Agricultural Water Management for Increasing Crop Production Resilience to Climate Change and Imporving Water Quality

AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT FOR INCREASING CROP PRODUCTION RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND IMPORVING WATER QUALITY

Sponsoring Institution

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Project Status

REVISED

Funding Source

HATCH

Reporting Frequency

Annual

Accession No.

0209749

Grant No.

(N/A)

Project No.

NC06898

Proposal No.

(N/A)

Multistate No.

(N/A)

Program Code

(N/A)

Project Start Date

Oct 1, 2012

Project End Date

Sep 30, 2017

Grant Year

(N/A)

Project Director
Youssef, M. A.

Recipient Organization
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
(N/A)
RALEIGH,NC 27695

Performing Department
Biological & Agr Engineering

Non Technical Summary
Limited land and water resources and the changing climate pose a major challenge to the sustainability and resiliency of crop production systems. To sustainably optimize the use of the limited land resources, engineered crop production systems are critically needed to maximize yields, minimize production costs, conserve land and water resources, and minimize negative environmental impacts. Over 40 million ha, or about 25% of our nation's croplands, require improved drainage for agricultural production. Drained agricultural lands make up about 40% of cropland in North Carolina. Drainage improves trafficability and removes excess water leading to increased yields and profits. Drainage, however, can increase drought stress and reduce yields during dry growing seasons. Drainage also increases nitrogen losses and degrades surface water quality. Because of frequent dry periods during growing seasons, producers in the U.S. Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain, including North Carolina, are increasingly installing irrigation systems to provide supplemental water. High commodity prices are further driving the installation of these systems. Eastern NC receives significant amounts of annual rainfall (1120 to 1420 mm), making irrigation management challenging. In this rainfed-irrigated system, irrigation water can make up for rainfall shortage during dry periods, increasing crop yield. However, irrigation at the wrong time or at the wrong level may result in saturated soil conditions, root hypoxia, increased nutrient loss, yield reduction, and a costly waste of water. The overall goal of this project is to develop and assess novel methods for agricultural water management in order to increase crop production resilience to drought and reduce the transport of nutrients and sediments from agricultural lands in the North Carolina Coastal Plains to receiving surface waters. Smart irrigation and drainage systems will be developed and experimentally evaluated. Management practices will be developed to reduce nitrogen losses from land application of animal waste to subsurface drained fields. These practices include controlled drainage and bioreactor systems will be experimentally evaluated. Hydrological, biogeochemical, and plant growth models will be developed and tested. Simple predictive tools will be developed for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools will be developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

30%

Developmental

40%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	0110	1000	10%
102	0210	2050	10%
102	5360	1000	10%
111	5360	2020	20%
111	5360	2050	10%
405	0210	2020	10%
405	0210	2050	10%
405	5360	2020	10%
405	5360	2050	10%

Knowledge Area
405 - Drainage and Irrigation Systems and Facilities; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources; 0110 - Soil; 5360 - Drainage and irrigation facilities and systems;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2050 - Hydrology; 1000 - Biochemistry and biophysics;

Keywords

drainage

drainage water management

controlled drainage

smart irrigation

agricultural water managment

nonpoint source pollution

adapting agriculture to drought

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to develop and assess novel methods for agricultural water management in order to increase crop production resilience to drought and reduce the transport of nutrients and sediments from agricultural lands in the North Carolina Coastal Plains to receiving surface waters. Specific objectives and expected outcomes include: 1. Develop, evaluate, and demonstrate automated/smart drainage water management systems. 2. Develop, evaluate, and demonstrate smart irrigation systems for humid areas such as the North Carolina Coastal Plains. 3. Develop, evaluate, and demonstrate management practices that reduce nitrogen losses from land application of animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 4. Continue to further develop, test, and apply the DRAINMOD suite of models that simulate the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and plant growth for both agricultural and forest ecosystems. 5. Develop, evaluate, and demonstrate the use of simple tools for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools are developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management.

Project Methods
Objectives 1 and 2: Smart irrigation and drainage systems will be developed to effectively manage agricultural water with the goal of conserving water, increasing yield, reducing production cost, and reducing the negative water quality impacts of crop production. These systems will be designed to link irrigation and drainage to the soil water status within the root zone, plant sensitivity to dry conditions, and weather forecast. The effectiveness and the performance of these systems will be investigated using replicated field plot experiments that compare the new systems to the traditional irrigation and drainage systems. Weather, hydrologic, water quality, and plant data will be collected and analyzed to quantify the effects of the smart irrigation and drainage systems on crop yield, water conservation, and the edge of field losses of nutrients and sediments. The data will also be used to study the effects of agricultural water management on the fate and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil water plant system. Objective 3: Two practices are proposed to reduce N losses from land application of animal waste to subsurface drained fields: controlled drainage and bioreactor systems. controlled drainage involves the use of a water control structure to raise the water level in the drainage outlet during periods when intensive drainage is unnecessary. A bioreactor is a subsurface trench filled with a carbon source through which drainage water flows before it enters the receiving surface water body. Both practices reduce nitrogen losses to receiving waters by enhancing denitrification. The performance of these practices will be evaluated using an experimental field study. Weather, hydrologic, and water quality data will be collected and analyzed to assess the performance of the two practices. The experimental field will also be used as a demonstration site that will be used during field days for demonstrating the practices to producers and stakeholders. Objective 4: DRAINMOD suite of models will further be developed and tested using the data collected during the field experiments of objectives 1, 2, and 3. Objective 5: DRAINMOD suite of models will be used to develop two predictive tools for estimating reductions in annual N mass loss resulting from drainage water management(DWM). The DRAINMOD-based tools will be accurate, easy to use, and require readily available data. The accuracy of the tools will be tested by comparing DWM-caused reductions of annual N mass loss estimated by the tools to losses measured and/or predicted by DRAINMOD NII model. These comparisons will be conducted for site conditions and farming practices common to Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, and North Carolina. Historic measured data will be used and no additional measurements will be needed for the evaluation of the performance of the tools.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Drainage researchers and engineers, federal and state action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?My research program provides a unique opportunity for both graduate students and post-doctoral research scholars to hone their research skills through interaction with team members, one-on-one mentoring by group leader, and particpiation in the various professional development activities offered by North Carolina State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated as follows: 1. Research results are timely published in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. 2. Preliminary results of ongoing research are presented in scientific conferences and professional meetings. 3. Resarch results are also presented to different stakeholders (government agencies, non-governemental orgainzations, and drainage industry) during the annual meeting of the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force. 4. Results of the reseach are also disseminated to local producers and extension agents during field days and workshops What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue research to design and test smart water management systems, including smart irrigation and smart drainage systems that add water to or remove water fromthe field depending on the soil water conditions in the root zone, the near-term weather forecast, and the stage of plant growth. These sensor based systems are expected to improve crop yield and reduce production cost, conserve water, and reduce nutrient losses from agricultural lands to receiving surface water. Continue working on the development of methods for reducing nitrogen export from subsurface drained fields receiving liquid animal waste in eastern North Carolina. Continue working on further improvement, field verification and application of DRAINMOD suite of models, including DRAINMOD-NII, DRAINMOD-FOREST, DRAINMOD-DSSAT, DRAINMOD-GRASS; specifically, develop a phosphorus component for the DRAINMOD suite of models. Continue to experimentally evaluate and demonstrate the water quality, water conservation, and yield benefits of controlled drainage and related drainage water management practices including agricultural drainage water recycling. An experimental field will be set up in eastern North Carolina to store drainage water in an in-farm pond for subsequent use as a source of irrigation in dry periods during the crop growing season. Continue to work on developing, evaluating, and demonstrating the use of simple tools for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools are developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management. Continue to investigate the effects of controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems on the reduction on nitrogen export from artificially drained fields irrigated from swine lagoon effluent.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? What is the issue that has been addressed? Innovative and transformative research focusing on effective agricultural water management, including both irrigation and drainage, is critically needed to face the grand challenge of feeding the growing world's population despite the continuous decline in agricultural land and water resources. This research is particularly needed in order to increase crop production resilience to climate change and variability and reduce the transport of nutrients and sediment from agricultural lands to receiving surface waters. What has been done to address the issue? 1) A new generation of drainage water control structures was designed to minimize the time and cost of drainage water management. These structures can be adjusted to automatically open and close according to a preset schedule. Testing and demonstration of these structures is currently underway. 2) A smart water management system is currently being designed to manage the outlets of the drainage systems depending on the soil water conditions in the field. 3) A smart irrigation system was designed to determine the timing and amount of irrigation for agricultural fields based on the soil water conditions in the root zone, the near-term weather forecast, and the stage of crop growth. 4) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 5) Experimental research is underway to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bioreactor systems for reducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 6) Experimental research is underway to assess the agricultural drainage water reuse. In this system, agricultural drainage water is stored in an in-field pond for subsequent use as a source of irrigation in dry periods during the growing season. 7) The DRAINMOD-FOREST model has been development and field tested. DRAINMOD-FOREST is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil C and N dynamics, and vegetation growth in drained forests. 8) The DRAINMOD-DSSAT model has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-DSSAT is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for agricultural lands. Currently, the model is being tested against several data sets from the US Midwest region (Iowa, Indian, and Illinois). 9) The DRAINMOD-GRASS has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-GRASS is a version of the DRAINMOD suite of models that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and growth of perennial grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus. These two types of perennial grasses have been considered as potential sources of biomass for biofuel production. 10) Approximate DRAINMOD-based tools have been developed to estimate the annual reduction in drainage flow and nitrogen losses resulting from the implementation of controlled drainage systems in drained crop land in North Carolina. These tools are designed to be used by inexperienced users of the DRAINMOD suite of models. These tools were developed to be used as part of a nitrogen credit trading system including controlled drainage as a conservation practice. 11) A new version of DRAINMOD is currently being developed to simulate the fate of phosphorus in drained agricultural land. What was the impact of addressing the issue? The conducted research addresses local, national, and global needs, responds to emerging changes in land uses and management practices, and focuses on adapting crop production systems to a changing environment. 1. The development of the smart agricultural water management systems including the automated drainage water control structure will lead to the revitalization of controlled drainage in eastern NC where large areas of agricultural lands are artificially drained. This will result in a potential increase in crop production, reduction in production cost, conservation of water, and substantial improvement in surface water quality. 2. The results of our research have shown that both controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems have the potential to be used as BMPs for reducing nutrient export from drained spray fields. Our research could lead to the adoption of these two practices by the state of North Carolina to reduce nitrogen losses to surface waters from land application of animal waste to drained fields. 3. The DRAINMOD suite of models are being used by many researchers in the U.S. and abroad to assess the long term effects of emerging changes in land uses and management practices on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of agricultural and forested lands with improved drainage. Models such as DRAINMOD are particularly essential at this time for predicting the response of agricultural and forest ecosystems to potential changes in the climate and assessing strategies for adapting agricultural and forest production systems on drained land to these changes in the climate.

