Using the dual approach of FAO-56 for partitioning ET into soil and plant components for olive orchards in a semi-arid region

The main goal of this research was to evaluate the potential of the dual approach of FAO-56 for estimating actual crop evapotranspiration (AET) and its components (crop transpiration and soil evaporation) of an olive (Olea europaea L.) orchard in the semi-arid region of Tensift-basin (central of Morocco). Two years (2003 and 2004) of continuous measurements of AET with the eddy-covariance technique were used to test the performance of the model. The results showed that, by using the local values of basal crop coefficients, the approach simulates reasonably well AET over two growing seasons. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between measured and simulated AET values during 2003 and 2004 were respectively about 0.54 and 0.71 mm per day. The basal crop coefficient (K_cb) value obtained for the olive orchard was similar in both seasons with an average of 0.54. This value was lower than that suggested by the FAO-56 (0.62). Similarly, the single approach of FAO-56 has been tested in the previous work (Er-Raki et al., 2008) over the same study site and it has been shown that this approach also simulates correctly AET when using the local crop coefficient and under no stress conditions.Since the dual approach predicts separately soil evaporation and plant transpiration, an attempt was made to compare the simulated components of AET with measurements obtained through a combination of eddy covariance and scaled-up sap flow measurements. The results showed that the model gives an acceptable estimate of plant transpiration and soil evaporation. The associated RMSE of plant transpiration and soil evaporation were 0.59 and 0.73 mm per day, respectively.Additionally, the irrigation efficiency was investigated by comparing the irrigation scheduling design used by the farmer to those recommended by the FAO model. It was found that although the amount of irrigation applied by the farmer (800 mm) during the growing season of olives was twice that recommended one by the FAO model (411 mm), the vegetation suffered from water stress during the summer. Such behaviour can be explained by inadequate distribution of irrigation. Consequently, the FAO model can be considered as a potentially useful tool for planning irrigation schedules on an operational basis.     

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of spring maize with plastic mulch using eddy covariance in northwest China

Spring maize under plastic mulch is the staple food crop in northwest China. Studying its evapotranspiration (ET) and crop coefficient (K_c) is important for managing water-saving irrigation in the region. Eddy covariance (EC) was applied to measure spring maize ET in 2007 in northwest China, focusing on the characteristics of the maize ET and K_c processes under plastic mulch. An interesting result was that a higher K_c in this study relative to the value of FAO 56 was presented in the mid and late season, e.g. average K_c was 1.46, 1.39 and 1.22 during the heading, filling and maturity stage, respectively. This result was mainly due to that (1) the plastic mulch had an effect on anti-senescence of maize and great green leaf still existed before the harvest; (2) the FAO 56 PM model may underestimate the reference crop ET in the mid and late season of maize in the region; (3) the planting density was higher in the study, which was about 374,800 plants ha⁻¹. Though K_c during the mid and late season was high, a high water use efficiency of 25.2 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ was still obtained in the study. Our study confirmed that plastic mulch has beneficial effect on improving maize water use efficiency in this severe water shortage region of northwest China.     

Quantifying reductions in consumptive water use under regulated deficit irrigation in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

The reduction in agricultural water use in areas of scarce supplies can release significant amounts of water for other uses. As improvements in irrigation systems and management have been widely adopted by fruit tree growers already, there is a need to explore the potential for reducing irrigation requirements via deficit irrigation (DI). It is also important to quantify to what extent the reduction in applied water through DI is translated into net water savings via tree evapotranspiration (ET) reduction. An experiment was conducted in a commercial pistachio orchard in Madera, CA, where a regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) program was applied to a 32.3-ha block, while another block of the same size was fully irrigated (FI). Four trees were instrumented with six neutron probe access tubes each, in the two treatments and the soil water balance method was used to determine tree ET. Seasonal irrigation water in FI, applied through a full-coverage microsprinkler system, amounted to 842 mm, while only 669 mm were applied in RDI. Seasonal ET in FI was 1024 mm, of which 308 mm were computed as evaporation from soil (E_s). In RDI, seasonal ET was reduced to 784 mm with 288 mm as Es. The reduction in applied water during the deficit period amounted to 147 mm. The ET of RDI during the deficit period was also reduced relative to that of FI by 133 mm, which represented 33% of the ET of FI during the deficit irrigation period. There was an additional ET reduction in RDI of about 100 mm that occurred in the post-deficit period.     

