Comparison of HYDRUS-3D Soil Moisture Simulations of Subsurface Drip Irrigation with Experimental Observations in the South of France

The purpose of the present research, was evaluating the performance of HYDRUS-3D model for simulating soil moisture under field conditions for corn and durum wheat in a Mediterranean climate. Furthermore, the PILOTE model was also used for accounting root water extraction. Soil moisture at different depths was measured by a neutron probe before irrigation. Observed soil moisture values were compared with simulated data using statistical indices i.e., the root mean square error (RMSE) and the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE). The ranges of water content NRMSE were between 6.3 and 7.5%. The performance of the model based on calculated NRMSE values have been placed in the excellent category for simulation of the soil water content. Ranges of RMSE were obtained between 0.0174 and 0.0190 cm(3) cm(-3), though the values are very low. The results of these two statistical indices indicated the high ability of the model in simulating soil water content. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.