Publications

Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Richards, R.P., Liu, J., Baker, D.B., Liu, Y. 2016. Different seasonality of nitrate export from an agricultural watershed and an urbanized watershed in Midwestern USA. Journal of Hydrology 541: 1375-1384.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Shaggs, R.W. Cacho, J.F., Nettles, J.E., 2016. Development and preliminary evaluation of an integrated field scale model for perennial bioenergy grass ecosystems in lowland areas. Environmental Modeling and Software 84: 226-239.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Negm, L.M., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. DRAINMOD-based tools for quantifying reductions in annual drainage flow and nitrate losses resulting from drainage water management on croplands in eastern North Carolina. Agricultural Water Management 166: 86-100
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Golmohammadi, G., Prasher, S.O., Madani, A., Rudra, R.P., Youssef, M.A. 2016. SWATDRAIN, a new model to simulate the hydrology of agricultural lands, model development and evaluation. Biosystems Engineering 141:31-47
Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Skaggs, R.W., Tian, S., Chescheir, G.M., Amatya D.M., Youssef, M.A. 2016. Forest Hydrology. In Forestry Hydrology, Processes, Management and Assessment. Amatya, D.M., Williams T.M., Bren, L., de Jong, C. ed.:124-140 CAB International, Boston, MA.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Negm, L.M., Tian, S., Chescheir, G.M., Askar, M.H. 2016. Recent Advances in DRAINMOD Model. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Brooks, F., Youssef, M.A., Negm, L.M., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. Development of DRAINMOD-based Regression Equations for Estimating Annual Drain Flow and N Loss from Drained Cropland in Midwestern U.S. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Abdalaal, Y., Youssef, M.A., Negm, L.M., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. A Modeling Study to Quantify the Water Quality Impacts of Water Table Management on Drained Croplands in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin, North Carolina. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W., Cacho, J., Nettles, J. 2016. An Integrated Field Scale Model for Simulating Hydrological, Biogeochemical Processes, and Plant Growth for Perennial Bioenergy Grass Ecosystems in Lowland Areas. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. Development and Field Testing of an Integrated Process-based Model for Simulating Pine-switchgrass Intercropping Systems. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Liu, Y., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Appelboom, T.W., Poole, C.A., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. Performance of Controlled Drainage for Reducing Nitrogen and Phosphorus Loss from Subsurface Drained Pasture Receiving Swine Lagoon Effluent. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Askar, M.H., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Hesterberg, D., Amoozegar, A., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. Development of a macro-pore flow and transport component for DRAINMOD, a step towards modeling phosphorus fate and transport in drained agricultural land. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Liu, W., Birgand, F.P., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M. 2016. A novel method to reveal the nitrate transport and fate in agricultural fields. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Negm, L.M., Youssef, M.A., Jaynes, D.B. 2016. Evaluation of DRAINMOD-DSSAT Simulated Effects of Drainage Water Management on Crop Yield and Water Balance and Quality. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Ale, S., Gowda, P., Moriasi, D.N., Mulla, D.J., Youssef, M.A. 2016. Modeling the Effects of Climate Variability, Nitrogen Fertilizer Application Rate and Drainage System Configuration on Nitratenitrogen Losses in Tile Flow. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Poole, C.A., Skaggs, R.W., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Crozier, C. 2016. The effect of controlled drainage on crop yields and nitrate-nitrogen losses on tile-drained lands in eastern North Carolina. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Muwamba, A., Amatya, D.M., Tollner, E.W., Chescheir, G.M., Appelboom, T., Ssegane, H., Nettles, J.E., Youssef, M.A., Birgand, F., Skaggs, R.W., Tian, S. 2016. Effects of fertilizer application on nutrients in pine/switchgrass forest drainage outflow. ASABE International Meeting, Orlando, Jul 17-20, 2016
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S. !, M.A. Youssef, G.M. Chescheir, J. Cacho. 2016. Development and field testing of an integrated process-based model for simulating pine-switchgrass intercropping systems. ASABE International Meeting, Orlando, Jul 17-20, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Cacho, J., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Fisher, M., Nettles, J.E. 2016. Impacts of trees on Switchgrass growth in Pine Switchgrass intercropping system. ASABE International Meeting, Orlando, Jul 17-20, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Youssef, M.A. 2016. Research on smart irrigation and drainage systems. North Carolina Irrigation Society, Annual Irrigation Conference, Raleigh, N.C., November 2, 2016
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Liu, Y., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Appelboom, T.W., Poole, C.A., Skaggs, R.W. 20016. Performance of in-line denitrifying woodchip bioreactors for nitrogen reduction from subsurface drained pasture receiving swine lagoon effluent. In: Strock, J (Ed.), Proceedings of the ASABEs 10th International Drainage Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 6-9, 2016.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Chescheir, G.M., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W. 2016. An integrated field scale model for simulating bioenergy grass ecosystems in lowland areas. AGU fall meeting Dec 12-16, 2016 San Francisco CA.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Fisher, M., Chescheir, G.M., Cacho, J., NettlesJ.E. 2016. Effects of micro-topography induced water-logging on switchgrass (Alamo) growth in lowland areas. ASABE International Meeting, Orlando, Jul 17-20, 2016.