Seasonal and interannual variations in water vapor exchange and surface water balance over a grazed steppe in central Mongolia

This study explored the seasonal and interannual variation in water vapor exchange and surface water balance over a grazed steppe in central Mongolia through analysis of 4 years (2003-2006) of flux data obtained via the eddy covariance method. Annual precipitation (PPT) in 2003 measured 239 mm which is 32% above the 10-year (1983-2002) average of 181 mm. By contrast, PPT for the other 3 years of the study fell below the 10-year average, measuring 159 mm in 2004, 110 mm in 2005, and 119 mm in 2006. The annual evapotranspiration (ET) for each of the study years measured 156, 160, 153, and 101 mm, respectively, and the peak value of ET during the growing season varied from 2.2 to 3.2 mm d⁻¹. At the study site, the ratio of ET to the equilibrium ET (ET_eq) was usually lower than 0.5 during the growing season, which reflects the significant effect of water shortage on ET. The large seasonal variation in canopy surface conductance (g_s), caused by variation in soil water content (SWC) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), was the major factor affecting ET. The annual ET/PPT was 0.65 in 2003, 1.01 in 2004, 1.39 in 2005, and 0.85 in 2006. The stored soil water (especially at a depth of 0-30 cm) resulting from autumnal precipitation of the previous year remained frozen for about 5 months, from winter through early spring. This stored water had a considerable effect on plant growth during the following spring. For the central Mongolian steppe, there was a high correlation between the mean normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and total precipitation during the growing season (May-September) as well as during the preceding 9 months (August-April). This correlation reflects the important contribution of precipitation input and stored soil water during the previous year to ET.     

Evaluating eddy covariance method by large-scale weighing lysimeter in a maize field of northwest China

Accurate determination of evapotranspiration (ET) is useful to develop precise irrigation scheduling. Although eddy covariance (EC) is a direct method which is widely used to measure ET, its performance in arid region of northwest China is not clear. In this study, ET measured by EC (ET_EC) was compared with that by large-scale weighing lysimeter (ET_L) during the whole growing season of maize in 2009. Energy balance ratio was 0.84 for daytime fluxes, indicating that lack of energy balance closure occurred, so daytime ET_EC was adjusted by Bowen-ratio forced closure method. Compared to the corresponding ET_L, half-hourly daytime ET_EC was underestimated by 21.8% without the adjustment and 4.8% with the adjustment. Furthermore, nighttime ET_EC was adjusted using filtering/interpolation method. Mean error between half-hourly nighttime ET_EC and ET_L decreased from 30.2% without the adjustment to 10.3% with the adjustment. After such adjustment of day and night measurements, daily ET_EC was underestimated by 6.2% compared to ET_L. These results indicated that the adjusted ET_EC well matched with the ET_L. Moreover, the discrepancy of adjusted total ET_EC and ET_L was decreased to 3.2% after subtracting the overestimated ET by lysimeter resulting from irrigation and heavy rainfall events. Thus, after appropriate adjustments of observations, eddy covariance method is accurate in estimating maize ET in the arid region of northwest China.     

