JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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The purpose of this study was to compare the physical and chemical characteristics of soils covered with vegetation and soils without vegetation in Dagh-e- Sorkh Ardestan area.To achieve the goal, first the vegetation was classified using physiognomic method, and for each vegetation type, the distinctive area was specified for soil and vegetation sampling. Vegetation sampling was done by stratified random sampling. Alongside pursuing the case, twenty two soil physical and chemical factors were investigated also for each growth type and area without vegetation. In the next step, to investigate the similarities and dissimilarities of the soils of desert areas by means of PC-ORD software, the cluster analysis was performe. After simplifying the one-way ANOVA, the most important soil factors which were effective in causing differences in the area’s soils were identified. Results show that the soils of area covered with vegetation differed much from the soils without vegetation physically in such a way that, the soil texture became heavier and gravel percentage became less in the areas without vegetation. Regarding the chemical characteristics, the frequencies of sodium, magnesium, calcium and chlorines and electrical conductivity were highly different. Because of topographic condition of land without vegetation, runoff is directed to this place and deposits salts there. Also, high groundwater level and capillary flowing salts are the important reasons for the salinity of this place. These are the limiting factors for the vegetation establishment in the desert areas of Ardestan.

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Direct measurement of discharge in rivers is time-consuming and costly, and sometimes, impossible under flood conditions because of the high speed of water, its transitory nature, and the existence of different floaters along the water. Therefore, the discharge-stage relation, known as Discharge Rating Curve is used. Moreover, to design hydraulic constructions, the maximum flood discharge and its maximum height are required. Therefore, to calculate the flood discharges, one should extend the discharge rating curve by using appropriate methods. In this study, in order to determine the best method for the extension of discharge-stage curve, and to estimate the corresponding discharge with high stages, the logarithmic method, the Manning method, the Chezy method, and the Area-Velocity method in 13 hydrometric stations at the Karkheh watershed in Lorestan province were compared. Data measured at each station were gathered for a ten-year statistical period. Results of calculating the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Mean Bias Error (MBE) for each method showed that the logarithmic method was more accurate than other methods, and it was more appropriate for the extension of the curve at the low average discharge stations. The Area-Velocity method, after the logarithmic method, especially at the stations with higher average discharge showed good results. The Manning and Chezy methods showed the least accuracy.

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Organic matters are the most important factors that affect soil compactability and physical characteristics. In order to study the effect of pistachio waste on physical characteristics of two soils, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in a greenhouse. The treatments included pistachio waste at 4 levels (0, 3, 6 and 9 w/w %) and two types of soil texture (silty clay loam and sand).The results showed that the bulk density of sandy soil was decreased at high levels of waste application before compaction but had no significant effect on the bulk density of clay soil. The penetration resistance of both soil types was decreased by pistachio waste application. Soil water holding capacity increased and moisture curves shifted up for higher levels of organic matter application, while compaction curve reciprocally shifted into the lower levels by incorporation of wastes into the soils. At higher levels of organic matters, maximum bulk density was decreased and critical moisture was increased specially in fine texture soil. After compaction, the application of pistachio waste significantly reduced penetration resistance in silty clay loam soil relative to control but in sandy soil its effect on penetration resistance was only significant at maximum level (9 %).

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In recent years, surface water resources in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province have decreased and groundwater level has fallen down. Thus, groundwater must be strengthened by surface water resources. The objective of this search was identification of artificial recharge sites thorough Fuzzy Logic in Shahrekord Basin. Effective factors in ground water recharge such as slope, infiltration rate, thickness of unsaturated zone, surface water EC, land use and stream network were determined. They were classified, weighted in software packages Arc View 3.2a and Arc GIS 9.3 and they were integrated using multiplying operator in fuzzy model. The obtained results showed 4.79 % of all areas are suitable and 17.94 % are somewhat suitable in this method. To include the effect of land use parameter, it was overlaid on the final maps, showing a decrease in suitable areas up to 1/3. Generally about 30 points were introduced with priorities A, B, AB as having potential for artificial recharge.

