DRAINMOD-S: Water management model for irrigated arid lands, crop yield and applications

Former and Current Trend in Subsurface Irrigation Systems

The main purpose of this review is to find the diversity in research studies of subsurface irrigation systems in the past two decades. Two periods of five years were selected to reflect the research studies at the beginning and the end of the comparing periods range. A statistical sorting was used to investigate the distribution of papers according to objectives, types of irrigation systems, research methods, and limitations of the studies. Results showed that the measurements and evaluations were the most presented objectives of the selected papers for both periods. Furthermore, almost 90 percent of the recent papers used multiple research methods, unlike the papers published in the former period which only 56 percent of them used multiple methods. Also, more than 90 percent of the recent papers used a single irrigation system. In conclusion, knowledge of subsurface irrigation systems had been advanced in the former studies mostly by analyzing the measurements and evaluations of the traditional irrigation systems. Unlike the former period, the advancement in knowledge has been produced in the current period by introducing new subsurface irrigation systems and more concentration by the order of measurements, evaluation, and designing, respectively.

The threat of soil salinity: A European scale review

Soil salinisation is one of the major soil degradation threats occurring in Europe. The effects of salinisation can be observed in numerous vital ecological and non-ecological soil functions. Drivers of salinisation can be detected both in the natural and man-made environment, with climate and the foreseen climate change also playing an important role. This review outlines the state of the art concerning drivers and pressures, key indicators as well as monitoring, modeling and mapping methods for soil salinity. Furthermore, an overview of the effect of salinisation on soil functions and the respective mechanism is presented. Finally, the state of salinisation in Europe is presented according to the most recent literature and a synthesis of consistent datasets. We conclude that future research in the field of soil salinisation should be focused on among others carbon dynamics of saline soil, further exploration of remote sensing of soil properties and the harmonization and enrichment of soil salinity maps across Europe within a general context of a soil threat monitoring system to support policies and strategies for the protection of European soils.