冬小麦蒸发系数变化规律研究

作物蒸发蒸腾量(ET)是进行合理灌溉和水资源配置的重要依据。为了更方便地估算作物蒸发蒸腾量,以大型称重式蒸渗仪实测的冬小麦蒸发蒸腾量(ET)为依据,分析了水面蒸发量(E0)与实测蒸发蒸腾量(ET)的相关性,并研究了蒸发系数的变化规律。结果表明:水面蒸发量(E0)和蒸渗仪实测值(ET)呈线性关系,冬小麦全生育期内二者的相关系数R2=0.7708,蒸发系数α=1.37。在冬小麦的整个生育期内α先是由大变小,接着再增大直到在抽穗—灌浆期达到最大值,之后再慢慢减小。     

Improvement of FAO-56 method for olive orchards through sequential assimilation of thermal infrared-based estimates of ET

The aim of this study is to use the FAO-56-based single crop coefficient approach to estimate actual evapotranspiration (AET) of an olive (Olea europaea L.) orchard in the Mediterranean semi arid region of Tensift-basin (central Morocco) during two consecutive growing seasons (2003 and 2004). The results showed that using crop coefficients K_c suggested by FAO-56 method yielded an AET overestimation by about 18% when compared against eddy covariance measurements. Therefore, the determination of appropriate K_c values is required to accurately estimate crop water requirement of olive orchards in such water scarce area.In this study, after applying the K_c values derived over olive orchard in Spain by Pastor and Orgaz [Pastor, M., Orgaz, F., 1994. Riego deficitario del olivar: los programas de recorte de riego en olivar. Agricultura 746, 768-776 (in Spanish)], a better agreement was observed between measured and simulated AET. The root mean square error (RMSE) was reduced by about 28%, from 0.80 to 0.61 mm/day for 2003 and from 0.93 to 0.69 mm/day for 2004. The used K_c values of olives at three crop growth stages (initial, mid-season and maturity) were 0.65, 0.45, and 0.65, respectively, the mid-season stage value being considerably lower than that suggested by the FAO-56.Despite these improvements in the performance of AET simulations, some discrepancies between measured and simulated AET remained, especially when water stress occurred. These discrepancies were ascribed to the estimation of the stress coefficient K_c To overcome this problem, we assimilated into FAO-56 single source model estimates of AET derived from a simple energy balance model along with thermal infrared observations. The latter were collected with the ASTER sensor in 2003 and from ground-based measurements in 2004. The results showed a clear improvement for FAO-56 performances after assimilation: for 2003 and 2004, the RMSE values between observations and simulations, respectively, dropped down from 0.61 to 0.52 and from 0.69 to 0.46 (corresponding to relative reductions of 15 and 40%, respectively).     

Vineyard evaporative fraction based on eddy covariance in an arid desert region of Northwest China

Studying farmland evaporative fraction (EF) plays an important role in interpreting the components of energy budget and evapotranspiration (ET). The present study examines the pattern of vineyard EF after monitoring energy components by eddy covariance for 2 years, and estimates the crop ET by EF in the arid desert region of Northwest China. Main results indicate that EF during daytime is nearly constant on sunny days when the available energy exceeds 200 W m⁻², but EF becomes relatively unsteady when the available energy is lower than 200 W m⁻². Furthermore, daytime average EF is relatively low in the early growth stage, nearly constant in the mid-later stage, and significantly reduced in the later stage; Moreover, mean EF in different periods of daytime is in good agreement with daytime average EF, mean EF during 10:00–15:00 h is relatively close to daytime average EF and mean EF during 14:00–15:00 h is approximately equal to daytime average EF. The estimated daytime ET from mean EF during 14:00–15:00 h is highly correlated to the measured ET by Bowen ratio-energy balance though the value is partially underestimated. This study demonstrated that daytime ET can be estimated from midday EF and the relationship can be used to guide irrigation practice in the arid region.     

Crop coefficient, yield response to water stress and water productivity of teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.)

