Journal of Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers ISSN:1738-3692(Print) 2093-7709(Online) 한국농공학회논문집

Greenhouse cultivation has been increasing for high quality and four season crop production in South Korea. For the cultivation in a greenhouse, maintaining adequate soil moisture at each crop growth stage is quite important for yield stability and quality while the behavior of moisture movement in the soil has complexity and adequate moisture conditions for crops are vary. Drip irrigation systems have been disseminated in the greenhouse cultivation due to advantages including irrigation convenience and efficiency without savvy consideration of the soil moisture redistribution. This study aims to evaluate soil moisture movement of drip irrigation according to the soil moisture uniformity assessment. Richards equation and finite difference scheme were adapted to simulate soil moisture behavior in soil. Soil container experiment was conducted and the model was validated using the data from the experiment. Two discharge rate (1 ℓ/hr and 2 ℓ/hr) and three spaces between the emitters (10 cm, 20 cm, and 30 cm) were used for irrigation system evaluation. Christiansen uniformity coefficient was also calculated to assess soil moisture redistribution uniformity. The results would propose design guidelines for drip irrigation system installation in the greenhouse cultivation.