Fan et al. (2026) Three‐Dimensional Simulation of Tile Drainage System for Farmland: Quantifying Tile Drainage Impacts on Hydrological Cycle

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-01
• Authors: Jiawei Fan, Kaiyu Guan, Bin Peng, Mengqi Jia, Zewei Ma, Xingyuan Chen, Glenn Hammond, Matthew Helmers, Ming Pan
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr042164

Research Groups

[Not specified in provided text]

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of tile drainage design—specifically depth and spacing—on evapotranspiration (ET) and water budgeting in an Iowa corn field using an enhanced PFLOTRAN model. The results indicate that tile depth significantly influences ET and surface runoff, whereas tile spacing has a minimal effect.

Objective

• To quantify the effects of tile drainage design parameters on hydrological dynamics and evapotranspiration (ET) to optimize water management in agricultural settings.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field scale (Iowa corn site).
• Temporal Scale: Critical vegetative-stage period.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: PFLOTRAN (enhanced with a newly developed ET module), HYDRUS (used for validation).
• Data sources: Experimental site data and simulations.

Main Results

• ET Impact: Tile drainage increased ET by approximately 16% compared to undrained scenarios.
• Depth Influence: Reducing drain depth from 1.2 m to 0.76 m resulted in a ~78% reduction in tile flow, a ~10% decrease in ET, and a substantial increase in surface runoff.
• Spacing Influence: Varying tile spacing between 10.8 m and 27 m had a negligible impact on ET (<2%) and a secondary influence on other water budget components compared to depth.
• Optimization: A design of 1.2 m depth and $\ge$18 m spacing was identified as optimal based on a framework balancing ET deficit (Potential ET – ET) and economic cost.

Contributions

• Developed and validated an ET module for the PFLOTRAN model.
• Proposed a decision-making framework for drainage design based on ET deficit and economic cost.
• Contributed to the development of a site-adaptable digital twin framework for optimizing agricultural water management.

Funding

[Not specified in provided text]

Citation

@article{Fan2026ThreeDimensional,
  author = {Fan, Jiawei and Guan, Kaiyu and Peng, Bin and Jia, Mengqi and Ma, Zewei and Chen, Xingyuan and Hammond, Glenn and Helmers, Matthew and Pan, Ming},
  title = {Three‐Dimensional Simulation of Tile Drainage System for Farmland: Quantifying Tile Drainage Impacts on Hydrological Cycle},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr042164},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042164}
}