SIMULATION OF SOIL-MOISTURE DYNAMICS ON IRRIGATED COTTON IN SEMIARID CLIMATES

A simulation study of the soil moisture under cotton was carried out i n two areas of Central and North Greece during the 1990 and 1994 growi ng periods. The soil moisture dynamics were evaluated using a one-dime nsional model based on the Galerkin finite element method. The model w as applied to simulate the state of a cotton crop-soil system under dy namic environmental conditions and irrigation schedules in the two are as. Three different cases of maximum extraction rate were examined. Th e simulated results were compared with available measurements of water content at different depths in the soil. The qualitative and quantita tive procedures for model evaluation showed that there was a good agre ement between the simulated and the measured values of water content a t different depths of soil. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.