In this study, a hydrodynamic model is presented for simulating basin
irrigation. An explicit, second-order-accurate finite-volume technique
is used for solving the two-dimensional governing equations of basin
irrigation. The empirical Kostiakov-Lewis infiltration equation is use
d for the calculation of infiltration. The model is validated using fi
eld data and numerical results available in the literature. The propos
ed model was used for simulating a basin irrigation event in an irregu
lar field with a high spot inside the computational domain. The result
ing numerical error was smaller than that produced by previous models
applied to the solution of this problem. The proposed model was also u
sed for studying the effect of basin shape on the time of advance and
to check the validity of one-dimensional how assumption when the inflo
w to the held is provided only through a part of the edge. In the case
of a rectangular field with a partial line inflow, the two-dimensiona
lity effects become significant when the ratio of inflow width to the
field width is less than a particular value. A simple subgrid techniqu
e was introduced to obtain a high grid resolution near the advancing f
ront and maintain a low computational cost.