Skip to main content

Net Infiltration and Soil Erosion Effects of a Few PPM Polyacrylamide in Furrow Irrigation Water

Sojka, R.E. and Lentz, R.D. (1995) Net Infiltration and Soil Erosion Effects of a Few PPM Polyacrylamide in Furrow Irrigation Water. pp. 349-354. In: So, H.B. and Smith, G.D. and Raine, S.R. and Schafer, B.M. and Loch, R.J. (eds.) Proc. 2nd Intl. Symposium on Sealing, Crusting and Hardsetting Soils: Productivity and Conservation. Australia-Brisbane (University of Queensland), 1994/02/07-11. Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (Queensland Branch).

[img] PDF
873.pdf

Download (314kB)

Abstract

Furrow irrigation-induced erosion, seal formation, and reduced net infiltration are
severe problems in the United States of America (USA) Pacific Northwest. High
molecular weight (10^7 g mol-1), anionic (18% charge density) polyacrylamide
(PAM) is a potent flocculent. Economical PAM application strategies can reduce
seal formation, runoff and erosion in furrow irrigation. Three years of studies
verified this for 3 soils. Field slopes were 0.5-7.0%. Furrow lengths were 150-
250 m and inflow rates were 12.8-37.8 L min-1 . PAM reduced erosion by 43 to
99% for various application strategies using as little as 5 ppm PAM in furrow
advance water with renewal of 5 ppm PAM for 5 minutes of each subsequent hour
of irrigation. PAM stabilized net infiltration at higher rates by reducing seal
formation. PAM increased the lateral wetting extent by 25% and net infiltration
by 15% compared to controls. PAM efficacy varied with concentration, duration
of furrow exposure, and flow rate. Furrow-bottom crusts of similar soil strength
formed in PAM-treated and control furrows, but their associated seals produced
different net infiltration.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number: 0873
Subjects: Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Erosion > Polyacrylamide
Irrigation > Furrow irrigation > Infiltration > Polyacrylamide
Polyacrylamide (PAM) > Water-soluble PAM (WSPAM) > Erosion control
Polyacrylamide (PAM) > Water-soluble PAM (WSPAM) > Infiltration management
Soil > Erosion
Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User: Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2010 21:57
Last Modified: 23 Nov 2016 18:36
Item ID: 1072
URI: https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1072