نشریه علوم آب و خاک (علوم و فنون کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی)
سال نوزدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 73، پاییز 1394)

In order to increase the distribution uniformity of sprinkler irrigation systems، some influential parameters such as wind speed، arrangement، space and type of sprinklers must be studied and controlled. In this study، a set of experiments were conducted based on ISO 7749/2 (1990) standard to evaluate the ADF 250 and Nelson، F80APV sprinklers. To study the effects of wind velocity، operating pressure، various sprinkler layouts and spacing on water distribution uniformity، the experiments were conducted based on a single sprinkler method. Four operating pressures in the range of one recommended by the manufacturer for each sprinkler were applied and three sprinklers’ spaces on lateral pipelines (22، 26، and 30 m) were simulated for square and rectangular layouts to estimate the water distribution uniformity. Results showed that the distribution uniformity of Nelson sprinkler in existing wind velocities and operating pressures had smaller changes than ADF sprinkler. The 4. 5 bar pressure for ADF sprinkler was better than other pressures، and operating pressures for Nelson sprinkler did not have any significant effect on distribution uniformity. With the decrease of sprinkler spacing to the wetting diameter in the simulated space، uniformity coefficient was increased. The recommended sprinkler spacing to the wetting diameter for these sprinklers ranged from 0. 4 to 0. 5 for square and rectangular layouts.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widespread endosymbionts in terrestrial ecosystems and their exudates have important effects on soil properties. A greenhouse experiment was conducted with six AMF treatments including four exotic species inoculums (Funneliformis mosseae، Claroideoglomus claroideum and Rhizophagus irregularis and a mixed isolate of three species)، one mixed native AMF species treatment and a sterilized soil (control) with four salinity levels (1، 5، 10 and 15 dS m-1). AMF increased the soil (EEG) and total (TG) extractable glomalin، and also the hot water (HWC) and diluted acid (DAC) extractable carbohydrates compared to control treatment in all salinity levels. The native AMF species had the greatest effects on EEG، TG، HWC and DAC at 10 and 15 dS m-1. Soil EEG and TG concentrations were higher in the mixed exotic AMF treatment than in each AMF species. The greatest glomalin concentration was related to F. mosseae at 1، 5 and 15 dS m-1 but at 10 dS m-1 the greatest glomalin concentration was related to C. claroideum. The greatest carbohydrate concentration was related to F. mosseae at 1 and 5 dS m-1 but at 15 dS m-1 significant differences were observed among the three AMF species. Our results showed that there is an interaction between salinity and different AMF species، and a combination of them determines the function of AMF.

Rainfall- runoff modeling and river discharge forecasting are an important step toward flood management and control, design of hydraulic structures in basins and drought management. The purpose of this study was simulating the daily flows in the Navrud watershed using WetSpa model. WetSpa is a hydrological- physical model that can predict flood on the watershed scale with different time steps. This model uses topography, land use and soil texture layers and also, the daily meteorological data to predict the flow hydrograph. In this study, the data of 4 stations (Khlyan, Khrjgyl, Gavkhs, Nav) during the water years 2006-2011 were used. 36 months from September 2006 and 36 months from September 2009 to September 2011 were selected for calibration and test of model, respectively. Simulation results of WetSpa model showed that this model simulates river Daily flow using collective measures of 0.63 and 0.61 in calibration and test periods, respectively. According to this result, it can be stated that the model estimates peak discharge and flow volume in both periods very well. Also, this model could simulate well the water balance of Navrud Basin.

