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Flood irrigation agriculture: the challenges of in-situ soil moisture monitoring in lands with high clay contentΑ
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  • Zulia Mayari Sanchez-Mejia,
  • Enrico Yepez,
  • Francisco Gaxiola,
  • Ofelda Peñuelas Rubio,
  • Jony Ramiro Torres Velázquez,
  • Juan C. Alvarez-Yepiz,
  • Jaime Garatuza-Payan
Zulia Mayari Sanchez-Mejia
Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Enrico Yepez
Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora
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Francisco Gaxiola
Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora
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Ofelda Peñuelas Rubio
Instituto Tecnológico del Valle del Yaqui
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Jony Ramiro Torres Velázquez
Instituto Tecnológico del Valle del Yaqui
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Juan C. Alvarez-Yepiz
Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora
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Jaime Garatuza-Payan
Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora
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Abstract

Soil moisture is an essential measurement to manage water and improve crop production. However, agricultural research in the Yaqui Valley (in northwestern Mexico) with extensive wheat fields (Triticum sp.) have focused on other monitoring schemes (e.g. remote sensing) with less attention to soil moisture. Most of this cultivated soil contains up to ~ 50% clay, which results in changes to soil properties from wet to dry conditions and challenges in the implementation of in-situ measurements of soil moisture. For this research, we selected a 1-ha wheat field in the Yaqui Valley representative of a typical flood irrigation system. We measured meteorological variables (ClimaVUE™50), and soil moisture for the winter crop-cycle from December 2019 to Abril 2020. Volumetric water content (VWC) was recorded from 5 to 50 cm using two TDR (SoilVUE™10), one located in the bottom of the furrow under bare conditions, and the other on the top under the vegetated condition for further integration and comparison. A Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) was located alongside the meteorological sensor. The universal calibration equation was used to estimate VWC based on neutron counts. The comparison from the CRNS and the integrated TDR (5 to 50 cm) resulted in an RMSE of 0.02 m3m-3 and an r2 = 0.73. While both technologies respond to water inputs, the CRNS is a more reliable measurement during the dry-down periods when the high-clay soil cracks to the extent of 40 cm where soil is exposed to air. During this driest period, recorded VWC at 50 cm was, on average, 0.25 m3 m-3, while measurements with the CRNS was on average, 0.16 m3 m-3. Interestingly, both sensors peaked at 0.56 m3 m-3 during the flood irrigation event.