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Soil water characteristic curve shows the relationship between soil water content and matric suction, which has an important role in water movement in the soil. The measurement of this curve is expensive and time-consuming in laboratory therefore, many methods have been proposed for its estimation including pedotransfer functions. By using the pedotransfer functions, soil water characteristic curve can be estimated based on other easily measured soil physicochemical properties. Parametric pedotransfer functions have been offered for parameters of the existing soil water characteristic curve models. In this study, 12 internal and external parametric pedotransfer functions of Brooks and Corey, Campbell and van Genuchten models were used and evaluated for 30 top soil samples in Fars province. To this end, the soil water characteristic curve and other necessary soil properties were measured, and then all soils according to the texture were divided into three groups of fine, medium and course textures. The results showed that the parametric pedotransfer functions of van Genuchten model were better than the other models, beacause of the better fit of this model to the measured data. Also, the results demonstrated that the parametric pedotransfer functions of Wosten et al. were the most appropriate method for estimating the soil water characteristic curve for the selected soils in Fars province, and that internal pedotransfer functions were not appropriate

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Direct measurement of soil unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K(h) or K(θ)) is difficult and time-consuming, and often in many applied models, predicting hydraulic conductivity is carried out according to measurements of soil retention curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). However, using KS as a matching point in many procedures may result in over-estimation of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in dry regions. Therefore, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at inflection point of retention curve (Ki) and Ks was used as a matching point to predict K(h). For measurement of K(h), 30 soil samples were collected based on variety of soil texture (8 texture classes from sandy to clay) and other chemical and physical properties. In addition to Ks, K(θ) values of undisturbed samples were measured using multi-step outflow method at matric suctions of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 0.7, 1 bar and inflection point of retention curve by using hanging water column and pressure plate. Then, the measured K(h), and water diffusivity (D(θ)) values were compared to the predicted values of van Genuchten and Brooks and Corey models (with Mualem and Burdine constraint). The results showed that for 80% of the samples, the van Genuchten–Mualem model with Ki was the best model for predicting K(h) (i.e. using Ki as a matching point in the van Genuchten–Mualem model resulted in best fitting to measured data). Also, in 6.7 % of samples (two sandy clay samples), Brooks and Corey-Mualem model with Ki and in 13.3 % soil samples (2 silty clay and 2 silty clay loam samples), van Genouchten–Mualem model had a best fitting to K(h) measured data. Furthermore, in 20 % samples (4 clay loam, and 2 silt loam textures), the accuracy and efficiency of van Genuchten–Mualem with Ki and van Genuchten–Mualem models in predicting K(h) were almost similar. According to t-Student test, the mean of RMSE and GSDER of van Genuchten–Mualem model with Ki was significantly less than van Genuchten–Mualem model at P < 0.01. In 90 percent of samples, van Genuchten-Mualem and Brooks and Corey-Burdine theory had the best fitting to the measured data of water diffusivity, but in some cases van Genuchten-Burdine model with Ki was the best model for predicting D(θ).

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To evaluate the effect of nitrogen slowly released from pellet, composed of manure and urea fertilizer on the Nitrogen efficiency and morphological Characteristics and grain yield of corn hybrid (S.C704), a field experiment was carried out in Aboureihan research farm of Tehran University in 2009. The factorial design of the study comprised a randomized complete block with three replications. The application rates of N at four levels (46, 92, 138 and 184 kg N. ha-1) and two levels by methods of N distribution (pellet and mixed with soil) were applied. In this research, a Screw Extruder setup was designed and manufactured. Statistical analysis indicated that NUE, as well as agronomic efficiency (AE) was reduced while physiological efficiency (PE) increased with increasing N rates. Also, most plant length and stem diagonal and cob diagonal pellet belonged to the treatment. But, the number of leaves per plant did not affect the distribution method of fertilizer.The results showed significant differences among various rates of nitrogen and methods of N distribution considering grain yield and grain protein. The higher rates of N increased grain protein, grain yield and yield components (except for number of rows per ear). Maximum grain yield (11.1 t. ha-1) was obtained with 184 kg N. Ha-1 treatment.

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Direct measurement of soil hydraulic characteristics is costly and time-consuming. Also, the method is partly unreliable due to soil heterogeneity and laboratory errors. Instead, soil hydraulic characteristics can be predicted using readily available data such as soil texture and bulk density using pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Artificial neural networks (ANNs) and statistical regression are two methods which are used to develop PTFs. In this study, the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network and backward and stepwise regression models were used to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity using some soil characteristics including the percentage of particle size distribution, porosity, and bulk density. Data of 125 soil profiles were collected from the reports of basic soil science and land reclamation studies conducted by Khuzestan Water and Power Organization. The results showed that MLP neural network having Bayesian training algorithm with the greater coefficient of determination (R2=0.65) and the lower error (RMSE =0.04) had better performance than multiple linear regression model in predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity.

