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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #58557
Title: MONITORING SOFTWARE FOR POLLUTANT COMPONENTS IN FURROW-IRRIGATION RUNOFF

Author
item LENTZ, RODRICK - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item Sojka, Robert

Submitted to: Workshop on Computer Applications in Water Management Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Non-point source pollution from furrow-irrigated agriculture threatens surface water quality throughout irrigated regions of the world. For example, sediment or dissolved chemicals contributed by irrigation return-flows can degrade habitats and increase user costs downstream. The threat from these pollutants has been fully appreciated only recently. Hence, there is increased need to monitor various component losses in furrow runoff. However, analysis of runoff data from furrow- irrigation is cumbersome and time consuming. It is awkward and tedious to plot or analyze constituent runoff data from single furrows, or from groups of furrows. Often, constituent concentrations in furrow runoff are not measured directly. Instead, a correlated indicator is measured, then related to actual constituent concentration values via a calibration function (e.g. a calibration function relating measured settled sediment volume to runoff sediment concentration). Calibration functions for each furrow group must be obtained and examined. The PASCAL program (WASHOUT) reads inflow and runoff data from a computer file, and automatically 1)derives and compares calibration functions for treatments or any other user-defined furrow group, 2) calculates infiltration, runoff, and component loss for each furrow, and 3) computes and plots group-averaged values for irrigation parameters as a function of irrigation duration. The program greatly reduces the time and labor required to analyze results from furrow irrigation studies. It provides advanced analytical capabilities and enhanced data display options.

Technical Abstract: Non-point source pollution from furrow-irrigated agriculture threatens surface water quality throughout irrigated regions of the world. For example, sediment or dissolved chemicals contributed by irrigation return-flows can degrade habitats and increase user costs downstream. The threat from these pollutants has been fully appreciated only recently, resulting in an increased interest in runoff monitoring. However, analysis of runoff data from furrow-irrigation is cumbersome and time consuming. Calibration functions relating measured quantities to desired water-component concentrations must be obtained for each treatment (e.g., a calibration function relating measured component volumes to runoff component concentration). It is awkward and tedious to plot or analyze constituent runoff data by treatment. The PASCAL program described here reads inflow and runoff data from an ASCII text file and derives, displays, and statistically compares calibration functions for treatments or any other user-defined furrow group. It employs the computed or a user-supplied function to calculate infiltration, runoff, and component loss for each furrow. In addition, the software computes and plots group-averaged values for inflow, outflow, infiltration, runoff constituent loss, and outflow constituent concentration as a function of irrigation duration.