The sorption and desorption of fluoride by soil can play an important role in the transport of fluoride in soil. The study was conducted on the soil from Isfahan University of Technology research station site (two depths of 0-30 and 30- 60 cm). Fluoride sorption reactions were examined by equilibrating 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg L-1 NaF solution with soils for 23 hr. The desorption experiments were performed using 0.03 mol L-1 NaCL solutions immediately following the completion of sorption experiments. The sorption isotherms of F were well described by the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The n values for Freundlich isotherm were 0.57 and 0.55 for two depths of the studied soil, respectively. The kF values for Freundlich isotherm were 0.026 and 0.025 mg (1-n) Ln g-1 for two depths, respectively. Maximum monolayer sorption capacities (q max) were obtained to be 0.4 and 0.35 mg g-1 for 1 and 2 layers of the studied soil, respectively. The desorption isotherms of F were well described by the Freundlich model. The fitted model parameters’ (kF and n) values for desorption branches were larger than these values for sorption branches. Also, the results showed a positive hysteresis (ndesrb Ksorb). It seems fluoride sorption to be reversible.

Keywords: Fluoride, Sorption, Desorption, Hysteresis, Langmuir, Freundlich

Salinity and nutrient deficiency particularly nitrogen are two important limiting factors for yield production in arid and semi-arid regions. The objective of this study was to model basil response to combined salinity and nitrogen deficiency. To that end, modified Leibig-Sprengel (LS) and modified Mitcherlich-Baule (MB) and also some newly derived models based on combination of MB with salinity models of Maas and Hoffman (31), van Genuchten and Hoffman (36), Dirksen and Augustijn (17) and Homaee et al., (23) were evaluated. The experiment was conducted under four salinities including 1.175, 3, 5, and 8 dSm-1 and four nitrogen levels including 100, 75, 50, and 0 percent of fertilizer requirements each with three replicates. Results indicated that from among the evaluated models, the derived models of MB and Maas and Hoffman (MB-MH) (nRMSE=4.9), MB and van Genuchten and Hoffman (MB-VG) (nRMSE=5.4), and also MB and Homaee et al., (MB-H) (nRMSE=7.0) provide best fits to the measured data. Also, the comparison of two modified LS and MB models indicated that the estimated relative yield for irrigation water salinity levels by modified LS model (nRMSE=4.6) provides better results (nRMSE=5.9). However, for soil nitrogen levels and interactive effects of salinity and nitrogen, the modified MB model (nRMSE=10.3) provided better outputs (nRMSE=14.4). Consequently, instead of the modified LS and MB models the proposed models in this research can be recommended for use.

In order to evaluate the effect of urban wastewater and different fertilizer sources on macro and micro nutrient's concentration and shoot dry weight of sugar beet, a field experiment was arranged as a split plot in RCBD design with three replications at Research Station of Shahrekord University in 2013. The main factors included irrigation with urban wastewater at 2-4 leaf stage and 8-12 leaf stage, and irrigation with normal water (control). The four types of fertilizer included sheep manure, spent mushroom compost, chemical fertilizer and no fertilizer (control) in the sub-plot. The results showed that the plot irrigated with urban wastewater at 8-12 leaf stage significantly increased leaf number and shoot dry weight of sugar beet compared to the plot irrigated with tap water. Besides, the plot irrigated with urban wastewater at 8-12 leaf stage had a significant effect on the elements of N, P and K concentration in shoot dry weight of sugar beet, but the plot irrigated with urban wastewater did not significantly affect the elements of Fe and Zn concentration. From among the fertilizer treatments, the maximum shoot dry weight and leaf number per plant belonged to the application of sheep manure and also the highest elements of Fe and Zn concentrations belonged to the treatment of spent mushroom compost.

Surface runoff is one of the main causes of erosion and loss of soil fertility, sedimentation in reservoirs and reduction of river water quality. Therefore, the accurate prediction of basin response to precipitation events is very important. Hydrological models are simplified views of the actual watershed systems that can help study watershed functions in response to various inputs, and understand hydrological processes better. Due to the variety of Rainfall - Runoff models, choosing a suitable model for the basin is important for water resource planning and management. Thus, the abilities and limitations of basin hydrological models are important to consider in the selection of model. In this study, the performance of IHACRES model in daily runoff simulation of Navroud basin was investigated using evaluation criteria of Nash – Sutcliffe Index (NSH) and the mean total error and the data of Khlyan and Khrjgyl stations during the Water years 2006 - 2011. 36 months from September 2006 and 36 months from September 2009 to September 2011 were selected for calibration and test of model, respectively. Finally, results showed that Nash – Sutcliffe Index and Bias in calibration stage were 0.57 and 8/53, respectively and in verification stage, they were 0.48 and 14/9, respectively. So, the used model has an acceptable accuracy in simulating the studied basin flow.