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Organic acids can affect phosphorus (P) sorption. In order to evaluate the effect of citric acid and oxalic acid on phosphorus sorption characteristics in calcareous soils, five different soil samples (0-30 cm) were collected in West Azerbaijan province. Soil samples (2.5 g) were equilibrated with solutions of KH2PO4 containing 0 to 20 mg P l-1. Five mM organic acids were added to each tube and sorbed P was calculated. The sorption data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich and linear equations. The results showed phosphorus sorption data were well described by the Freundlich and linear equations. The average values of Kf (distribution coefficient), n and equilibrium buffering capacity (EBC) of linear equation in citric acid treatment were reduced to 29, 12 and 17 percent, respectively and for oxalic acid reduced to 43, 27 and 14 percent, respectively. Maximum sorption was reduced significantly by oxalic as compared to citric acid. Standard phosphorus requirement (SPR) was decreased by 57 % as a result of organic acids additions compared to control condition. It is concluded that organic acids additions to soils containing more calcium carbonate and high amount of clay can decrease P sorption.

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This study was conducted on subsurface drainage network under operation in Behshahr. DRAINMOD model was used to simulate drainage system using measured data in 2006. The model was evaluated to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity by comparing the measured and predicted values of water table depth and drain discharge for different values of hydraulic conductivity. The results of this method were compared with the results of output drainage water method (as a baseline method). Use of water table depth simulation results in estimating hydraulic conductivity model resulted in considerable error, while the simulation results of drain discharge rate could be used with good accuracy for estimating it. There was a small difference between the output drainage water method and the inverse solution of DRAINMOD model to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity (2.3 and 2.5 cm/h, respectively). Thus, the comparison between the measured and predicted values of drain discharge could be a good criterion to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity using the inverse solution of the DRAINMOD model

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Climate situation changes over a year cause changes in some soil characteristics and soil sensitivity to erosion. Investigation of these changes and how they impact on erosion can be of particular importance. This study investigated changes in Sediment Productivity and soil factors affecting these changes in Tiregan rangeland located in Daregaz city in Khorasan Razavi province. In this study, using the position of the upper and lower hillside of eastern and western aspects, the sampling with rain simulator was performed. Characteristic features of sediment yield including runoff threshold, runoff volume, sediment and turbidity were measured. Soil samples were taken from each sample rain simulation and features of the initial moisture content, bulk density, electrical conductivity, pH and organic matter were measured. Sample was collected with the same intensity and duration of the instrument with fixed locations, and was repeated in four seasons. In order to obtain the position and orientation of each of the parameters in the data obtained at different seasons, the combined analysis of variance test was used. The effect of each of these parameters and the difference between them were evaluated using the Tukey test, and the graphs in 2007 Excel software were plotted. The results showed that all the parameters of sediment yield during the year have significantly changed. The maximum amount of sediment production rates occurred in autumn and was gradually reduced. Its decreasing in both winter and spring can be attributed to vegetation in the area.

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One of the usual ways to dissipate excess energy in the dam's downstream is hydraulic jump. Hydraulic jump is a rapidly varied flow, in which the flow conditions change from supercritical to sub-critical with a large amount of energy loss. In this research, a combination of two water jets in the form of overflow dam and underflow through a slot on the body of an ogee dam with the USBR standard was established in order to decrease the length and sequent depth in a hydraulic jump. In these experiments, the underflow from the slot was designed with three out passages of 0, 45, and 90 degrees in respect horizontal line. Six different discharge ratios were used for each slot and the effect of each experiment conditions on decreasing of the length and sequent depth of hydraulic jump was investigated. The results showed that the confluence of two jets with 45 degrees from the slot had the maximum effect on the reducing of the length of hydraulic jump and sequent depth, and when 26 percent of the total discharge passed through the slot as underflow, it caused the length of hydraulic jump to be reduced by 50 percent in comparison with the classic jump. This slot not only decreases the length and sequent depth of hydraulic jump but also the sediment behind the dam can be evacuated through it. Moreover, it increases the discharge coefficient.