In the semi-arid region of Tigray, Northen Ethiopia a two season experiment was conducted to measure evapotranspiration, estimate yield response to water stress and derive the crop coefficient of teff using the single crop coefficient approach with simple, locally made lysimeters and field plots. During the experiment we also estimated the water productivity of teff taking into account long-term rainfall probability scenarios and different levels of farmers’ skills. During the experimental seasons (2008 and 2009), the average potential evapotranspiration of teff ranged from 260 to 317 mm. The total seasonal water requirement of teff was found to lower in contrast to the assumptions of regional agronomists that teff water requirement is comparable to that of wheat and barley (375 mm). The average single crop coefficient values (k_c) for the initial, mid and late season stages of teff were 0.8-1, 0.95-1.1 and 0.4-0.5, respectively. The seasonal yield response to water stress was 1.04, which indicates that teff exhibits a moderately sensitive and linear response to water stress. The results suggest that teff is likely to give significantly higher grain yield when a nearly optimal water supply is provided. The study showed that, in locations where standard equipment is not affordably available, indicative (rough) crop evapotranspiration values can be obtained by using field plots and employing locally made lysimeters. The difference in economic water productivity (EWP) and the crop water productivity (CWP) for teff were assessed under very wet, wet, normal, dry and very dry scenarios. In addition two groups of farmers were evaluated, a moderately (I) and a highly skilled (II) group. The results showed that higher EWP and CWP were obtained under very wet scenario than very dry scenario. There was also a 22% increase in EWP and CWP under group II compared to group I farmers. The increase was due to a 22% reduction in unwanted water losses achieved through use of improved technology and better irrigation skills. Both EWP and CWP can be used to evaluate the pond irrigation water productivity (IWP) for a given climate, crop and soil type, and skill and technology level of the farmer. For special crops like teff extra criteria may be needed in order to properly evaluate the pond irrigation water productivity. During the experimental seasons, a high IWP for teff was attained when about 90% of the optimal water need of the crop was met. IWP can be used as an indicator as how much supplementary irrigation has to be applied in relation to the rainfall and other sources of water supply in order to assure greatest yield from a total area. However, the supplemental irrigation requirement of the crops may vary with season due to seasonal rainfall variability.     

Comparisons of energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice fields in the Philippines

The seasonal and annual variability of sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (LE), evapotranspiration (ET), crop coefficient (K_c) and crop water productivity (WP_ET) were investigated under two different rice environments, flooded and aerobic soil conditions, using the eddy covariance (EC) technique during 2008-2009 cropping periods. Since we had only one EC system for monitoring two rice environments, we had to move the system from one location to the other every week. In total, we had to gap-fill an average of 50-60% of the missing weekly data as well as those values rejected by the quality control tests in each rice field in all four cropping seasons. Although the EC method provides a direct measurement of LE, which is the energy used for ET, we needed to correct the values of H and LE to close the energy balance using the Bowen ratio closure method before we used LE to estimate ET. On average, the energy balance closure before correction was 0.72 ± 0.06 and it increased to 0.99 ± 0.01 after correction. The G in both flooded and aerobic fields was very low. Likewise, the energy involved in miscellaneous processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and heat storage in the rice canopy was not taken into consideration.Average for four cropping seasons, flooded rice fields had 19% more LE than aerobic fields whereas aerobic rice fields had 45% more H than flooded fields. This resulted in a lower Bowen ratio in flooded fields (0.14 ± 0.03) than in aerobic fields (0.24 ± 0.01). For our study sites, evapotranspiration was primarily controlled by net radiation. The aerobic rice fields had lower growing season ET rates (3.81 ± 0.21 mm d⁻¹) than the flooded rice fields (4.29 ± 0.23 mm d⁻¹), most probably due to the absence of ponded water and lower leaf area index of aerobic rice. Likewise, the crop coefficient, K_c, of aerobic rice was significantly lower than that of flooded rice. For aerobic rice, K_c values were 0.95 ± 0.01 for the vegetative stage, 1.00 ± 0.01 for the reproductive stage, 0.97 ± 0.04 for the ripening stage and 0.88 ± 0.03 for the fallow period, whereas, for flooded rice, K_c values were 1.04 ± 0.04 for the vegetative stage, 1.11 ± 0.05 for the reproductive stage, 1.04 ± 0.05 for the ripening stage and 0.93 ± 0.06 for the fallow period. The average annual ET was 1301 mm for aerobic rice and 1440 mm for flooded rice. This corresponds to about 11% lower total evapotranspiration in aerobic fields than in flooded fields. However, the crop water productivity (WP_ET) of aerobic rice (0.42 ± 0.03 g grain kg⁻¹ water) was significantly lower than that of flooded rice (1.26 ± 0.26 g grain kg⁻¹ water) because the grain yields of aerobic rice were very low since they were subjected to water stress.The results of this investigation showed significant differences in energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice ecosystems. Aerobic rice is one of the promising water-saving technologies being developed to lower the water requirements of the rice crop to address the issues of water scarcity. This information should be taken into consideration in evaluating alternative water-saving technologies for environmentally sustainable rice production systems.     

