JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

In this study, the values of moisture and soil temperature were estimated at different depths and times under unsteady conditions by solving the Richards’ equation in an explicit finite difference method provided in Visual Studio C#. For the estimation of soil hydraulic parameters, including a_v and n_v (coefficients of van Genuchten’s equation) and K_s (saturated hydraulic conductivity), soil moisture and temperature at different depths were measured by TDR probes and the stability apparatus, respectively. The objective function [equal to Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)] was minimized by the optimization of a parameter separately, using the Newton-Raphson method, while, the other parameters were considered as the constant values. Then, by replacing the optimized value of this parameter, the same was done for other parameters. The procedure of optimization was iterated until reaching minor changes to the objective function. The results showed that soil hydraulic parameters (coefficients of van Genuchten’s equation) could be optimized by using the SWCT (Soil Water Content and Temperature) model with measuring the soil water content at different depths and meteorological parameters including the  minimum and maximum temperature,, air vapor pressure, rainfall and solar radiation. Finally, the measured values of soil moisture and temperature were compared to the depth of 70cm in spring, summer, and autumn of 2015. The values of  the  normalized RMSE of soil water content were 0.090, 0.096 and 0.056 at the  soil depths of 5, 35 and 70 cm, respectively, while the values of the normalized RSME of soil temperatures were 2.000, 1.175 and 1.5 ^oC at these depths, respectively. In this research, the values of soil hydraulic parameters were compared with other previous models in a wider range of soil moisture varying from saturation to air dry condition, as more preferred in soil researches.

In the present paper, crop pattern criteria have been evaluated relying on sustainable development to increase agricultural water productivity. Seven criteria were selected as the main environmental and economic criteria and were prioritized and reviewed for important and strategic products in the Tajan catchment of Mazandaran province. Criteria prioritization was done using optimization through a genetic algorithm with an objective function based on sustainable development. Then, physical and economic productivity indices were calculated to determine the productivity value. Based on the results, in the selection of the crop pattern, firstly, the category of economic criteria and finally the category of environmental criteria have been given attention to the farmers in the current situation. But in the genetic optimization algorithm, all priorities have a similar order from the environmental point of view and then from the economic point of view although each product has its order of criteria. By this prioritization, the parameters of the cultivated area, the volume of water consumed, and the amount of chemical fertilizers have decreased on average by 26%, 34%, and 21%, respectively, and the parameters of product performance and profitability have increased by 43% and 61%, respectively. In addition to providing environmental standards and increasing sustainable development, this prioritization causes an average increase in physical productivity by 84% and an increase in economic productivity by 72%.