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Soil characteristics are the most powerful factors in desertification phenomenon. The purpose of this study was investigating soil characteristics as indices for evaluating desertification intensity. The most important indicators of the soil that affect desertification were selected in the present study. Soil samples were taken from Segzi desert vicinity located in the east of Isfahan city with surface area of 112,167 ha. Soil indices such as Soil texture, soil gypsum percentage, the content of HCO3-1, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, the percentage of the organic matter, the content of the soil sodium, chloral and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) were selected. All of these indices were calculated on the thirty four soil samples. After ensuring of the normality of the samples by Klomogrov-Smirnov test, the mentioned indices were imported into GIS for delineating soil characteristics maps. To delineate distribution maps of each soil indice, inverse distance weighting and ordinary and discrete Kriging methods were applied, and appropriate method was selected. Each layer was scored based on MEDALUS model, and the final characteristic maps were then generated using soil geometric mean indices. Results showed that the affected areas of the average, severe and very severe classes of desertification were calculated about 66000, 45650 and 517 ha, respectively. The results also revealed that the indices of the organic matter, soil gypsum percentage, electrical conductivity and SAR were the most influential indicators, which affected desertification in the study area.

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Stage – discharge relationship is mainly developed from measured data in any hydrometry station. Measured data usually obtain in low to medium flow discharge, because in most cases it is very difficult to measure the flow discharge during flood. Therefore, the stage–discharge is extrapolated beyond the measured data to compute the flood which may estimate low or higher value. This is because during the high flow, the bed form is developed which causes the flow resistance to change. In order to establish a better stage – discharge relation, it is important to apply methods which consider the bed form resistance. In this study an attempt has been made to determine the best method for developing such relationship. To reach the goal, the required data such as river cross section, discharge and related stage and bed material gradation from Ghorbaghestan hydrometry station were measured for two years. Then a computer program was developed. Using this program and applying the measured data, the stage – discharge relationships were computed by five different methods. From the statistical comparison of the results of these methods with measured data, it was found that Shen, Brownlie, Engelund and White’s method overestimate the flow discharge. The best method was found to be the Einstein – Barbarossa’s method that provided the minimum absolute mean errors 0.31 and 1.468 m3/s and minimum root mean square error 0.112 and 0.466 m3/s for the two study years, respectively

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Hydraulic conductivity is an important parameter in the design of geotechnical structures such as earth dam, floor construction, retaining walls and environmental structures. In unsaturated soils, hydraulic conductivity is a function of moisture content and soil water suction i.e. soil moisture characteristic curve. In this study, the values of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in two soil types (Ramjerdi and Molasadra core dam series) at 5 different compactions using Gardner method were measured. Then, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was estimated by different models using the soil moisture characteristic curve and was compared with measured values. The results showed that Fredlund and Xing models predict the soil moisture characteristic curves more accurately compared with van Genuchten model. For Ramjerdi soil series and up to nearly 0.25 volumetric water content, (VGM) and (FM) models indicated a good estimation for unsaturated soil conductivity. Also, for Molasadra core dam none of the models resulted in acceptable estimations for unsaturated hydraulic conductivity.

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Drip irrigation is a new method of irrigation that is rapidly growing in different countries. The emitters are the most important parts of a drip irrigation system. Many factors such as physical, chemical and biological clogging, pressure, water temperature affect the emitter´s uniformity of water emission. In this study, to investigate pressure effect on the hydraulic performance of emitters, 7 kinds of compensating emitters in the market were selected and studied in laboratory conditions. For this purpose, a drip irrigation system was designed in irrigation laboratory in faculty of water sciences engineering, Shahid Charm University, Ahwaz. Average flow of emitters, Manufacturer´s coefficient of variation of emitter(CV), emission uniformity(EU), Christiansen coefficient of uniformity(CU) and Flow Variations for all types of emitters at pressures of 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters were calculated and compared. Also, in order to compare the pressure compensating capacity, for every emitter the equation of Flow- pressure was extracted. Results showed that the D-type emitter has the best hydraulic performance from among the emitters tested. Therefore, to achieve higher efficiency and also to use it on slopes and uneven lands this emitter is recommended as the best. However, performances of other emitters are also acceptable.