Crop rotations in Argentina: Analysis of water balance and yield using crop models

Cropping schemes have developed in east-central Argentina for rainfed soybean (Glycine max Merr.) production that invariably employ no-tillage management. Often these schemes include growing soybean in a sequence of crops including wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.). The full impact of various rotation schemes on soil water balance through a sequence of seasons has not been explored, although the value of these rotations has been studied experimentally. The objective of this work was to investigate through simulations, potential differences in temporal soil water status among rotations over five years. In this study, mechanistic models of soybean (Soy), maize (Maz), and wheat (Wht) were linked over a five-years period at Marcos Juárez, Argentina to simulate soil water status, crop growth, and yield of four no-till rotations (Soy/Soy, Soy/Wht, Soy/Maz, and Soy/Maz/Wht). Published data on sowing dates and initial soil water contents in the first year from a no-till rotation experiment were used as inputs to the model. After the first year, soil water status output from the model was used to initiate the next crop simulation in the sequence. The results of these simulations indicated a positive impact on soil water balance resulting from crop residue on the soil surface under no-till management. Continuous soybean and the two-year soybean/maize rotation did not efficiently use the available water from rainfall. Residue from maize was simulated to be especially effective in suppressing soil evaporation. Thus, the Soy/Maz simulation results indicated that this rotation resulted in enhanced soil water retention, increased deep water percolation, and increased soybean yields compared with continuous soybean crops. The simulated results matched well with experimental observations. The three-crop rotation of Soy/Maz/Wht did not increase simulated soybean yields, but the additional water retained as a result of decreased soil evaporation resulting from the maize residue allowed the addition of a wheat crop in this two-year rotation. Simulated soybean yields were poorly correlated with both the amount of soil water at sowing and the rainfall during the cropping period. These results highlight the importance of temporal distribution of rainfall on final yield. These models proved a valuable tool for assessing the consequences of various rotation schemes now being employed in Argentina on temporal soil water status, and ultimately crop yield.     

Estimation of water consumption and crop water productivity of winter wheat in North China Plain using remote sensing technology

The North China Plain (NCP) is one of the most water stressed areas in the world. The water consumption of winter wheat accounts for more than 50% of the total water consumption in this region. An accurate estimate of the evapotranspiration (ET) and crop water productivity (CWP) at regional scale is therefore key to the practice of water-saving agriculture in NCP. In this research, the ET and CWP of winter wheat in 83 counties during October 2003 to June 2004 in NCP were estimated using the remote sensing data. The daily ET was calculated using SEBAL model with NOAA remote sensing data in 17 non-cloud days whereas the reference daily crop ET was estimated using meteorological data based on Hargreaves approach. The daily ET and the total ET over the entire growing season of winter wheat were obtained using crop coefficient interpolation approach. The calculated average and maximum water consumption of winter wheat in these 83 counties were 424 and 475 mm, respectively. The calculated daily ET from SEBAL model showed good match with the observed data collected in a Lysimeter. The error of ET estimation over the entire growing stage of winter wheat was approximately 4.3%. The highest CWP across this region was 1.67 kg m⁻³, and the lowest was less than 0.5 kg m⁻³. We observed a close linear relationship between CWP and yield. We also observed that the continuing increase of ET leads to a peaking and subsequent decline of CWP, which suggests that the higher water consumption does not necessarily lead to a higher yield.     

