Numerical techniques offer various tools that can be used to observe the relationships between crop water requirements and the variables that contribute to the plant intakes. These variables range from meteorological to field level. Some of the meteorological variables are temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity etc. Similarly, field conditions specifically soil type and soil moisture level in the root zone are important to consider for quantifying crop water requirements. If a total soil moisture curve over a period of time is constructed, this can be used to calculate the rate of change of moisture level in the root zone. This rate of change of soil moisture in the root zone offers the basis to calculate the plant intake if the infiltration rate is known or estimated. The calculated plant intake can be correlated then with the meteorological variables to observe their relationships. A single or multiple meteorological variables can be considered for the correlation analysis under linear (SLR and MLR) and non-linear regressions (NLR). A brute force method can be used to calculate the number of combinations which is expected to be large given the wide range of independent variables.

Therefore, appropriate computational techniques need to be applied to identify the most important combinations and their impacts on crop water requirement using some statistical assessment parameters. These important variables and their combinations are then used to develop the plant water intake model. The approach has been applied to an olive field at the university agricultural lab (UAL) located at California State University, Fresno.

Access the Conference Proceedings Paper on ASCE Library

Numerical techniques offer various tools that can be used to observe the relationships between crop water requirements and the variables that contribute to the plant intakes. These variables range from meteorological to field level. Some of the meteorological variables are temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity etc. Similarly, field conditions specifically soil type and soil moisture level in the root zone are important to consider for quantifying crop water requirements. If a total soil moisture curve over a period of time is constructed, this can be used to calculate the rate of change of moisture level in the root zone. This rate of change of soil moisture in the root zone offers the basis to calculate the plant intake if the infiltration rate is known or estimated. The calculated plant intake can be correlated then with the meteorological variables to observe their relationships. A single or multiple meteorological variables can be considered for the correlation analysis under linear (SLR and MLR) and non-linear regressions (NLR). A brute force method can be used to calculate the number of combinations which is expected to be large given the wide range of independent variables.

Therefore, appropriate computational techniques need to be applied to identify the most important combinations and their impacts on crop water requirement using some statistical assessment parameters. These important variables and their combinations are then used to develop the plant water intake model. The approach has been applied to an olive field at the university agricultural lab (UAL) located at California State University, Fresno.

**[Access the Conference Proceedings Paper on ASCE Library](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466.026)**

A Numerical Model to Quantify Plant Water Intake

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) is the recognized leader within ASCE for the integration of technical expertise and public policy in the planning, design, construction, and operation of environmentally sound and sustainable infrastructure impacting air, land and water resources.

[Paper Proceedings](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466)

Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.26226/m.6329c39b68fb0e00131f77d2