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Investigation of Wetting Front Propagation Dynamics Using Soil Impedance Measurements: Implications for Modelling and Irrigation Scheduling.

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Abstract

The authors propose a measurement method that divides the depth of the soil sample in discrete regions to investigate soil water propagation dynamics using soil impedance measurements. Experiments were conducted on a cylindrical phantom using a clay loam soil sample (60 % clay, 21 % loam and 19 % sand). The resulting impedance changes represent the wetting front (WF) propagation process at the different measurement depths. The measured impedance data is used to A) show graphically the wetting front propagation process, obtain B) a 1st order model, C) an ARX1821 model of the impedance change as a function of the irrigation volume applied and D) estimating changes in water content using a neural network. The results indicate that the proposed measurement technique can be used to detect and predict the movement of liquid trough the soil sample. The neural network permits inferring the water content from impedance and soil-water mixture temperature values. Changes in soil impedance in each segment, due to the water propagating downwards through the soil sample, can be used to study the dynamics of the wetting front, irrigation scheduling and model improvement from physical data.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from SEP/ DGEST and CONACYT to carry out this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónica, Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Avenida Tecnologico 1500 Col. Lomas de Santiaguito, 58120, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

    Jose Antonio Gutierrez Gnecchi, Arturo Mendez Patiño, Fernando Landeros Paramo & Adriana del Carmen Tellez Anguiano

  2. CINVESTAV/IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 2508 Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360, México, D.F, Mexico

    Daniel Lorias Espinoza

Authors
  1. Jose Antonio Gutierrez Gnecchi
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  2. Arturo Mendez Patiño
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  3. Fernando Landeros Paramo
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  4. Adriana del Carmen Tellez Anguiano
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  5. Daniel Lorias Espinoza
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Correspondence to Jose Antonio Gutierrez Gnecchi.

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Gutierrez Gnecchi, J.A., Mendez Patiño, A., Landeros Paramo, F. et al. Investigation of Wetting Front Propagation Dynamics Using Soil Impedance Measurements: Implications for Modelling and Irrigation Scheduling.. Water Resour Manage 29, 197–210 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0835-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0835-4

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