不同沟灌方式下夏玉米棵间蒸发试验

采用常规沟灌和交替隔沟灌技术,研究了不同水分处理(水分控制下限为田间持水率的80%、70%、60%)夏玉米的棵间蒸发。结果表明:常规沟灌的灌后蒸发和全生育期棵间蒸发量均大于交替隔沟灌,灌水后短期内由于表层土壤含水率较高,土壤蒸发较大;在满足作物蒸腾耗水的基础上,交替隔沟灌减小了灌溉湿润面积而减小无效蒸发耗水;不同沟灌方式下土壤蒸发与表层土壤含水率呈明显的脉冲波动变化,而深层土壤含水率波动较弱;表层土壤含水率和叶面积指数对棵间蒸发影响明显,二者与相对土面蒸发强度均有良好的指数函数关系。水分下限控制合适,交替隔沟灌棵间蒸发与蒸腾耗水明显降低,是夏玉米适宜的灌水方式。     

季节性冻融期不同潜水位埋深下土壤蒸发规律模拟研究

为了揭示季节性冻融期不同潜水位埋深和土壤质地对土壤蒸发的影响,通过连续2个冻融期的蒸渗计土壤剖面含水率和土壤温度的监测,利用水热耦合运移模型模拟研究了4种不同潜水位埋深(0.5、1.0、1.5、2.0 m)下砂壤土和壤砂土的土壤蒸发规律。结果表明:不稳定冻结阶段和消融解冻阶段地表土壤均出现昼融夜冻的特征,土壤液态水分较多,砂壤土和壤砂土蒸发量分别占整个冻融期的91.7%和81.8%以上。稳定冻结阶段的土壤蒸发量随着潜水位埋深的增加而增大,但小于0.31 mm。潜水位埋深为0.5 m时冻融期土壤蒸发量最大,砂壤土和壤砂土分别为47.28 mm和25.60 mm,随着潜水位埋深的增加,冻融期土壤蒸发量呈指数型减少,土壤颗粒直径相对较大的壤砂土土壤蒸发量随潜水位埋深的增加而衰减的幅度较为明显。该研究可为地下水浅埋区土壤盐渍化的防治和地下水资源量的科学评价提供依据。     

Evapotranspiration of an hedge-pruned olive orchard in a semiarid area of NE Spain

The evapotranspiration of hedge-pruned olive orchards (Olea europaea L. cv. Arbequina) was measured under the semiarid conditions of the middle Ebro River Valley in a commercial olive orchard (57 ha) during 2004 and 2005. No measured ET_c values for this type of olive orchards have previously been reported. An eddy covariance system (krypton hygrometer KH20 and 3D sonic anemometer CSAT3, Campbell Scientific) was used. The eddy covariance measurements showed a lack of the energy balance closure (average imbalance of 26%). Then sensible and latent heat (LE) flux values were corrected using the approach proposed by Twine et al. (2000) in order to get daily measured olive evapotranspiration (ET_c) and crop coefficient (K_c) values. The highest measured monthly ET_c averages were about 3.1-3.3 mm day⁻¹, while the total seasonal ET_c during the irrigation period (March-October) was about 585 mm (in 2004) and 597 mm (in 2005). Monthly K_c values varied from about 1.0 (Winter) to 0.4-0.5 (Spring and Summer). These K_c values were similar to K_c values reported for round-shape canopy olive orchards, adjusted for ground cover, particularly during late Spring and Summer months when differences among measured and published K_c values were about less than 0.1.     

