ARS | Publication request: WinSRFR: Current Advances in Software for Surface Irrigation Simulation and Analysis

Submitted to: National Decennial Irrigation Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: December 5, 2010
Publication Date: December 5, 2010
Citation: Bautista, E., Strelkoff, T., Clemmens, A.J., Schlegel, J.L. 2010. WinSRFR: Current Advances in Software for Surface Irrigation Simulation and Analysis. National Decennial Irrigation Conference. Paper Number: IRR10-9642.

Interpretive Summary: Surface irrigation is the dominant method of agricultural water application. Since many of those systems exhibit poor performance, opportunities exist for conserving water through improved system design and operation. In addition, excess water that escapes from a field can contaminate fresh water supplies with salts, agrochemicals, and suspdended sediments. Models of the irrigation process can be used to predict irrigation performance and transport of pollutants beyond the field boundaries and to develop recommendations for improved design and management. This article reviews advances that have taken place over the last decade on the subject of surface irrigation modeling. The article includes a discussion of WinSRFR, an integrated modeling and analysis tool developed by ARS, and modeling of the surface flow coupled to transport processes. New simulation code is being developed for WinSRFR. The new modeling framework is needed to facilitate the integration of pollutant transport modeling componnents into a single application. This information is of interest to researchers and engineers interested in modeling water flows and transport processes in natural and man-made channels.

Technical Abstract: Significant advances have been made over the last decade in the development of software for surface irrigation analysis. WinSRFR is an integrated tool that combines unsteady flow simulation with tools for system evaluation/parameter estimation, system design, and for operational optimization. Ongoing efforts are focusing on coupling the simulation engine to physically-based inflitration modeling applications and adding modules for simulation of sediment and solute transport. The current and planned integration of these components have made evident the need to re-engineer the SRFR simulation engine and reevaluate some of its computational components. This paper briefly discusses WinSRFR and provides an overview of surface irrigation modeling advancements relevant to the WinSRFR project.