Simulation of Flow and Water Quality from Tile Drains at the Watershed and Field Scale Colleen Moloney Purdue University
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Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Theses Theses and Dissertations 8-2016 Simulation of flow and water quality from tile drains at the watershed and field scale Colleen Moloney Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses Part of the Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, and the Hydrology Commons Recommended Citation Moloney, Colleen, "Simulation of flow and water quality from tile drains at the watershed and field scale" (2016). Open Access Theses. 975. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/975 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Graduate School Form 30 Updated 12/26/2015 PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance This is to certify that the thesis/dissertation prepared By Colleen Moloney Entitled Simulation of Flow and Water Quality from Tile Drains at the Watershed and Field Scale For the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering Is approved by the final examining committee: Jane R. Frankenberger Chair Eileen J. Kladivko Kevin King Indrajeet Chaubey To the best of my knowledge and as understood by the student in the Thesis/Dissertation Agreement, Publication Delay, and Certification Disclaimer (Graduate School Form 32), this thesis/dissertation adheres to the provisions of Purdue University’s “Policy of Integrity in Research” and the use of copyright material. Approved by Major Professor(s): Jane R. Frankenberger Approved by: Bernard Engel 7/25/2016 Head of the Departmental Graduate Program Date SIMULATION OF FLOW AND WATER QUALITY FROM TILE DRAINS AT THE WATERSHED AND FIELD SCALE A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Colleen A Moloney In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering August 2016 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii To: My parents: Carol and Tom My siblings: Caitlin, Brian, and Matthew and My boyfriend: Ed iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to all the teachers, mentors, fellow students, friends and family who have helped me in many forms throughout my academic career. First, I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Jane Frankenberger for not only helping develop my research project here, but my research technique and career. Without your support and feedback, I would not have been able to become half the researcher I am today. I would also like to thank my committee members Drs. Indrajeet Chaubey, Kevin King, and Eileen Kladivko for the feedback on various aspects of my project and algorithm development as well as access to some amazing data sets. To all the students and professors in both the Ecological Sciences and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate Program as well as the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department. Thank you for the input on my research (even when by accident), coding advice, the coffee breaks, and especially for Margarita Club. Graduate school would not have been half as fun or rewarding without you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Subsurface Drainage .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Prediction of Subsurface Drain Flow ..................................................................... 1 1.3 Computer Simulation of Drainage ......................................................................... 3 1.4 Tile Drainage Simulations in SWAT ........................................................................ 4 1.5 Objectives .............................................................................................................. 6 1.6 Thesis Organization ................................................................................................ 6 1.7 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2. IMPROVEMENT OF SUBSURFACE HYDROLOGY SUBROUTINES IN SWAT AND EVALUATION OF SIMULATIONS ON A TILED FIELD ........................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 12 2.2 SWAT Improvements ........................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Percolation through the Soil Profile ....................................................... 13 2.2.2 Definition and Use of the Restrictive Layer Depth ................................. 16 2.2.3 Water Table Depth ................................................................................. 19 2.2.4 Tile Drain Flow Lag .................................................................................. 22 2.2.5 Subroutines Altered for Changes ............................................................ 24 2.3 Application to a Drained Indiana Field ................................................................ 26 2.3.1 Description of Study Site ........................................................................ 26 2.3.2 Model Set Up .......................................................................................... 27 2.3.2.1 Management Practices .............................................................. 28 v Page 2.3.2.2 Geospatial Input Data ................................................................ 29 2.3.2.3 Weather Data ............................................................................ 30 2.3.2.4 Drainage Parameters ................................................................. 30 2.3.3 Model Calibration Approach ................................................................... 31 2.4 Results .................................................................................................................. 32 2.4.1 Hydrology ................................................................................................ 33 2.4.1.1 Tile Flow Calibration Results ...................................................... 33 2.4.1.2 W20 Water Table ....................................................................... 34 2.4.1.3 W20, W10, and W5 Tile Flow .................................................... 36 2.4.1.4 W20 Tile Flow compared to DRAINMOD study ......................... 39 2.4.2 Tile Nitrate .............................................................................................. 39 2.4.2.1 Calibration Results ..................................................................... 39 2.4.2.2 W20, W10, and W5 Tile Nitrate ................................................. 41 2.4.3 Yield Comparison .................................................................................... 42 2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 43 2.6 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3. EVALUATION OF SWAT MODEL SIMULATIONS OF FLOW AND NUTRIENTS FROM TILE DRAINS IN A SMALL WATERSHED IN OHIO ............................................................... 46 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 46 3.2 Site Description and Model Set Up ...................................................................... 48 3.2.1 Watershed Discretization ....................................................................... 48 3.2.2 Management Practices ........................................................................... 51 3.2.3 Geospatial Input Data ............................................................................. 54 3.2.4 Weather Data.......................................................................................... 55 3.2.5 Tile Drain Parameters ............................................................................. 56 3.2.6 Model Simulations .................................................................................. 56 3.3 Model Calibration and Parameter Sensitivity ...................................................... 56 3.3.1 Parameter Choice and Range ................................................................. 57 3.3.2 Performance Criteria .............................................................................. 58 3.3.3 Parameter Sensitivity .............................................................................. 58 vi Page 3.3.3.1 Tile Drainage Parameters .......................................................... 58 3.3.3.2 Nitrate Parameters .................................................................... 63 3.3.4 Final Calibration Parameters .................................................................. 67 3.4 Results .................................................................................................................