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Drainage researchers and engineers, federal and state action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?My research program provides a unique opportunity for both graduate students and post-doctoral research scholar to honetheir research skills through interaction with team members, one-on-one mentoring by group leader, and particpiation in the varios professional development activities offered by North Carolina State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated as follows: 1. Research results are timely published in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. 2. Preliminary results of ongoing research are presented in scientific conferences and professional meetings. 3. Resarch results are also presented to different stakeholders (government agencies, non-governemental orgainzations, and drainage industry) during the annual meeting of the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force. 4. Results of the reseach are also disseminated to local producers and extension agents during field days and workshops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue research to design and test smart water management systems, including smart irrigation and smart drainage systems that add water to or remove water fromthe field depending on the soil water conditions in the root zone, the near-term weather forecast, and the stage of plant growth. These sensor based systems are expected to improve crop yield and reduce production cost, conserve water, and reduce nutrient losses from agricultural lands to receiving surface water. Continue working on the development of methods for reducing nitrogen export from subsurface drained fields receiving liquid animal waste in eastern North Carolina. Conclude the ongoing collaborative research to investigate and model the hydrologic and water quality impacts of growing switch grass, as a bio-energy crop, in managed loblolly pine plantations. Continue working on further improvement, field verification and application of DRAINMOD suite of models, including DRAINMOD-NII, DRAINMOD-FOREST, DRAINMOD-DSSAT, DRAINMOD-GRASS; specifically, develop a phosphorus component for the DRAINMOD suite of models. Continue to experimentally evaluate and demonstrate the water quality, water conservation, and yield benefits of controlled drainage and related drainage water management practices including agricultural drainage water recycling. An experimental field will be set up in eastern North Carolina to store drainage water in an in-farm pond for subsequent use as a source of irrigation in dry periods during the crop growing season. Continue to work on developing, evaluating, and demonstrating the use of simple tools for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools are developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management. Continue to provide hands-on training and technical support to the users of the DRAINMOD suite of models. I expect to lead a DRAINMOD workshop to be conducted during the 10thInternational Drainage Symposium that will be held on September 7-9, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Continue to provide support and guidance to Dr. Chad Poole, who conducts extension activities to disseminate the results of my and other colleagues' research onagricultural water managementto farmers, extension agents, and action agency personnel.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? What is the issue that has been addressed? Innovative and transformative research focusing on effective agricultural water management, including both irrigation and drainage, is critically needed to face the grand challenge of feeding the growing world's population despite the continuous decline in agricultural land and water resources. This research is particularly needed in order to increase crop production resilience to climate change and variability and reduce the transport of nutrients and sediment from agricultural lands to receiving surface waters. What has been done to address the issue? 1) A new generation of drainage water control structures have been designed to minimize the time and cost of drainage water management. These structures can be adjusted to automatically open and close according to a preset schedule. 2) A smart water management system is currently being designed to manage the outlets of the drainage systems depending on the soil water conditions in the field. The new structures will bedemonstrated in two demonstration sites. 3) A smart irrigation system is currently being designed to determine the timing and amount of irrigation for agricultural fields based on the soil water conditions in the root zone, the near-term weather forecast, and the stage of crop growth. 4) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 5) Experimental research is underway to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bioreactor systems in reducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 6) Experimental research has been initiated to assess the agricultural drainage water reuse. In this system, agricultural drainage water is stored in an in-field pond for subsequent use as a source of irrigation in dry periods during the growing season. 7) The DRAINMOD-FOREST model been development and field tested. DRAINMOD-FOREST is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil C and N dynamics, and vegetation growth in drained forests. 8) The DRAINMOD-DSSAT model has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-DSSAT is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for agricultural lands. 9) The DRAINMOD-GRASS has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-GRASS is a version of the DRAINMOD suite of models that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and growth of perennial grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus. This two types of perennial grasses have been considered as a potential source of biomass for biofuel production. 10) Approximate DRAINMOD-based tools have been developed to estimate the annual reduction in drainage flow and nitrogen losses resulting from the implementation of controlled drainage systems in drained crop land in North Carolina. These tools are designed to be used by inexperienced users of the DRAINMOD suite of models. These tools were developed to be used as part of a nitrogen credit trading system including controlled drainage as a conservation practice. 11) A new version of DRAINMOD is currently being developed to simulate the fate of phosphorus in drained agricultural land. What was the impact of addressing the issue? The conducted research addresses local, national, and global needs, responds to emerging changes in land uses and management practices, and focuses on adapting crop production systems to a changing environment. 1. The development of the smart agricultural water management system including the automated drainage water control structure will lead to the revitalization of controlled drainage in eastern NC where large areas of agricultural lands are artificially drained. This will result in a potential increase in crop production, reduction in production cost, conservation of water, and substantial improvement in surface water quality. 2. The results of our research have shown that both controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems have the potential to be used as BMPs for reducing nutrient export from drained spray fields. Our research could lead to the adoption of these two practices by the state of North Carolina to reduce nitrogen losses to surface waters from land application of animal waste to drained fields. 3. The DRAINMOD suite of models are being used by many researchers in the U.S. and abroad to assess the long term effects of emerging changes in land uses and management practices on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of agricultural and forested lands with improved drainage. Models such as DRAINMOD are particularly essential at this time for predicting the response of agricultural and forest ecosystems to potential changes in the climate and assessing strategies for adapting agricultural and forest production systems on drained land to these changes in the climate.

Publications

Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Muwamba, A., Amatya, D.M., Ssegane, H., Appelboom, T., Tollner, E.W., Chescheir, G.M., Nettles, J.E., Youssef, M.A., Birgand, F., Skaggs, R.W., Tian, S. 2015. Effects of site preparation for switchgrass-pine forest intercropping on drainage water quality. Journal of Environ. Qual. 44: 1263-1272.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Sun, G., Chescheir, G.M., Noormets, A., Amatya, D.M., Skaggs, R.W., King, J.S., McNulty, S., Gavazzi, M., Miao, G., Domec, J.C. 2015. Testing DRAINMOD-FOREST for predicting evapotranspiration dynamics of a mid-rotation pine plantation. Forest Ecology and Management 355: 37-47.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Tian, S., Cacho, J.F., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Nettles., J.E. 2015. Switchgrass growth and morphological changes under established pine-grass agroforestry systems in the lower coastal plain of North Carolina, United States. Biomass and Bioenergy 83: 233-244.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Arnold, J.G., Youssef, M.A., Yen, H., White, M.J., Sheshukov, A. Y., Sadeghi, A.M., Moriasi, D.N., Steiner, J.L., Amatya, D.M., Skaggs, R.W., Haney, E.B., Jeong, J., Arabi, M., Gowda, P.H. 2015. Hydrological processes and model representation: Impact of soft data on calibration. Trans. ASABE 58(6): 1637-1660.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Baffaut, C., Dabney, S.M., Smolen, M.D., Youssef, M.A., Bonta, J.V., Chu, M.L., Guzman, J.A., Shedekar, V.S., Jha, M.K., Arnold, J.G. 2015. Hydrologic and water quality modeling: spatial and temporal considerations. Trans. ASABE 58(6): 1661-1680.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Radcliffe, D.E., Reid, D.K., Blomback, K, Bolster, C.H., Collick, A.S., Easton, Z.M., Francesconi, W., Fuka, D.R., Johnsson, H., King, K., Larsbo, M., Youssef, M.A., Mulkey, A.S., Nelson, N.O., Persson, K., Ramirez-Avila, J.J., Schmieder, F., Smith, D.R. 2015. Applicability of models to predict phosphorus losses in drained fields: A review. Journal of Environ. Qual. 44:614-628
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Saraswat, D., Frankenberger, J.R., Pai, N., Ale, S., Daggupati, P., Douglas-Mankin, K.R., Youssef, M.A. 2015. Hydrologic and water quality models: documentation and reporting procedures for calibration, validation, and use. Trans. ASABE 58(6) 1787-1797.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Daggupati, P., Pai, N., Ale, S., Douglas-Mankin, K.R., Zeckoski, R. W., Jeong, J., Parajuli, P.B., Saraswat, D., Youssef, M.A. 2015. A recommended calibration and validation strategy for hydrologic and water quality models. Trans. ASABE 58(6): 1705-1719.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chescheir, G.M., Nettles, J.E., Amatya, D.M., Birgand, F., Youssef, M.A. 2015. Environmental sustainability of intercropping switchgrass in a loblolly pine forest. Fifth Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, March 2-5, 2015, Charleston, SC.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Brooks, F.N., Negm, L.T., Youssef, M.A., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W. 2015. Development, evaluation, and demonstration of simple tools for nitrogen credit trading system involving drainage water management. Poster Presentation at the 70th Annual Soil and Water Conservation Society Conference, Greensboro, North Carolina, July 26-29, 2015.

