• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.289-298
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• 1997

Time-consuming experiments have been required in the development of neutron moisture gauge to induce a relation between the water content in soil and the neutron counts. Applying a monte carlo computer code to simulate the experiments of neutron moisture gauging may contribute to reduce time and efforts for experiments and produce a calibration equation which is more applicable to soil in general. In this study MCNP4A, a monte carlo computer code, was employed to simulate soil experiments and the simulated results were compared with experimental ones. The comparative study showed that MCNP4A is applicable to simulate the experiments and calibration equation can be obtained through simulations. Effects of dry density changes were also studied.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.213-220
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• 1982

Soil water changes in lysimeters with four different soils and two different available soil depths were monitored during the growing seasons of the soybean-barley cropping from 1977 to 1980 in Suweon to evaluate evapotranspiration (ET) as a function of available soil water and evaporative demand of the atmosphere. ET was calculated with soil water profile and water balance. Soil water content was measured with a neutron moisture depth gauage and The evaporative demand of the atmosphere was estimated with a class A pan evaporation. Rainfall. solar radiation, and wind speed were observed to examine heat and water balances. The average ET of soybeans ranged from 1.6 mm/day at seedling to 6.5 mm/day at flowering, and that of barley ranged from 0.5 mm/day at the regrowth stage to 4.6 mm/day at heading; however, a large variability was observed. The ratio of ET to pan evaporation ($ET/E_o$) ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 for soybeans and 0.4 to 1.2 for barley. The soil evaporation factor ($K_e$) of the $ET/E_o$ component decreased as the soil water depleted and the canopy developed. The crop transpiration factor ($K_t$), another component of $ET/E_o$, also was a function of time and the soil water. $K_t$ was constant when the available soil water fraction (f) in the root zone was greater than a threshold value, and $K_e$ was decreased linearly when f was lower than this threshold. The threshold was 0.7 for the moderate evaporative demand days, 0.4 to 0.5 for the low evaporative demand days, and 0.9 to 0.96 for the high evaporative demand days. Conclusively, the ET can be estimated from the evaporative demand of the atmosphere, $E_o$, $K_e$ and $K_t$, and the available soil water content in the root zone.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.386-408
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• 1988

A study was conducted to develop a model for estimating evapotranspiration and yield of Chinese cabbages from meteorological factors from 1981 to 1986 in Suweon, Korea. Lysimeters with water table maintained at 50cm depth were used to measure the potential evapotranspiration and the maximum evapotranspiration in situ. The actual evapotranspiration and the yield were measured in the field plots irrigated with different soil moisture regimes of -0.2, -0.5, and -1.0 bars, respectively. The soil water content throughout the profile was monitored by a neutron moisture depth gauge and the soil water potentials were measured using gypsum block and tensiometer. The fresh weight of Chinese cabbages at harvest was measured as yield. The data collected in situ were analyzed to obtain parameters related to modeling. The results were summarized as followings: 1. The 5-year mean of potential evapotranspiration (PET) gradually increased from 2.38 mm/day in early April to 3.98 mm/day in mid-June, and thereafter, decreased to 1.06 mm/day in mid-November. The estimated PET by Penman, Radiation or Blanney-Criddle methods were overestimated in comparison with the measured PET, while those by Pan-evaporation method were underestimated. The correlation between the estimated and the measured PET, however, showed high significance except for July and August by Blanney-Criddle method, which implied that the coefficients should be adjusted to the Korean conditions. 2. The meteorological factors which showed hgih correlation with the measured PET were temperature, vapour pressure deficit, sunshine hours, solar radiation and pan-evaporation. Several multiple regression equations using meteorological factors were formulated to estimate PET. The equation with pan-evaporation (Eo) was the simplest but highly accurate. PET = 0.712 + 0.705Eo 3. The crop coefficient of Chinese cabbages (Kc), the ratio of the maximum evapotranspiration (ETm) to PET, ranged from 0.5 to 0.7 at early growth stage and from 0.9 to 1.2 at mid and late growth stages. The regression equation with respect to the growth progress degree (G), ranging from 0.0 at transplanting day to 1.0 at the harvesting day, were: $$Kc=0.598+0.959G-0.501G^2$$ for spring cabbages $$Kc=0.402+1.887G-1.432G^2$$ for autumn cabbages 4. The soil factor (Kf), the ratio of the actual evapotranspiration to the maximum evapotranspiration, showed 1.0 when the available soil water fraction (f) was higher than a threshold value (fp) and decreased linearly with decreasing f below fp. The relationships were: Kf=1.0 for $$f{\geq}fp$$ Kf=a+bf for f$$I{\leq}Esm$$ Es = Esm for I > Esm 6. The model for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was based on the water balance neglecting capillary rise as: ETa=PET. Kc. Kf+Es 7. The model for estimating relative yield (Y/Ym) was selected among the regression equations with the measured ETa as: Y/Ym=a+bln(ETa) The coefficients and b were 0.07 and 0.73 for spring Chinese cabbages and 0.37 and 0.66 for autumn Chinese cabbages, respectively. 8. The estimated ETa and Y/Ym were compared with the measured values to verify the model established above. The estimated ETa showed disparities within 0.29mm/day for spring Chinese cabbages and 0.19mm/day for autumn Chinese cabbages. The average deviation of the estimated relative yield were 0.14 and 0.09, respectively. 9. The deviations between the estimated values by the model and the actual values obtained from three cropping field experiments after the completion of the model calibration were within reasonable confidence range. Therefore, this model was validated to be used in practical purpose.