The use of the scintillation technique for monitoring seasonal water consumption of olive orchards in a semi-arid region

To monitor seasonal water consumption of agricultural fields at large scale, spatially averaged surface fluxes of sensible heat (H) and latent heat (L_vE) are required. The scintillation method is shown to be a promising device for obtaining the area-averaged sensible heat fluxes, on a scale of up to 10 km. These fluxes, when combined with a simple available energy model, can be used to derive area-averaged latent heat fluxes. For this purpose, a Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) was operated continuously for more than one year over a tall and sparse irrigated oliveyard located in south-central Marrakesh (Morocco). Due to the flood irrigation method used in the site, which induces irregular pattern of soil moisture both in space and time, the comparison between scintillometer-based estimates of daily sensible heat flux (H_LAS) and those measured by the classical eddy covariance (EC) method (H_EC) showed a large scatter during the irrigation events, while a good correspondence was found during homogenous conditions (dry conditions and days following the rain events). We found, that combining a simple available energy model and the LAS measurements, the latent heat can be reliably predicted at large scale in spite of the large scatter (R² = 0.72 and RMSE = 18.25 W m⁻²) that is obtained when comparing the LAS against the EC. This scatter is explained by different factors: the difference in terms of the source areas of the LAS and EC, the closure failure of the energy balance of the EC, and the error in available energy estimates. Additionally, the irrigation efficiency was investigated by comparing measured seasonal evapotranspiration values to those recommended by the FAO. It was found that the visual observation of the physical conditions of the plant is not sufficient to efficiently manage the irrigation, a large quantity of water is lost (≈37% of total irrigation). Consequently, the LAS can be considered as a potentially useful tool to monitor the water consumption in complex conditions.     

金丝小枣蒸散和作物系数变化规律研究

采用Probe12植物茎液流计和小型蒸发器分别测定了金丝小枣生长期间的日蒸腾和棵间蒸发。蒸腾存在日变化和季节性变化,果实膨大期蒸腾的日变化呈双峰曲线,萌芽展叶期、开花坐果期、果实成熟期和落叶期的日变化呈单峰曲线;萌芽展叶期、开花坐果期、果实膨大期、果实成熟期和落叶期的蒸腾量分别占生长季总耗水量的12.2%、16.5%、48.1%、13.2%、10.1%,金丝小枣生育期总蒸腾量346.8 mm,棵间蒸发231.7 mm,总蒸散578.5mm;棵间蒸发占总蒸散量的40.1%。枣树的作物系数随生育期变化从前期的0.27,到中期0.92,后期0.71,作物系数与冠层覆盖度呈显著正相关关系,决定系数为R2=0.758 6(P<0.01)。     

Evapotranspiration, crop coefficient and growth of two young pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) varieties under salt stress