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience:Drainage researchers and engineers, federal and state action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This research program provides training, mentorship, and professional development for MS and PhD students as well as the post-doctoral associates to become independent researchers who are capable of starting their own career after completing their study and or short term post-doctoral training. This is through the one-to-one interaction as well as the professional development opportunities provided by North Carolina State University for graduate students and junior reseachers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated as follows: 1. Research results are timely published in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. 2. Preliminary results of ongoing research are presented in scientific conferences and professional meetings. 3. Resarch results are also presented to different stakeholders (government agencies, non-governemental orgainzations, and drainage industry) during the annual meeting of the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force. 4. Results of the reseach are also disseminated to producers and extension agents during field days and workshops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Continue research to design and test a smart water management system that improves crop yield and reduce production cost, conserve water, and reduce nutrient losses from drained lands to receiving surface water. 2. Continue working on the development of methods for reducing nitrogen export from subsurface drained fields receiving liquid animal waste in eastern North Carolina. 3. Continue working with other collaborators on research to investigate and model the hydrologic and water quality impacts of growing switch grass, as a bio-energy crop, in managed loblolly pine plantations. 4. Continue working on further improvement, field verification and application of DRAINMOD suite of models, including DRAINMOD-NII, DRAINMOD-FOREST, and DRAINMOD-DSSAT; specifically, develop a phosphorus component for the DRAINMOD suite of models. 5. Continue to experimentally evaluate and demonstrate the water quality, water conservation, and yield benefits of controlled drainage and related drainage water management practices. 6. Continue to work on developing, evaluating, and demonstrating the use of simple tools for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools are developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? What is the issue that has been addressed? Improved drainage is essential for production of food, feed, and fiber in many parts of the U.S. including the Midwest States and the Coastal region of North Carolina. There is a critical need to sustainably maximize the productivity of drained land to meet the increasing demand for food and biomass for biofuel production. There is also a critical need to adapt agricultural production systems on drained land to predicted changes in the climate including changes in temperature and precipitation (amounts and timing). What has been done to address the issue? 1) A new generation of drainage water control structures hasbeen designed to minimize the time and cost of drainage water management. These structures can be adjusted to automatically open and close according to a preset schedule. 2) Continue to develop and design a smart water management system that manages the outlets ofdrainage systems depending on the soil water conditions in the field. 3) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 4) Experimental research is underway to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bioreactor systems in reducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 5) Experimental research is ongoing to quantify the impacts of intercropping of switchgrass with managed loblolly pine stands on the hydrology and water quality, soil C and N dynamics, and soil physical and hydraulic properties. 6) The DRAINMOD-FOREST model been development and field tested. DRAINMOD-FOREST is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil C and N dynamics, and vegetation growth in drained forests. The model has been expanded to simulate bio-energy grasses such as switchgrass. 7) The DRAINMOD-DSSAT model has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-DSSAT is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for agricultural lands. 8) A new version of DRAINMOD is currently being developed to simulate the fate of phosphorus in drained agricultural land. What was the impact of addressing the issue? The conducted research addresses local, national, and global needs, responds to emerging changes in land uses and management practices, and focuses on adapting crop production systems on drained lands to a changing environment. 1. The development of the smart agricultural water management system including the automated drainage water control structure will lead to the revitalization of controlled drainage in eastern NC where large areas of agricultural lands are artificially drained. This will result in a potential increase in crop production, reduction in production cost, conservation of water, and substantial improvement in surface water quality. 2. The results of our research have shown that both controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems have the potential to be used as BMPs for reducing nutrient export from drained spray fields. Our research could lead to the adoption of these two practices by the state of North Carolina to reduce nitrogen losses to surface waters from land application of animal waste to drained fields. 3. The ongoing research on growing bio-energy crops will lead to a better understanding of the impacts of growing these crops on water quantity, quality, and C and N cycling. This is necessary for the evaluation of the sustainability of growing bio-energy crops on lands that are not used for food production. 4. The DRAINMOD suite of models are being used by many researchers in the U.S. and abroad to assess the long term effects of emerging changes in land uses and management practices on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of agricultural and forested lands with improved drainage. Models such as DRAINMOD are particularly essential at this time for predicting the response of agricultural and forest ecosystems to potential changes in the climate and assessing strategies for adapting agricultural and forest production systems on drained land to these changes in the climate.

Publications

Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Negm, L.M., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M.. Kladivko, E.J. 2014. DRAINMOD-DSSAT simulation of the hydrology, nitrogen dynamics and plant growth of a drained corn field in Indiana. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 140 (8): 04014026.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Amatya, D.M., Vance, E.D. 2014. Global sensitivity analysis of DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated forest ecosystem model. Hydrological Processes 28(15):4389-4410.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Negm, L.M., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M., Jones, J. 2014. DRAINMOD-DSSAT model for simulating hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for drained agricultural land. Agricultural Water Management 137: 30-45.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Tilak, A.S., Burchell II, M.R., Youssef, M.A., Lowrance, R.R., Williams, R.G. 2014. Field testing the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model on a riparian buffer in the North Carolina upper coastal plain. Journal of American Water Resources Association 50 (3): 665-682.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Negm, L.M., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M., Evans, R.O. 2014. DRAINMOD-based tools for nitrogen credit trading systems involving drainage water management. Presented at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, July 13-16, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Liu, Y., Youssef, M.A., Poole, C.A., Appelboom, T., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R. W. 2014. Evaluation of the performance of controlled drainage for reducing nitrate losses from subsurface drained lands receiving irrigation waste water. (Abstract number: 1910340). Presented at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, Jul 13-16, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M. A., Cacho, J.F., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W., Leggett, Z.H., Sucre, E.B., Nettles, J.E. 2014. Development and field testing of an integrated field scale model for simulating ecosystems of bioenergy grasses in low land areas. Presented at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, Jul 13-16, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M. A., Richards, R.P., Liu, J., Baker, D. B., Liu, Y. 2014. Comparisons between seasonality of nitrate export from an agricultural and an urbanized catchments in Lake Erie Region, USA. Presented at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, Jul 13-16, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Sun, G., Amatya, D.M., Domec, J.C., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W., Noormets, A., King, J.S., McNulty, S., Gavazzi, M. 2014. Simulating evapotranspiration dynamics of a middle rotation pine plantation using DRAINMOD-FOREST. The ASABEs International Symposium on Evapotranspiration: Challenges in Measurement and Modeling from Leaf to the Landscape Scale and Beyond, Raleigh, NC, April 711, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Vick, R., Youssef, M.A., Grabow, G., Wilkerson, G. 2014. Development and Evaluation of a Smart Irrigation System to Increase Crop yield, Improve Environmental Quality, and Conserve Water in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Presentation presented at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, Jul 13-16, 2014.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Muwamba,A., Amatya, D.M., Chescheir, G.M., Appelboom, T., Tollner, E.W., Nettles, J.E., Youssef, M.A., Birgand, F., Ssegane, H., Skaggs, R.W., Tian, S. 2014. Influence of Carbon and Sediments on Transport of Nutrients from Pine and Switchgrass Ecosystems. 14th American Ecological Engineering Society Meeting. June 9-11, 2014. Charleston, SC.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Liu, Y., Youssef, M.A., Poole, C.A., Appelboom, T., Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R. W. 2014. Evaluation of the performance of woodchip bioreactor for reducing nitrate losses from subsurface drained lands receiving irrigation waste water. (Abstract number: 1904866). Poster presentation at The ASABE and CSBE | SCGAB Annual International Meeting, Montreal, Canada, Jul 13-16, 2014.

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience:Drainage researchers and engineers, federal and state action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated as follows: 1. Research results are timely published in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals. 2. Preliminary results of ongoing research are presented in scientific conferences and professional meetings. 3. Resarch results are also presented to different stakeholders (government agencies, non-governemental orgainzations, and drainage industry) during the annual meeting of the Agricultural Drainage Management Systems Task Force. 4. Results of the reseach are also disseminated to producers and extension agents during field days and workshops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue research to design and test a smart water management system that improves crop yield and reduce production cost, conserve water, and reduce nutrient losses from drained lands to receiving surface water. Continue working on the development of methods for reducing nitrogen export from subsurface drained fields receiving liquid animal waste in eastern North Carolina. Continue working with other collaborators on research to investigate and model the hydrologic and water quality impacts of growing switch grass, as a bio-energy crop, in managed loblolly pine plantations. Continue working on further improvement, field verification and application of DRAINMOD suite of models, including DRAINMOD-NII, DRAINMOD-FOREST, and DRAINMOD-DSSAT; specifically, develop a phosphorus component for the DRAINMOD suite of models. Continue to experimentally evaluate and demonstrate the water quality, water conservation, and yield benefits of controlled drainage and related drainage water management practices. Continue to work on developing, evaluating, and demonstrating the use of simple tools for quantifying the effect of drainage water management on the reduction of N loss. These tools are developed to be part of nitrogen credit trading system that involves the use of drainage water management.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Issue: Improved drainage is essential for production of food, feed, and fiber in many parts of the U.S. including the Midwest States and the Coastal region of North Carolina. There is a critical need to sustainably maximize the productivity of drained land to meet the increasing demand for food and biomass for biofuel production while protect water quality. There is also a critical need to adapt agricultural production systems on drained land to predicted changes in the climate including changes in temperature and precipitation (amounts and timing). What Has Been Done: 1) A new generation of drainage water control structures have been designed to minimize the time and cost of drainage water management. These structures can be adjusted to automatically open and close according to a preset schedule. They will evolve to smart systems that manage the outlets of the drainage systems depending on the soil water conditions in the field. The new structures are being demonstrated in two demonstration sites. 2) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 3) Experimental research is underway to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bioreactor systems forreducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 4) Experimental research is ongoing to quantify the impacts of intercropping of switchgrass with managed loblolly pine stands on the hydrology and water quality, soil C and N dynamics, and soil physical and hydraulic properties. 5) The DRAINMOD-DSSAT model has been developed and field tested usigng data sets from two research sites (one in Iowa and one in Indiana). DRAINMOD-DSSAT is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for agricultural lands. 6) The DRAINMOD-NII model has been enhanced to predict the fate and transport of dissolved organic nitrogen. The modified version of DRAINMOD-NII model has been field tested using historic data collected from an artificially drained loblolly pine plantation in eastern North Carolina. Impact: The conducted research addresses local, national, and global needs, responds to emerging changes in land uses and management practices, and focuses on adapting crop production systems on drained lands to a changing environment. The development of the smart agricultural water management system including the automated drainage water control structure will lead to the revitalization of controlled drainage in eastern NC where large areas of agricultural lands are artificially drained. This will result in a potential increase in crop production, reduction in production cost, conservation of water, and substantial improvement in surface water quality. The results of our research have shown that both controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems have the potential to be used as BMPs for reducing nutrient export from drained spray fields. Our research could lead to the adoption of these two practices by the state of North Carolina to reduce nitrogen losses to surface waters from land application of animal waste to drained fields. The ongoing research on growing bio-energy crops will lead to a better understanding of the impacts of growing these crops on water quantity, quality, and C and N cycling. This is necessary for the evaluation of the sustainability of growing bio-energy crops on lands that are not used for food production. The DRAINMOD suite of models are being used by many researchers in the U.S. and abroad to assess the long term effects of emerging changes in land uses and management practices on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of agricultural and forested lands with improved drainage. Models such as DRAINMOD are particularly essential at this time for predicting the response of agricultural and forest ecosystems to potential changes in the climate and assessing strategies for adapting agricultural and forest production systems on drained land to these changes in the climate.

