Field Evaluation of DRAINMOD 5.1 Under a Cold Climate: Simulation of Daily Midspan Water Table Depths and Drain Outflows 1

The hydrologic performance of DRAINMOD 5.1 was assessed for the southern Quebec region considering freezing/thawing conditions. A tile drained agricultural field in the Pike River watershed was instrumented to measure tile drainage volumes. The model was calibrated using water table depth and subsurface flow data over a two-year period, while another two-year dataset served to validate the model. DRAINMOD 5.1 accurately simulated the timing and magnitude of subsurface drainage events. The model also simulated the pattern of water table fluctuations with a good degree of accuracy. The R 2 between the observed and simulated daily WTD for calibration was >0.78, and that for validation was 0.93. The corresponding coefficients of efficiency (E) were >0.74 and 0.31. The R 2 and E values for calibration/validation of subsurface flow were 0.73/0.48 and 0.72/0.40, respectively. DRAINMOD simulated monthly subsurface flow quite accurately (E > 0.82 and R 2 > 0.84). The model precisely simulated daily/monthly drain flow over the entire year, including the winter months. Thus DRAINMOD 5.1 performed well in simulating the hydrology of a cold region.

[1]  G. T. Dodds,et al.  Modelling nitrate losses in drainage water using DRAINMOD 5.0 , 2002 .

[2]  W. O. Willis,et al.  DEPTH OF FREEZING AND SPRING RUN-OFF AS RELATED TO FALL SOIL-MOISTURE LEVEL , 1961 .

[3]  Shiv O. Prasher,et al.  Development and field validation of the PESTFATE model in Southern Ontario , 2005 .

[4]  E. B. Penrod,et al.  A Method to Describe Soil Temperature Variation , 1958 .

[5]  John R. Williams,et al.  LARGE AREA HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND ASSESSMENT PART I: MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 , 1998 .

[6]  J. Nash,et al.  River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles☆ , 1970 .

[7]  R. W. Skaggs,et al.  DRAINMOD-GIS : A lumped parameter watershed scale drainage and water quality model , 2006 .

[8]  R Wayne Skaggs,et al.  Field evaluation of a model for predicting nitrogen losses from drained lands. , 2006, Journal of environmental quality.

[9]  Jane R. Frankenberger,et al.  Uncertainties in DRAINMOD predictions of subsurface drain flow for an Indiana silt loam using the GLUE methodology , 2006 .

[10]  Chun-Chieh Yang,et al.  Fate and transport of nitrogen compounds in a cold region soil using DRAINMOD , 2006 .

[11]  Modeling water discharge and nitrate leaching using DRAINMOD–GIS technology at small catchment scale , 2003 .

[12]  R. J. Hanks,et al.  Soil Temperature Estimation by a Numerical Method , 1971 .

[13]  R. W. Skaggs,et al.  EFFECT OF PARAMETER UNCERTAINTY ON DRAINMOD PREDICTIONS: I. HYDROLOGY AND YIELD , 2003 .

[14]  N. Barnett,et al.  Performance of some evapotranspiration equations at a site in Quebec , 1998 .

[15]  J. F. Nixon.  The Role of Convective Heat Transport in the Thawing of Frozen Soils , 1975 .

[16]  Lars-Christer Lundin,et al.  Surface runoff and soil water percolation as affected by snow and soil frost , 1991 .

[17]  Matthew J. Helmers,et al.  Calibration and validation of DRAINMOD to design subsurface drainage systems for Iowa's tile landscapes , 2006 .

[18]  G. S. Campbell,et al.  An Analysis of Sensible and Latent Heat Flow in a Partially Frozen Unsaturated Soil , 1978 .

[19]  R. W. Skaggs,et al.  DRAINMOD modifications for cold conditions , 2000 .

[20]  Lars-Christer Lundin,et al.  Soil moisture redistribution and infiltration in frozen sandy soils , 1999 .

[21]  David R. Huggins,et al.  Predicting subsurface drainage, corn yield, and nitrate nitrogen losses with DRAINMOD-N. , 2000 .

[22]  R. W. Skaggs,et al.  Field Evaluation of DRAINMOD 5.1 Using Six Years of Data from an Artificially Drained Agricultural Field in North Carolina , 2003 .

[23]  Gary R Sands,et al.  The Long-term Field-scale Hydrology of Subsurface Drainage Systems in a Cold Climate , 2003 .

[24]  W. Luo,et al.  PREDICTING FIELD HYDROLOGY IN COLD CONDITIONS WITH DRAINMOD , 2001 .

[25]  P. Heuberger,et al.  Calibration of process-oriented models , 1995 .