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a drought-hardy crop, suited to arid and semi-arid regions, where the use of marginal water for agriculture is on the rise. The use of saline water in irrigation affects various biochemical processes. For a number of crops, yields have been shown to decrease linearly with evapotranspiration (ET) when grown in salt-stressed environments. In the case of pomegranate, little research has been conducted regarding the effect of salt stress. Our study focused on the responses of ET, crop coefficient (K_c) and growth in pomegranate irrigated with saline water. Experiments were conducted using lysimeters with two varieties of pomegranate, P. granatum L. vars. Wonderful and SP-2. The plants were grown with irrigation water having an electrical conductivity (EC_iw) of 0.8, 1.4, 3.3, 4.8 and 8 dS m⁻¹. Plants were irrigated with 120% of average lysimeter-measured ET. Seasonal variation in ET, crop coefficient (K_c) and growth were recorded. Variation in daily ET was observed 1 month after initiation of the treatments. While significant seasonal ET variation was observed for the EC-0.8 treatment, it remained more stable for the EC-8 treatment. Salinity treatment had a significant effect on both daily ET (F = 131, p < 0.01) and total ET (F = 112.68, p = 0.001). Furthermore, the electrical conductivity of the drainage water (EC_dw) in the EC-8 treatment was five times higher than that of the EC-0.8 treatment in the peak season. Fitting the relative ET (ET_r) to the Maas and Hoffman salinity yield response function showed a 10% decrease in ET per unit increase in electrical conductivity of the saturated paste extract (EC_e) with a threshold of 1 dS m⁻¹. If these parameters hold true in the case of mature pomegranate trees, the pomegranate should be listed as a moderately sensitive crop rather than a moderately tolerant one. Fitting 30-day interval ET_r data to the Maas and Hoffman salinity yield response function showed a reduction in the slope as the season progressed. Thus using a constant slope in various models is questionable when studying crop-salinity interactions. In addition, both of the varieties showed similar responses under salt stress. Moreover, the calculated value of K_c is applicable for irrigation scheduling in young pomegranate orchards using irrigation water with various salinities.     

Simulation of winter wheat evapotranspiration in Texas and Henan using three models of differing complexity

Crop evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of simulation models with many practical applications related to the efficient management of crop water supply. The algorithms used by models to calculate ET are of various complexity and robustness, and often have to be modified for particular environments. We chose three crop models with different ET calculation strategies: CROPWAT with simple data inputs and no calibrations, MODWht for intensive inputs and limited calibrations, and CERES-Wheat with intensive inputs and more calibrations for parameters. The three crop models were used to calculate ET of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown at two experimental sites of China and US during multiple growing seasons in which ET was measured using lysimeter or soil water balance techniques. None of the models calculated daily ET well at either Bushland or Zhengzhou as indicated by high mean absolute differences (MAD > 1.1 mm) and root mean squared errors (RMSE > 2.0 mm). The three models tended to overestimate daily ET when measured ET was small, and to underestimate daily ET when measured ET was large. The fitted values of daily crop coefficients (K_c), calculated from daily ET and reference ET (ET_o), were very similar to those of Allen et al. (1998) [Allen, R.G., Pereira, S.L., Raes, D., Smith, M., 1998. Crop evapotranspiration guidelines for computing crop water requirements. Irrigation and drainage paper 56, Rome] although some K_c were overestimated (≥1.0). Leaf area index (LAI) was poorly calculated by MODWht and CERES-Wheat, especially when using the Priestley-Taylor method to estimate potential ET (PET). Poor overall ET calculation of three models was associated with poorly estimated values of PET or ET_o, K_c and LAI as well as their interactions. Therefore, this suggested that considerable revisions and calibrations of ET algorithms of the three models are needed for the improvement of ET calculation.     

采用作物系数法和PM模型估算南京地区玉米田蒸发蒸腾量

蒸发蒸腾量(ET)是农田水平衡中的重要环节,ET的准确估算有助于提高农田水分管理水平。在测定农田小气候、土壤蒸发和玉米生长旺季液流量基础上,比较了单作物系数法(Kc法)、双作物系数法(Kcb法)、不同冠层阻力计算的Penman-Monteith模型(PM1和PM2法)估算南京地区玉米田ET的适用性,并对玉米整个生育期ET变化及其影响因素进行分析。结果表明以液流法和土壤蒸发测定的总ET为基准,PM1方法估算的夏玉米ET误差最小,与实际测定ET的决定系数(R2)、平均绝对误差(MAE)和一致性指数(d)分别为0.52、0.8 mm/d和0.48。以PM1模型估算的夏玉米全生育期ET为310mm,日均ET为3.16mm/d,最大值出现在拔节期和抽穗期,整体变化呈单峰型。ET与气象因素响应顺序为净辐射饱和水汽压温度风速。本研究可为优化玉米田水资源管理和提高水资源有效利用提供参考。