Publications

Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Tian, S., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M., Amatya, D.M. 2013. Predicting dissolved organic nitrogen export from a drained loblolly pine plantation. Water Resources Research 49:1952-1967.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Ale, S., Gowda, P.H., Mulla, D.J., Moriasi, D.N., Youssef, M. A. 2013. Comparison of the performances of DRAINMOD-NII and ADAPT models in simulating nitrate losses from subsurface drainage systems under cold climate. Agricultural Water Management 129:21-30.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Salazar, O., Wesstrom, I., Joel, A., Youssef, M.A. 2013. Application of an integrated framework for estimating nitrate loads from a coastal watershed in south-east Sweden. Agricultural Water Management. Agricultural Water Management 129:56-68.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Amatya, D.M., Rossi, C. G., Saleh, A., Dia, Z., Youssef, M.A., Williams, R.G., Bosch, D.D., Chescheir, G.M., Sun, G., Skaggs, R.W., Trettin, C.C., Vance, E.D., Nettles, J.E., Tian, S. 2013. Review of nitrogen fate models applicable to forest landscapes in the southern U.S. Trans. ASABE 56(5): 1731-1757.
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Poole, C.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M., Youssef, M.A., Crozier, C.R. 2013. Effects of drainage water management on crop yields in North Carolina. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 68(6):429-437.
Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cacho, J.F. 2013. Impacts of bioenergy feedstock production on soil physical properties, soil water and nitrogen dynamics, and shallow groundwater quality of a drained forest in southeastern U.S. Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1) The development and field testing of the DRAINMOD-FOREST model have been completed. DRAINMOD-FOREST is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil C and N dynamics, and vegetation growth in drained forests. The model was field tested using a long term data set from an artificially drained loblolly pine plantation in eastern North Carolina. A comprehensive global sensitivity analysis for DRAINMOD-FOREST has been conducted to investigate effects of model parameters on variations of multiple model predictions including evapotranspiration, drainage, soil organic matter content, nitrogen mineralization rate, nitrogen plant uptake, nitrate and dissolved organic nitrogen export, net primary production, and leaf area index. 2) The DRAINMOD-DSSAT model has been developed and field tested. DRAINMOD-DSSAT is a field scale, process based model that simulates the hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for agricultural lands. The model was developed by linking DRAINMOD and DRAINMOD-NII models to selected crop modules of the DSSAT model. DRAINMOD-DSSAT was field tested using data sets from two artificially drained agricultural research sites in Iowa and Indiana. 3) the DRAINMOD-NII model has been enhanced to predict the fate and transport of dissolved organic nitrogen. The modified version of DRAINMOD-NII model has been field tested using historic data collected from an artificially drained loblolly pine plantation in eastern North Carolina. 4) Experimental research is ongoing to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bioreactor systems in reducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields. 5) Experimental research is ongoing to quantify the impacts of intercropping of switchgrass with managed loblolly pine stands on the hydrology and water quality, soil C and N dynamics, and soil physical and hydraulic properties. 6) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 7) Testing the performance of the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) using data sets collected from two riparian buffers, located in Eastern NC has been completed. 8) A new generation of drainage water control structures have been designed to minimize the time and cost of drainage water management. These structures can be adjusted automatically according to a preset schedule. These structures will evolve to smart systems that manage the outlets of the drainage systems depending on the soil water conditions in the field. The new structures are being demonstrated in two demonstration sites. 9) Continued to conduct DRAINMOD training and provide technical support to DRAINMOD users in the US and abroad. 10) 3 Ph.D. students are currently working on various components of the project. 3 other Ph.D. students have completed their degrees. PARTICIPANTS: The following is a list of individuals who worked on the project: R.W. Skaggs, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; G.M. Chescheir, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; S. Tian, Biol. and Agric Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Post-Doc associate; C. Poole, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer; B. Philips, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer. The following is a list of collaborators: M. Burchell, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ.; C. Crozier and D. Osmond, Soil Sci. Dept, NC State Univ.; J. King, Forestry Dept, NC State Univ.; D. Amatya, USDA Forest Service; D. Jaynes, K Thorps, R. Malone, the USDA ARS; J. Frankenberger, E. Kladivko, L. Bowling, and Brouder, Purdue Univ.; S. Ale, Texas A&M Univ. The following is a list of partner organizations: The USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The USDA Forest Service; The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), Inc.; Weyerhaeuser Company; The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). Training/professional development: 3 Ph.D. students are currently working on various components of the project. 3 other Ph.D. students have completed their degrees. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include: drainage researchers and engineers, action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
1) Results of field experiments show that drainage water management can improve crop yield and conserve water under dry conditions. They also confirm the results of previous studies which show that drainage water management can significantly reduce N export from drained cropland to receiving surface waters. 2) The recent advancements of the DRAINMOD suite of models, including the development of DRAINMOD-FOREST and DRAINMOD-DSSAT and the enhancement of DRAINMOD-NII to simulate DON transport, represent a significant milestone that will improve the hydrological and biogeochemical modeling of agricultural and forest ecosystems. These whole-system models are critically needed for studies that investigate the impacts of changes in climate, land use, and management practices on the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and productivity of both agricultural and forest ecosystems. 3) The development of the automated drainage water control structures is expected to have a tremendous impact on the large scale adoption and the effective implementation of drainage water management. 4)The continued training and technical support provided to DRAINMOD model users is essential for its continued use by both researchers as well as state and federal agencies.

Publications

Skaggs, R.W., M.A. Youssef, G.M. Chescheir. 2012. DRAINMOD: Model use, calibration and validation. Trans. ASABE 55(4):1509-1522.
Skaggs, R.W., M.A. Youssef, and G.M. Chescheir. 2012. Methods to estimate effects of drainage water management on annual nitrogen losses to surface waters. Trans. ASABE 55(3):799-808.
Tian, S., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, D.M. Amatya, and G.M. Chescheir. 2012. DRAINMOD-FOREST: Integrated modeling of hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and plant growth for drained forests. J. Environ. Qual.41:764-782.
Tian, S., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, D.M. Amatya, and G.M. Chescheir. 2012. Modeling water, carbon, and nitrogen dynamics for two drained pine plantations under intensive management practices. Forest Ecology and Management 264:20-36.
Ale, S., L.C. Bowling, M.A. Youssef, S.M. Brouder. 2012. Evaluation of simulated strategies for reducing nitrate-nitrogen losses through subsurface drainage systems. J. Environ. Qual.41:217-228.
Tian, S., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, D.M. Amatya, G.M. Chescheir. 2012. Temporal variations and controlling factors of nitrogen export from an artificially drained coastal forest. Environmental Science and Technology.46(18)9956-9963.
Tian, S., M. A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, G.M. Chescheir, D.M. Amatya. 2012. Predicting dissolved organic nitrogen export from a poorly drained loblolly pine plantation using modified version of DRAINMOD-NII. ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Tian, S., M. A. Youssef, D.M. Amatya, E.D., Vance. 2012. Global sensitivity analysis of the integrated forest ecosystem model, DRAINMOD- FOREST. ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Golmohammadi, G., Prasher, S., Madani, A., M. A. Youssef, R. Rudra. 2012. Development and evaluation of SWAT-DRAIN: a new watershed scale model to simulate the surface and subsurface runoff. Oral presentation. ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Cacho, J. F., M. A. Youssef, G. M. Chescheir, T. W. Appelboom, R. W. Skaggs. 2012. Impacts of bioenergy feedstock production on soil water content and shallow groundwater dynamics of drained forest lands. Oral Presentation at the ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Negm, L.M., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, and G.M. Chescheir. 2012. DRAINMOD-DSSAT simulation of the hydrology, nitrogen dynamics and plant growth for a drained corn field in Indiana, U.S.A. Oral Presentation at the ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Cacho, J. F., M. A. Youssef, G. M. Chescheir, R. W. Skaggs. Impacts of bioenergy feedstock production on the physical properties of poorly drained forest soils. 2012. Poster Presentation at the ASABE Annual International meeting. Dallas, TX. July 29 - August 01, 2012.
Negm, L.M., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, and G.M. Chescheir. 2012. Development and application of the DRAINMOD-DSSAT model for simulating hydrology, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and crop growth for drained agricultural land. 11th ICID International Workshop, Cairo, Egypt. September 23-27, 2012.

Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1) Supervised developing and field testing of DRAINMOD-FOREST model, which simulates the hydrology, soil C and N dynamics, and plant growth in drained forests under common silvicultural practices. The model was developed by linking the hydrology model DRAINMOD and the soil C and N model DRAINMO-NII to a newly developed forest growth model. The model was field tested using a long term data set from an artificially drained loblolly pine plantation in eastern North Carolina; 2) supervised developing DRAINMOD-DSSAT model to simulate crop production systems on drained lands. The model was developed by linking DRAINMOD and DRAINMOD-NII models to selected crop modules of the DSSAT model; 3) supervised linking DRAINMOD-N II to DRAINMOD-based watershed scale hydrologic and water quality models to better predict the edge-of-field N loads, which will significantly improve the performance of these watershed-scale models; 4) Initiated experimental research to assess the effectiveness of controlled drainage and bio-reactor systems in reducing N export to surface waters from land application of liquid animal waste to subsurface drained fields; 5) Initiated experimental research to quantify the impacts of intercropping of switchgrass with managed loblolly pine stands on the hydrology and water quality, soil C and N dynamics, and soil physical and hydraulic properties; 1) Continued to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two artificially drained agricultural sites in eastern North Carolina; 6) Continued to participate in evaluating the performance of the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) using data sets collected from two riparian buffers, located in Eastern NC. Water table, N concentrations, and redox potential are measured along transects at three locations per transect (field edge, mid buffer, and stream edge); 7) continued to supervise testing of DRAINMOD-N II model using data sets from Midwestern USA. Model testing has been completed for the states of Iowa, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota, and journal articles that report the results of these evaluations have been published; 8) Continued to participate in a project to revitalize and rejuvenate the implementation of controlled drainage in drained lands of Eastern NC. Three demonstration sites have been established in eastern NC for farmers to observe the management and measured effectiveness of controlled drainage and related drainage water management. A web-based advisory system has been developed to provide online guidance on the operation of controlled drainage systems in eastern NC (http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/drainageadvisory/); 9) Conducted modeling studies to assess large scale application of DRAINMOD suite of models to predict the effectiveness of drainage water management across the US Midwest; 11) continued to conduct DRAINMOD training and provide technical support to DRAINMOD users in the US and abroad. Two DRAINMOD workshops have been conducted: one in Canada attended by 21 participants and one in Egypt attended by 12 participants. PARTICIPANTS: The following is a list of individuals who worked on the project: R.W. Skaggs, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; G.M. Chescheir, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; C. Poole, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer; B. Philips, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer. The following is a list of collaborators: M. Burchell, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ.; C. Crozier and D. Osmond, Soil Sci. Dept, NC State Univ.; J. King, Forestry Dept, NC State Univ.; D. Amatya and C. Tretten,USDA Forest Service; J. Strock and G. Sands, Univ. of Minnesota; D. Jaynes, K Thorps, R. Malone, S. Del Grosso, and L. Ma, the USDA ARS; J. Frankenberger, E. Kladivko, L. Bowling, S. Brouder, and S. Ale, Purdue Univ.; M. David, G. McIsaac, and X. Hu, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; W. Parton, Colorado State Univ.; E. Marshall, World Resources Institute; C. Tonitto, Cornell Univ.; I. Wesstrom and A. Joel, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; G. El Refaie, Drainage Research Institute, Egypt. The following is a list of partner organizations: The USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The USDA Forest Service; The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), Inc.; Weyerhaeuser Company; The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). Training/professional development: 5 Ph.D. students are working on various components of the project; 33 international participants attended DRAINMOD training workshops. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include: drainage researchers and engineers, action agency personnel, extension agents, and producers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Preliminary results of field experiments show that drainage water management can improve crop yield and conserve water under dry conditions, they also confirm the results of previous studies which show that drainage water management can significantly reduce N export from drained cropland to receiving surface waters; The continued training and technical support provided to DRAINMOD model users is essential for its continued use by both researchers as well as state and federal agencies; The development of the online drainage advisory system and the drainage water management demonstration sites has been cited for the renewed interest in the practice in eastern NC; Drained agricultural lands in the Cornbelt states of the US Midwest is the primary source of nitrogen loading to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico, My collaborative work with the researchers and extension specialists from the US Midwest on testing and applying the drainage water management model DRAINMOD and its companion nitrogen model DRAINMOD-N II will lead to the development and assessment of drainage water management practices and farming practices that minimize nutrient loads from drained cropland in the Midwest to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

Publications

Chescheir, G.M., F. Birgand, S. Tian, M.A. Youssef, and D.M. Amatya. 2010. The effect of sampling frequency on the accuracy of nitrogen load estimates from a drained loblolly pine plantation in eastern North Carolina. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17.
Nettles, J, M.A. Youssef, and J. F. Cacho. 2010. Evaluating the field-scale water use of cellulosic biofuel crops. Forest Landscapes and Global Change, New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration, Braganca, Portugal. IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference.
Luo, W., G.R. Sands, M.A. Youssef, J.S. Strock, I. Song, D. Canelon. 2010. Modeling the impact of alternative drainage practices in the northern Corn-belt with DRAINMOD-NII. Agricultural Water Management 97:389-398.
Skaggs, R.W., M.A. Youssef, J.W. Gilliam, and R.O. Evans. 2010. Effects of controlled drainage on water and nitrogen balances in drained lands. Trans. ASABE 53(6): 1843-1850.
Youssef, M.A., R.W. Skaggs, A.M. Abdelbaki, K.R. Thorp, and D.B. Jaynes. 2010. DRAINMOD-simulated performance of drainage water management across the U.S. Midwest. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.
Youssef, M.A., I. Wesstrom, and A.M. Abdelbaki. 2010. Predicted impacts of climate change on crop production on drained lands in Sweden. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.
Skaggs, R.W., M.A. Youssef, and G.M. Chescheir. 2010. Methods to estimate effects of drainage water management on annual nitrogen losses to surface waters. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17.
Tian, S., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, D.M. Amatya, and G.M. Chescheir. 2010. Field evaluations of a forestry version of DRAINMOD-NII model. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17.
Sunohara, M., M.A. Youssef, E. Topp, and D.R. Lapen. 2010. Measured effect of agricultural drainage water management on hydrology, water quality, and crop yield. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.
Abdelbaki, A.M. and M.A. Youssef. 2010. Assessing the feasibility of DRAINMOD application using soil hydraulic properties estimated by pedo-transfer functions. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.
Deelstra, J., C. Farkas, M.A. Youssef. 2010. Modeling runoff from a small artificially drained agricultural catchment in Norway, using the DRAINMOD model. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.
Ale, S., L. Bowling, M.A. Youssef, S. Brouder, and J. Frankenberger. 2010. Potential watershed nitrate load reduction with drainage water management under varied implementation options. In: G.M. Chescheir and M.A. Youssef (Eds.), Proceedings of the ASABE 9th International Drainage Symposium, Quebec City, Canada, June 13-17, 2010.

Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1) Continued (in collaboration with RW Skaggs, GM Chescheir, and C Poole) to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters. We collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for two sites: one site is a 13.8 ha subsurface drained site, located in the Tidewater Experiment Station, near Plymouth, in Washington Co., NC; the other site, located in northeastern Beaufort Co. near Bath, NC, consists of 52.6 ha of privately owned farmland, drained with an open ditch system. ; 2) Continued to participate in evaluating the performance of the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) using data sets collected from two riparian buffers, located in Eastern NC. Water table elevations, N concentrations, and redox potential are measured along transects at three locations per transect (at the field edge, at the middle of the buffer, and at the stream edge); 3) Supervised the development of the forestry version of the DRAINMOD-N II model, which simulates forest growth and main hydrological and biogeochemical processes in drained forested ecosystems; 4) continued to supervise testing of DRAINMOD-N II model using data sets from Midwestern USA. Model testing has been completed for the states of Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota, and journal articles that report the results of these evaluations have been published. ; 5) supervised linking DRAINMOD-N II to DRAINMOD-based watershed scale hydrologic and water quality models to better predict the edge-of-field N loads, which will significantly improve the performance of these watershed-scale models; 6) supervised linking the crop component of the DSSAT model to the DRAINMOD-N II model in order to improve model predictions of the effects of drainage water management and farming practices on crop yield; 7) Continued to participate in a project to revitalize and rejuvenate the implementation of controlled drainage in drained lands of Eastern NC. Three demonstration sites have been established in eastern NC for farmers to observe the management and measured effectiveness of controlled drainage and related drainage water management. The first phase of a web-based advisory system has been completed to provide online guidance on the operation of controlled drainage systems in eastern NC (http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/drainageadvisory/). A field day on drainage water management has been conducted in Eastern NC and attended by more than 70 participants; 8) Initiated research to assess the large scale application of DRAINMOD suite of models to predict the effectiveness of drainage water management across the US Midwest; 9) continued to provide one-to-one training and technical support to DRAINMOD users in the US, Canada, and Europe. PARTICIPANTS: The following is a list of individuals who worked on the project: R.W. Skaggs, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; G.M. Chescheir, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; C. Poole, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer; B. Philips, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer. The following is a list of collaborators: M. Burchell, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ.; C. Crozier and D. Osmond, Soil Sci. Dept, NC State Univ.; L. Allen, Forestry Dept, NC State Univ.; D. Amatya and C. Tretten,USDA Forest Service; J. Strock and G. Sands, Univ. of Minnesota; D. Jaynes, K Thorps, R. Malone, S. Del Grosso, and L. Ma, the USDA ARS; J. Frankenberger, E. Kladivko, L. Bowling, S. Brouder, and S. Ale, Purdue Univ.; M. David, G. McIsaac, and X. Hu, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; W. Parton, Colorado State Univ.; E. Marshall, World Resources Institute; C. Tonitto, Cornell Univ.; I. Wesstrom and A. Joel, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; G. El Refaie, Drainage Research Institute, Egypt. The following is a list of partner organizations: The USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The USDA Forest Service; The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), Inc.; Weyerhaeuser Company; The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). Training/professional development: 5 Ph.D. students are working on various components of the project; Over 73 participants (NRCS agents, extension agents, Certified Crop Advisors, and producers from throughout the eastern part of North Carolina) attended a field day on the yield and water quality benefits of drainage water management. . TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include: drainage researchers and engineers, action agency personnel, extension agents, and farmers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Preliminary results of field experiments show that drainage water management can improve crop yield and conserve water under dry conditions, they also confirm the results of previous studies which show that drainage water management can significantly reduce N export from drained cropland to receiving surface waters; The continued training and technical support provided to DRAINMOD model users is essential for its continued use by both researchers as well as state and federal agencies; The development of the online drainage advisory system and the drainage water management demonstration sites has been cited for the renewed interest in the practice in eastern NC; Drained agricultural lands in the Cornbelt states of the US Midwest is the primary source of nitrogen loading to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico, My collaborative work with the researchers and extension specialists from the US Midwest on testing and applying the drainage water management model DRAINMOD and its companion nitrogen model DRAINMOD-N II will lead to the development and assessment of drainage water management practices and farming practices that minimize nutrient loads from drained cropland in the Midwest to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

Publications

Luo, W., G.R. Sands, M.A. Youssef, J.F. Strock, I. Song, and D. Canelon. 2009. Modeling the impact of alternative drainage practices in the Northern Corn Belt with DRAINMOD-N II. Agricultural Water Management (In Press).
Beltran, B.J., D.M. Amatya, M.A. Youssef, M. Jones, T.J. Callahan, R.W. Skaggs, and J.E. Nettles. 2009. Impacts of fertilization on water quality of a drained pine plantation. A worst case scenario. J. Environ. Qual. (In Press).
Thorp, K.R., M.A. Youssef, D.B. Jaynes, R.W. Malone, and L. Ma. 2009. DRAINMOD-N II: Evaluated for an agricultural system in Iowa and compared to RZWQM-DSSAT. Trans. ASABE 52(5):1557-1573.
Skaggs, R.W. and M.A. Youssef. 2009. Effect of drainage water management on nitrogen losses to surface waters. International Forum on Water Resources and Sustainable Development, Wuhan, China, Sept. 22-24, 2009.
Youssef, M.A., R.W. Skaggs, C.A. Poole, and G.M. Chescheir. 2009. Simulated effects of drainage water management on crop yield under dry conditions. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Tian, S., M.A. Youssef, R.W. Skaggs, D.M. Amatya, L. Negm. 2009. Development and preliminary testing of the forest version of DRAINMOD-N II. ASABE Paper N. 097129. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Negm, L.M., M.A. Youssef, G. Fernandez, R.W. Skaggs, and G.M. Chescheir. 2009. Linking DRAINMOD-W and DRAINMOD-N II models to simulate hydrology and water quality in artificially drained watersheds. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Abdelbaki, A.M., M.A. Youssef, M.E. Kiwan, E.F. Naguib, and E.I. Elgidawwy. 2009. Evaluation of pedotransfer functions for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity for U.S. soils. Poster Presentation, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Abdelbaki, A.M., M.A. Youssef, M.E. Kiwan, E.F. Naguib, and E.I. Elgidawwy. 2009. Evaluation of pedotransfer functions for predicting the soil water characteristic curve for U.S. soils. Poster Presentation, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Tilak, A.S., M.R. Burchell, M.A. Youssef. 2009. Simulating the hydrology and nutrient dynamics of riparian buffers in North Carolina using Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM). Poster Presentation, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Poole, C.A., R.W. Skaggs, G.M. Chescheir, M.A. Youssef, and C.R. Crozier. 2009. Effects of drainage water management on crop yields. ASABE Paper No. 097235. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.
Chescheir, G.M., M.R. Burchell, M.A. Youssef, F. Birgand, and K. Bass. 2009. Evaluation of an innovative integrated water management system in Eastern North Carolina. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, NV, June 21-24, 2009.

Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Continued (in collaboration with RW Skaggs, C Poole, and GM Chescheir) to experimentally investigate the effects of drainage water management on crop yield and N export to surface waters, we collect and analyze hydrologic, water quality and yield data for a subsurface drained agricultural research site, located in the Tidewater Experiment Station, near Plymouth, North Carolina; Continued to participate in experimentally evaluating the performance of two riparian buffers (located in Eastern North Carolina) in reducing the edge-of-field N that reaches receiving surface waters, water table elevations, N concentrations, and redox potential are measured along transects at three locations per transect (at the field edge, at the middle of the buffer, and at the stream edge)Supervised the development of the conceptual model for the forestry component of the DRAINMOD-N II model; Supervised testing of DRAINMOD-N II model using two data sets from Midwestern USA: the first data set is a 10-year record of hydrologic, water quality, and farming practices data for a subsurface drained, corn-soybean agricultural system in Iowa; the second data set is a 7-year record of hydrologic, water quality, and farming practices data for a subsurface drained Drummer Soil planted to corn in Indiana; Participated in a comparative simulation study to compare predicted denitrification estimates for a typical corn-soybean agroecosystem on a tile drained Mollisol from five models (DAYCENT, SWAT, EPIC, DRAINMOD-N II and two versions of DNDC); participated in a simulation study to investigate the effects of drainage water management on the hydrology and crop yield for a Drummer Soil in Indiana; Participated in establishing one demonstration site and upgrading another for farmers to observe the management and measured effectiveness of controlled drainage and related drainage water management; Conducted (in collaboration with R.W. Skaggs, and G.M. Chescheir) a one-day DRAINMOD workshop at Ohio State University attended by 12 participants from the US Midwest; Provided one-to-one training on the DRAINMOD suite of models for a visiting graduate student from Purdue University and a visiting scholar from the U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, USDA-ARS; Participated in developing the first phase of a web-based advisory system to provide online guidance on the operation of controlled drainage systems in eastern NC(http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/drainageadvisory/) PARTICIPANTS: The following is a list of individuals who worked on the project: R.W. Skaggs, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; G.M. Chescheir, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; M. Burchell, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Co-PI; C. Poole, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer; B. Philips, Biol. and Agric. Eng. Dept., NC State Univ., Research Engineer. The following is a list of collaborators: C. Crozier and D. Osmond, Soil Sci. Dept, NC State Univ.; L. Allen, Forestry Dept, NC State Univ.; D. Amatya and C. Tretten,USDA Forest Service; J. Strock and G. Sands, Univ. of Minnesota; D. Jaynes, K Thorps, R. Malone, S. Del Grosso, and L. Ma, the USDA ARS; J. Frankenberger, E. Kladivko, L. Bowling, S. Brouder, Purdue Univ.; M. David, G. McIsaac, and X. Hu, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; W. Parton, Colorado State Univ.; E. Marshall, World Resources Institute; C. Tonitto, Cornell Univ.; I. Wesstrom and A. Joel, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; G. El Refaie, Drainage Research Institute, Egypt. The following is a list of partner organizations: The USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The USDA Forest Service; The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), Inc.; Weyerhaeuser Company; The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR). Training/professional development: 5 Ph.D. students are working at various components of the project; 14 drainage researchers and engineers from various institutions in the Midwest have been trained on using the DRAINMOD suite of models. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include: drainage researchers and engineers, action agency personnel, extension agents, and farmers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Preliminary results of field experiments show that drainage water management can improve crop yield and conserve water under dry conditions, they also confirm the results of previous studies which show that drainage water management can significantly reduce N export from drained cropland to receiving surface waters; The continued training and technical support provided to DRAINMOD model users is essential for its continued use by both researchers as well as state and federal agencies; The development of the online drainage advisory system and the drainage water management demonstration sites will revitalize the practice in eastern NC; Drained agricultural lands in the Cornbelt states of the US Midwest is the primary source of nitrogen loading to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico, My collaborative work with the researchers and extension specialists from the US Midwest on testing and applying the drainage water management model DRAINMOD and its companion nitrogen model DRAINMOD-N II will lead to the development and assessment of drainage water management practices and farming practices that minimize nutrient loads from drained cropland in the Midwest to the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

