Agronomie 24 (2004) 305-313
DOI: 10.1051/agro:2004030

Adaptation of the STICS model to subsurface drained soils

Julien Tournebize^a, Cyril Kao^a, Nenad Nikolic^a and Daniel Zimmer<sup>b

a</sup>  Cemagref, Drainage and Barrier Engineering Research Unit, Parc de Tourvoie, BP 44, 92163 Antony Cedex, France
^b  World Water Council, Les Docks de la Joliette, Atrium 10.3, 10 place de la Joliette, 13002 Marseille, France

(Received 16 July 2003; accepted 17 November 2003)

Abstract - The generic crop model STICS was modified to take into account shallow water-table fluctuations and subsurface drainage in the context of French waterlogged soils. This was accomplished by incorporating a subsurface drainage component into STICS code. The SIDRA (Simulation du Drainage) model was adapted to a daily time-step. For the dimensional aspect, the passage from two-dimensional drainage functioning to STICS one-dimensional conceptualization is done by taking an average water elevation between drain and mid-drain spacing. Simulation performances of the new STICS were evaluated by comparing its predictions with six years (1979-1983 and 1985-1986) of measured data from the field experiment of Arrou, located in northern France. Comparisons of STICS predictions with the measurements of drain-flow rates, total drained volumes and depths to water table for different crops and drain spacings were satisfactory. Nevertheless, the performances were better for drain spacings of less than 20 m and for winter crops or covers.

Key words: subsurface drainage / Hooghoudt's equation / crop water model / flow / water table

Corresponding author: Julien Tournebize julien.tournebize@cemagref.fr

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2004