Inverse Estimation of Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Using DRAINMOD Model

This study was conducted on subsurface drainage network under operation in Behshahr. DRAINMOD model was used to simulate drainage system using measured data in 2006. The model was evaluated to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity by comparing the measured and predicted values of water table depth and drain discharge for different values of hydraulic conductivity. The results of this method were compared with the results of output drainage water method (as a baseline method). Use of water table depth simulation results in estimating hydraulic conductivity model resulted in considerable error, while the simulation results of drain discharge rate could be used with good accuracy for estimating it. There was a small difference between the output drainage water method and the inverse solution of DRAINMOD model to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity (2.3 and 2.5 cm/h, respectively). Thus, the comparison between the measured and predicted values of drain discharge could be a good criterion to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity using the inverse solution of the DRAINMOD model