Verification of the Zero-Inertia Model for Border Irrigation

ABSTRACT THE zero-inertia model is presently the most useful tool for estimating advance and recession rates in border irrigation. The model requires knowledge of field geometry, flow rate and duration, infiltration and roughness. Methods are discussed for determining ap-propriate values of each. Infiltration and roughness are by far the most difficult to determine. The infiltration characteristics of the soil should be physically measured, but the effective roughness of the vegetation and the soil surface can be visually assessed. When zero-inertia solu-tions for advance and recession in blocked-end borders were compared with actual field data, the agreement was good.