Field experiment and numerical simulation of point source irrigation with multiple tracers.

In English In this study, three plots in sandy soil in northern Tunisia were irrigated by a single irrigation dripper with a solution containing dye and bromide for three successive hours. Fifteen hours after ceasing of infiltration, horizontal 5 cm trenches were dug. Dye pattern, bromide concentration, and water content were recorded. Indication of preferential flow due to water repellency of initial dry soil was found during the early stages of infiltration. However no deep preferential flow occurred. This enables the use of drip irrigation to improve the sustainability of irrigation systems. Numerical simulation using Hydrus-2D was conducted for the field experiment. It was found that in both field experiments and numerical simulation the mobility of the bromide is different from the mobility of dye; the dye was retarded approximately twice by volume compared to bromide. The simulation results support the use of Hydrus-2D as a roughly, rapid and labor saving tool for investigation tracers’ mobility in sandy soil under point source irrigation.