This paper describes the simulation results for continuous and surge flow irrigation under short field conditions by
the computer model SIRMOD III in order to evaluate the performance and applicability of the model for short
furrows and to investigate the viability of the two-point method for calculating infiltration parameters under
continuous and surge flow irrigation in short fields. These specific field conditions are found on farms smaller than
1 ha and with a furrow length of 70 m. To evaluate the model a series of experiments has been carried out in two
locations in Egypt and in one site in the Netherlands. The experiments in Egypt were conducted on a field with clay
soil situated at the Agriculture Experimental Station, Assiut University, and on a sandy soil field located at the
Assiut University Experimental Station for Desert Land, El-Wadi El-Assuity, Assiut. The experiments in the
Netherlands were carried out at the Tunnel Experimental Setting of the Irrigation and Water Engineering Group of
Wageningen University. The tunnel was covered as a greenhouse to protect the investigations against the external
weather conditions, especially rainfall. Two soil types were available inside the tunnel, namely sandy clay and
sandy clay loam. All the experiments were carried out in furrows with a blocked end and their length and width
were 70 and 0.70 m, respectively.
Measured field data were used to evaluate the computer model SIRMOD III. The results of the evaluation
indicated that the model can accurately simulate continuous and surge flow irrigation under short field conditions
for the measured infiltration parameters. These field data are very important for a good simulation of the advance
time and consequently the infiltration. The two-point method can be successfully used to obtain the infiltration
parameters for continuous and surge flow irrigation under short field conditions and for different soil types.
Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.