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Lecture 9

The document discusses soil physical properties and soil moisture relationships. It defines key concepts like field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water, and soil moisture tension. It provides examples and formulas to calculate irrigation scheduling based on soil properties and crop water usage.

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monirul islam
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14 views

Lecture 9

The document discusses soil physical properties and soil moisture relationships. It defines key concepts like field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water, and soil moisture tension. It provides examples and formulas to calculate irrigation scheduling based on soil properties and crop water usage.

Uploaded by

monirul islam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LECTURE 9

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL,


SOIL MOISTURE RELATIONSHIP
By
SUMAIYA JARIN AHAMMED
Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering
IUBAT – International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
Introduction

Irrigation may be defined as the


application of water to soil for the
purpose of supplying moisture essential
for plant growth.
Root zone (depth of soil penetrated by
roots) soil provides the storage reservoir
which needs to be periodically
recharged.

Schematic diagram of the sub-processes linked to field irrigation system


Volume of mass relationships of soil constituents:
Soil Classification and Soil physical
properties
Classes and availability of soil water:

■ a) Gravitational water: Water moves freely in response to gravity.


■ b) Capillary water: Water held by surface tension in the pore spaces.
■ c) Hygroscopic water: Water held tightly to the surface of the grains by adsorption.
Field Capacity (FC) and Permanent Wilting Point
(PWP):
Field Capacity (FC)
■ The water content of the soil when gravitational water has been removed
■ It represents the upper limit of available soil water range
■ It is determined two days after an irrigation or thorough wetting. Limitations are:
restricting layers, high water table, surface evaporation, consumptive use by crops
Permanent Wilting Point (PWP):
■ The moisture content at which plants permanently wilt
■ Wilting depends on the rate of water use, depth of root zone and water holding capacity
of soil
■ It is the lower end of available moisture range
■ Water content corresponding to soil-moisture tension of 15 atm
■ As an approximation, PWP can be estimated from:
PWT = FC/(2 to 2.4)
Fig: Classes and soil-water availability to plants and drainage characteristics
Available Water (AW):
The difference of water content of the soil between field capacity and permanent wilting point

AW = FC – PWP

■ It represents the moisture which can be stored in the soil for subsequent use by plants
■ The moisture near the wilting point is not readily available to the plant. The portion of the
available moisture which is most easily extracted by plants is termed as readily available
moisture.
■ Irrigation water should be supplied as soon as the moisture falls upto optimum level. The
optimum level represents the maximum deficiency upto which the soil moisture may be
allowed without any fall in crop yields.
■ The amount of irrigation should be just enough to bring the moisture content upto its field
capacity making allowance for application losses
Soil moisture content
Soil moisture tension
■ In saturated soils, water is held in the
soil matrix under negative pressure
due to attraction of the soil matrix for
water
■ Instead of referring to this negative
pressure the water is said to be
subjected to a tension exerted by the
soil matrix
■ The tension with which the water is
held in unsaturated soil is termed as
soil-moisture tension, soil-moisture
suction. It is usually expressed in
atmospheres, the average air pressure
at sea level. Other pressure units like
cm of water or cm or mm of mercury
are also often used.
■ (1 atmosphere = 1023 cm of water =
76 cm Hg)
Fig: Typical curves of soil moisture variation with tension
Practice work
1. After how many days will you supply water to soil in
order to ensure sufficient irrigation of the given crop,
if field capacity of the soil is 28%, permanent wilting
point is 13%, dry density of soil is 1.3 gm/c.c.,
effective depth of root zone is 70 cm and daily
consumptive use of water for the given crop is 12 mm.
Solution
We know,
AW = FC- PWP = (28-13)% = 15% .
Assume Readily available moisture = 80% of AW = 0.8 X 15% = 12%.
So, optimum moisture = (28 – 12 )% = 16%
So, depth of water store in root zone within the limit 28% to 16%
= {dry density of soil X effective depth of root zone X( 28% - 16%)}/density of water
=[{1.3 X 0.7 (0 .28 -0 .16t)}/1 ] m = 0.1092m = 10.92 cm ( available water for ET)
As, 1.2 cm water utilized for 1 day
10.92 cm water utilized for 1X 10.92/1.2 = 9.1 days ; Say 9 days.
So after 9 days water to be supplied to the given crops . Ans.
Practice work
2. After how many days will you supply water to soil in order to
ensure sufficient irrigation of the given crop, if field capacity of
the soil is 30%, permanent wilting point is 15%, dry density of
soil is 1.3 gm/c.c., effective depth of root zone is 75 cm and daily
consumptive use of water for the given crop is 13 mm.

Do By Yourself
THANKS

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