Application of SHE for irrigation-command-area studies in India

One of the key topics in irrigation engineering today is water management in irrigated command areas. This paper presents application of a comprehensive modeling approach based on the Systtme Hydrologique Europten (SHE), which allows an integrated modeling of all the relevant processes--overland flow, unsaturated zone flow, interception or evapotranspiration, ground-water flow, and river-channel flow to irrigation studies-at different scales ranging from a small plot to an entire command. Results of modeling studies the Barna command area in Madhya Pradesh, central India, are presented. The SHE simulated the advancing front of soil moisture as surface irrigation originated from the head end of a field, resulting in a nonuniform water distribution along the field. Furthermore, the effect of a shortage of water supply at the tail end of an irrigation canal was simulated. The study was carried out within the framework of an Indo-European project cooperation resulting in the transfer of the SHE technology to the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India.