Numerical Models for the Simulation of Overland Flow in Fields Within Surface Irrigation Systems

Discharges in a network of drainage ditches generated by intense rainfall are influenced by overland flow dynamically interacting with infiltration. Therefore a detailed estimation of the overland flow, especially in agricultural fields prepared for surface irrigation, is essential to the design of drainage ditches. In order to simulate overland flow, which in that case may be considered unsteady and one dimensional, numerical models were developed based on the numerical solution of the Saint-Venant equations, externally coupled with the Green-Ampt equation to account for the dynamic interaction between surface flow and infiltration. The numerical solution of the Saint Venant equations in their complete form (dynamic model) and in the simplified forms of the diffusion (diffusion model) and the kinematic wave equations (kinematic model) was obtained by applying the MacCormack explicit computational scheme. Overland flow models’ simulations were conducted in order to study the effect of the soil surface parameters on the hydrographs at the downstream end of the fields, as well as the accuracy of the diffusion and kinematic equations. It was found that the kinematic wave equations were unable to describe overland flow, while the diffusion model results were close to the results of the dynamic model.