Publications

Salazar, O., Wesstrom, I., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., and Joel, A. (2008). Evaluation of the DRAINMOD-N II model for predicting nitrogen losses in a loamy sand under cultivation in southeast Sweden. Agricultural Water Management (In Press).
Ale, S., L.C. Bowling, S.M. Brouder, J.R. Frankenberger, M.A. Youssef. 2008. Simulated Effect of Drainage Water Management Operational Strategy on Hydrology and Crop Yield for Drummer Soil in the Midwestern United States. Agricultural Water Management (In Press).
David, M.B., S.J. Del Grosso, X. Hu, E. P. Marshall, G.F. McIsaac, W.J. Parton, C. Tonitto, and Youssef, M.A. (2008). Modeling denitrification in a tile-drained, corn and soybean agroecosystem of Illinois, USA. Biogeochemistry (Accepted).
Skaggs, R.W. and Youssef, M.A. (2008). Effect of controlled drainage on water and nitrogen balances in drained lands. Keynote, Proceedings of 10th International Drainage Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, July 11-16, 2008.
Strock, J.S., Youssef, M.A., Oquist, K.A., Sands, G.R., and Skaggs, R.W. (2008). Use of DRAINMOD-NII to predict nitrogen losses under conventional and organic farming practices in Minnesota, USA. Presented at the 10th International Drainage Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, July 11-16, 2008.
Salazar, O., Wesstrom, I., Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., and Joel, A. (2008). Evaluation of the DRAINMOD-N II model for predicting nitrogen losses in southeast Sweden. Presented at the 10th International Drainage Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, July 11-16, 2008.
Ale, S., Bowling, L.C.,Youssef, M.A., Brouder, S.M. (2008). Effect of crop rotation and N management on nitrogen loss in tile drains. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Providence, RI, June 29-July 2, 2008.
Thorp, K., Youssef, M.A., and Jaynes, D.B. (2008). Evaluation of DRAINMOD-N II for an agricultural system in Iowa. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Providence, RI, June 29-July 2, 2008.
Youssef, M.A., Nigm, L., Skaggs, R.W., and Cooke, R. (2007). Predicting drain flow and nitrogen losses for a corn-soybean rotation on a clay loam receiving different rates of N fertilizer. Presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, June 17-20, 2007.
Skaggs, R.W. and Youssef, M.A. (2007). Controlled Drainage to Reduce Nitrogen Losses from Drained Lands. Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual International Meeting, New Orleans, LA, Nov. 4-8, 2007.
Youssef, M.A., Skaggs, R.W., Chescheir, G.M., Tian, C., and Amatya, D.M. (2008). DRAINMOD: a Field-scale model for simulating hydrology and water quality for shallow water table soils. Presented at a mini-workshop on Development of a comprehensive forest nutrient cycle and export modeling package, USDA, Forest Service, Center for Forested Wetland Research, Cordesville, SC, Mar. 6-7, 2008.
Chescheir, G.M., Skaggs, R.W., Youssef, M.A., Fernandez, G.P., and Amatya, D.M. (2008). DRAINMOD Based Models for Poorly Drained Watersheds. Presented at a mini-workshop on Development of a comprehensive forest nutrient cycle and export modeling package, USDA, Forest Service, Center for Forested Wetland Research, Cordesville, SC, Mar. 6-7, 2008.

Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. A new version of the DRAINMOD suite of models, DRAINMOD 6.0, has been released. DRAINMOD 6.0 has an enhanced user interface and incorporates the nitrogen model, DRAINMOD-N II. DRAINMOD 6.0 can be downloaded free of charge from the the following web site: http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/soil_water/drainmod/download.html 2. 2. A workshop, attended by about 40 researchers and engineers, has been conducted to train participants on the different applications of DRAINMOD 6.0. 3. DRAINMOD-N II, DAYCENT, SWAT, DNDC, and EPIC's predictions of dentirification fluxes for a typical corn and soybean agroecosystem on a tile drained watershed in Illinois have been compared after first calibrating each model to crop yields, drainage water flux, and nitrate-nitrogen leaching losses. Model predictions of denitrification were quite variable with a 10-yr average values ranging from 4.3 to 24 kg N ha-1 yr-1. Both DNDC and DAYCENT models predicted comparatively low denitrification fluxes (4.3 and 5.6 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively). SWAT and DRAINMOD-N II predicted larger denitrification fluxes (about 17 to 18 kg N ha-1 yr-1). EPIC's prediction of denitrification was intermediate between all models (9.8 kg N ha-1 yr-1). A manuscript that reports the results of this study is currently being written. 4. Testing DRAINMOD-N II for a drained pasture site receiving mineral N fertilizer and animal manure in Germany has been completed and an article that reports the results of this testing has been published. 5. DRAINMOD-N II has been tested for a drained loamy sand planted to a winter wheat-sugar beet-barley-barley rotation in southeast Sweden. The model accurately predicted drainage water fluxes and nitrogen losses with drain flow. A manuscript that reports the results of this study is currently being written. PARTICIPANTS: The reported work has been done in collaboration with: Dr. R.Wayne Skaggs, Dr. Robert O. Evans, Dr. G.M. (Chip) Chescheir, and Mr. Brian Philips, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University; Dr. Bernd Lennartz, Dr. Sigrid Kohne, and Mrs. Iris Bechtold, Land Use Institute, Faculty of Land Use and Agricultural Science, Rostock University, Germany; Dr. Mark B. David, Dr. Gregory McIsaac, and Dr. X. Hu, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois; Dr. Christina Tonitto, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University; William J. Parton, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University; L.E. Marshall, World Resource Institute, Washington, DC.; S.J. Del Grosso,USDA-ARS, Natural Resources Research Center, Fort Collins, CO; Mr. Osvaldo Salazar, Dr. Ingrid Wesstrom, and Dr. Abrahan Joel, Department of Soil Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. TARGET AUDIENCES: 1. State and Federal Agencies that need the outcome of this research to develop policies and regulations to conserve water and reduce nutrient losses to surface and ground waters. 2. Drainage Researchers who conduct research on the effects of drainage design and management on crop productivity and water quality. 3. Practicing Engineers and drainage contractors who design and install drainage systems in poorly drained soils.

Impacts
The methods and models that are being developed in this research program can be effectively used to design crop production systems on drained lands that meet both crop production and water quality objectives. The DRAINMOD-N II model can be used to study the long term effects of drainage design and management, cropping systems, N fertilizer management practices, and plant residue management and tillage practices on C and N dynamics in the soil-water-plant system and the subsequent impact on N losses from drained soils to surface waters. There has been increasing interest among drainage scientists and engineers to use DRAINMOD-N II. The model has been or being applied in the US Midwest, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, and Egypt.

Publications

Bechtold, I., S. Kohne, M.A. Youssef, B. Lennartz, R.W. Skaggs. 2007. Simulating nitrogen leaching and turnover in a subsurface-drained grassland receiving animal manure in Northern Germany using DRAINMOD-N II. Agricultural Water Management 93: 30-44.