Introduction Basin irrigation is the most widespread method of surface irrigation.

In developing countries, it is more common than sprinkler and drip irrigation and the other methods of surface irrigation: furrows and borders. Large basins can be irrigated with a high efficiency and a low labor requirement. To realize this improvement, requires a good insight into the complex behavior and interrelations of many parameters. BASCAD is a mathematical model for basin irrigation which can provide a good insight on complex behavior and interrelations of many parameters for the sound design and management of the field irrigation. The user can design level basins to match the local management parameters. In addition, the user can analyse the actual performance of a given irrigation application in a basin of known size. The user can run the programme in four different modes. It will give the user an acceptable result in mode 1 or 2 and will indicate the consequences of changing one or more of the design parameters in the mode 3 and/or 4. Objective This exercise aims to enable for students to be familiar with the input/output parameters, structure and functions of the BASCAD model as well as to have a hand on experience in simulating various different data sets and analyse the results for a particular basin. a) Using the model, calculate the application efficiency for each basin based on the information given in the table below. Assume any other data if necessary. Data Dimensions Infiltration characteristics, y in cm t in minutes Stream size Depth of irrigation needed Flow resistance Application time Basin no. 1 30m X 40m y=1.25 t0.6 30 lps 60 lps 8 cm 0.2 90 minutes Basin no. 2 50m X 60m y=1.25 t0.6 30 lps 60 lps 8 cm 0.2 90 minutes

Data analysis Infiltration characteristics is given by y=ktA , y in mm and t in second. The soil constant (K) should be prescribed in millimeters per second; soil constant A is dimensionless. Given, y=1.25 t0.6 K= 1.25*10/60 = 0.2083 And , A = 0.6

The BASCAD results of a) using mode 4 because the data has all parameters Q, B, L, and t. Assume no. of sections is 10.
Input Parameters No of sections Constant inflow rate (l/s) Application time (min) Required depth (mm) Basin Length (m) Basin width (m) Flow Resistance Infiltration parameter A Infiltration parameter K Basin 1 (30 lps) 10 30 90 80 40 30 0.2 0.6 0.2083 Basin 2 (30 lps) 10 30 90 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083 Basin 1(60 lps) 10 60 90 80 40 30 0.2 0.6 0.2083 Basin 2 (60 lps) 10 60 90 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083

Output Parameters Minimum infiltration depth (mm) Maximum infiltration depth (mm) Average applied depth (mm) Over-irrigation (mm) Under-irrigation (mm) Application efficiency Storage efficiency Advance time (min) Recession time (min)

133 136 135 55 (40 m) 0 (0m) 59% 100% 33 823

43 61 54 0 (0m) 26 (60m) 68% 95 215

269 271 270 190 (40m) 0 (0m) 30% 100% 20 2577

105 110 108 28 (60m) 0 (0m) 74% 100% 51 579

The results show that, for basin 1, the application efficiency is 59% for inflow rate 30 lps but for inflow rate of 60 lps, the efficiency reduces to 30% only. For basin 2, the application efficiency for inflow of 60 lps was 74%.

b)

If the efficiency needs to be increased, what design parameters need to be changed (indicate new values of parameters) The parameters that can lead the efficiency to be improved are inflow rate and time of application. Due to surface flow, water at 30 lps applied in basin 2 cannot reach the required depth 80mm. Moreover, the results from inflow of 60 lps are not satisfactory because of lesser efficiency due to over irrigation. Hence the new application time should be decreased so that depletion of water will decrease and efficiency will improve. The changed parameters and the results are shown in table below.

Input Parameters No of sections Constant inflow rate (l/s) Application time (min) Required depth (mm) Basin Length (m) Basin width (m) Flow Resistance Infiltration parameter A Infiltration parameter K

Basin 2 (60 lps) 10 60 90 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083

Decreased application time 10 60 70 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083

Basin 2 (30 lps) 10 30 90 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083

Increased flow rate 10 45 90 80 60 50 0.2 0.6 0.2083

Output Parameters Minimum infiltration depth (mm) Maximum infiltration depth (mm) Average applied depth (mm) Over-irrigation (mm) Under-irrigation (mm) Application efficiency Storage efficiency Advance time (min) Recession time (min)

105 110 108 28 (60m) 0 (0m) 74% 100% 51 579

80 87 84 4(59m) 0(1m) 95% 100% 51 388

43 61 54 0 (0m) 26 (60m) 68% 95 215

76 85 81 3 (38m) 2 (22m) 99% 99% 65 372

c) Illustrate the final basin specifications. Comment on the extent of under and over irrigation for each basin, and explain possible causes and solutions. As the basin dimensions are fixed, the application time is changed to 70 minutes for Basin 2 with 60 lps intake discharge. This will result to good efficiency. There is under and over irrigation in some cases while designing. This is due to larger basins where there is uneven distribution of water especially when the water is nearly equal to requirement. This will cause over irrigation at some parts whereas under irrigation at some parts. For the small basins, the discharge should not be high and application time should be maintained to control over and under irrigation. d) Define what is model calibration and testing, and explain if this is necessary before applying BASCAD in basin irrigation design. Model calibration is the method of finding the parameters of model from the series of available data. Then the calibrated model is tested with a set of actual data to check whether the model gives desirable result or not is called testing.