SOFTWARE UTILIZING IMHOFF CONE VOLUMES TO ESTIMATE FURROW-IRRIGATION EROSION

Data analysis required for furrow irrigation induced erosion research is greatly facilitated with the aid of computational software. Several programs have been developed at Kimberly, Idaho, that compute infiltr ation, runoff, and sediment loss from the following inputs: inflow and runoff rates, sediment concentration in runoff determined by Imboff c ones, sampling times, furrow spacing, and row length. We found that mo re than one program type was required to meet various user needs. Two PC-based programs are presented for intense furrow monitoring, one emp loys spreadsheet software and the other is a PASCAL program. They prod uce accurate estimates and display output in formats suited to quantit ative evaluation or for further data reductions needed in research app lications, An HP-IIC band calculator program provides coarse diagnosti c information that can easily be used by farm advisors to assess poten tial severity of furrow erosion in farmer's fields. The software have been extensively tested and are reliable. They can be used to quantify any component of runoff removal.