facing with deficit. Therefore, efforts towards better use water and reducing exploitation of underground water resources are inevitable. In this project, the water given by the farmers for cherry production during one cropping season was measured in three plains of Mashhad - Chenaran, Torghabe – Shandiz, and Nyshabor, without interfering farmer’s irrigation schedule; these plains had the largest area under cherry cultivation in Razavi Khorasan province. The method of irrigation of the fields was surface and drip irrigation. The results showed that the volume of applied water in Mashhad - Chenaran, Torghabe - Shandiz and Nyshabor plains were 7760, 7590 and 7740 m3/ha, respectively. The average amount of applied water, the amount of cherry yield and the water productivity in those plains were 7799 m3/ha, 7049 kg/ha and 0.907 kg/m3, respectively. Also, the average volume of irrigation water, yield, and productivity of water in the surface irrigation method were 8029 m3/ha, 6489 kg/ha, and 0.8013 kg/m3 respectively; for drip irrigation method the figures were 7638 m3/ha, 8439 kg/ha, and 0.972 kg/m3 respectively. ConclusionsThe results showed that the average volume of water, yield and water productivity in three plains were 7799 m3/ha, 7049 kg/ha, and 0.907 kg/m3 of water, respectively. The difference between the volume of applied water, performance and water efficiency in two methods of surface and drip irrigation was significant. Under the drip irrigation system, comparing to surface irrigation method, the volume of applied water was 5% less (7638 cubic meters per hectare versus 8029 cubic meters per hectare), the yield was 14% higher (7439 kg/ha versus 6489 kg/ha) and the water productivity was about 20% higher (0.972 kg/cubic meter of water versus 0.813 kg/cubic meter of water).