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Floor intake is one of the best options for diverting mountain rivers' flow. Determination of discharge diverted in different conditions of flow in main channel is one of the main objectives for intake under rack floor condition. Gradient and shape of grid rod floor can affect the discharge deviated. In this experiment, placement and gradient of grid rods and also their effects on the discharge coefficient and hydraulic parameters were investigated. For this purpose, a physical model made of glass with variable gradient was used for the main channel. To conduct and measure the discharge diverted, a sub-channel 8 meters away from the entrance of main channel was installed below the main channel. Length and width of intake entrance were 10 and 50 cm, respectively. At the entrance of intake a longitudinal grid with four different rod diameters, constant-space passing, and four different gradients were used. Meanwhile, for the investigation of flow rate four discharges were used. The results showed that intake discharge coefficient was increased with an increase in diameter of grid rod floor, reduction in floor gradient, and increasing of depth in the upstream network. In all cases, increasing the Froude number resulted in an increase in the intake discharge coefficient in the upstream network

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As increasing of disaster such as drought and pest invasion in recent decades, it is essential to find out practical approaches in optimizing water use and water management for reduce the adverse effects of this disaster in agriculture. In order to study the effects of water stress and pest stress on corn yield, an experiment was conducted in the research farm of Isfahan University of Technology. In sprayed and non sprayed of the field, a factorial design, based on the completely randomized block, was carried out with three treatments of irrigation regimes including intensive stress (50% water requirement), moderate stress (75% water requirement) and no water stress in four stages of corn growth from seed germination until tasseling, from tasseling until milky, from milky until harvest and the whole period of corn growth, in four replications for one year (2005). The results showed that applying water stress on corn reduced seed yield between 6-62% and also decreased other agronomic characters except protein percentage. Water stress in non sprayed condition, reduced significantly more physiological characteristics of corn compared to the sprayed condition. Intensive water stress and pests stresses increasd 3 and 13% of percentage protein, respectively. In sprayed condition applying moderate stress in first stages of corn until the first of third stage is suggested in drought condition.

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The occurrence trend of floods in recent years shows that the most of Iran regions located in attacks of destructive floods and loss of life and property of flood damages is increasing. Watershed management practices (WMPs) are one of the superior and appropriate solutions for flood hazards mitigation. The impact of WMPs can be investigated using different approaches. In this study, the direct impact of WMPs was investigated using quantitative evaluation of flood characteristics for two periods, pre and post periods of measures implementation. Therefore, daily hydrograph of investigated periods and the results of flood analyses including number of floods occurrence, flood frequency percent in the different months and seasons were determined in Hajighoshan and Tamar hydrometery stations. Also, the mean continuing, rise and subsidence time of floods and maximum peak discharge of observed floods were investigated. The research results showed that the occurrence trend of floods had relatively increased. The number of floods has increased in post periods of measures implementation in two hydrometery stations, while WMPs effect on all flood characteristics were positive, as the continuing time of floods has increased with 0.5%, rise and subsidence time of floods and maximum peak discharge of floods have decreased with 7.9%, 21.98% and 70%, respectively. Totally, if WMPs volume pre watershed area isn't low, WMPs effect on flood characteristics will be positive.

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  Prediction of sediment load transported by rivers is a crucial step in the management of rivers, reservoirs and hydraulic projects. In the present study, in order to predict the suspended sediment of Taleghan river by using artificial neural

network, and recognize the best ANN with the highest accuracy, 500 daily data series of flow discharge on the present day, flow discharge on the past day, flow depth and hydrograph condition (respectively with the average of 13.83 (m³/s), 15.42 (m³/s), 89.83 (cm) and -0.036) as input variables, and 500 daily data series of suspended sediment, as the output of the model were used. The data was related to the period of 1984-2005. 80 different neural networks were developed using different combinations of variables and also changing the number of hidden-layer neurons and threshold functions. The accuracy of the models was then compared by R² and RMSE. Results showed that the neural network with 3-9-1 structure and input parameters of flow discharge on the present day, flow discharge on the past day and flow depth was superior (R²= 0.97 and RMSE= 0.068) compared to the other structures. The average of the observed data of sediment and that predicted by the optimal model (related to test step) were 1122.802 and 1184.924 (tons per day), respectively.