Determining the spatial distribution of different contaminants in soil is essential for the pollution assessment and risk control. Interpolation methods are widely used to estimate the concentrations of the heavy metals in the unstudied sites. In this study, the performances of interpolation methods (inverse distance weighting, local polynomials and ordinary Kriging and radial basis functions) were evaluated to estimate the topsoil contamination with copper and nickel in Golestan Province. 216 surface soil samples were collected from Golestan province, and their Cu and Ni concentrations were measured. Soil contamination was determined using different interpolation methods. Cross validation was applied to compare the methods and estimate their accuracy. The results showed that all the tested interpolation methods have an acceptable prediction accuracy of the mean content for soil heavy metals. RBF-IMQ and IDW1 methods had the lowest RMSE, whereas RBF-TPS method with the largest RMSE estimated a larger size for the polluted area. The greater the weighting power, the larger the polluted area estimated by IDW. Compared with the ‘‘sample ratio over the pollution limits” method, the polluted areas of Cu and Ni were reduced by 8.38% and 6.14%, respectively.

Physical, chemical, and microscopic properties together with mineralogy are among useful techniques for dating and paleoclimatological interpretation and identification of varnishes. The present research was performed to evaluate the application of stone varnish in dating and landform development investigations in southern dry lands of Giroft area, Kerman Province. The mantled pediment was identified and divided into stable, unstable and moderately stable surfaces due to the type of geological sediments and stone varnish properties. Varnished stones were collected and their physico-chemical properties, petrography and scanning electron microscope characteristics, and clay mineralogy on geomorphic surfaces were studied. Silicon, Al, Fe, and Ca were the dominant elements found in stone varnishes of the area and varnish thickness varied from 100 to 600µm on different stones studied. The results of cation ratio (Ca + K)/Ti showed that the samples from stable surface were older than those on moderately stable and unstable surfaces. Clay coating and infilling were also observed on stones of stable surfaces. Chlorite, illite, palygorskite, smectite, kaolinite and sepiolite clay minerals were found in varnishes studied. Besides, scanning electron microscope images clearly showed layer morphology of rock varnish. The results of the research proved the potential of stone varnish application in relative dating investigations of different geomorphic surfaces in Giroft area.

Earthworms are an important component of soil fauna because of their fundamental impact on soil physical, chemical and biological properties. To evaluate the effects of earthworms on some soil chemical properties as well as plant growth indicators, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design in greenhouse conditions. The first factor involved the presence or absence of earthworms (Eisenia foetida), the second factor was different organic matter including control (no organic materials), pruning waste compost of apple and grape (PWC), wheat straw (WS), Herbal extracts waste (HE), pruning waste (PW) and the third factor was the presence or absence of corn plant for evaluating rhizosphere soil. At the end of growing period, some soil chemical properties including total nitrogen, organic carbon, ammonium, nitrate and plant growth indicators were measured. The results showed that application of organic matter and earthworm inoculation had significant effects on soil chemical properties. The pruning waste compost (PWC) treatment showed the largest impact on ammonium and nitrate content (1.7 and 3.3 times compared to control treatment, respectively). In pruning waste compost (PWC) treatment, organic carbon amount in rhizospheric soil increased from 0.9 at non-rhizosphere to 1.32 %. The presence of earthworm improved plant growth parameters including shoot and root dry weight by 34% and 30%, respectively, compared to earthworm absence condition. Soil ammonium and nitrate contents at earthworm presence increased 32% and 49%, respectively. Therefore, application of organic matter with earthworm inoculation had better results in comparison with no earthworm inoculation.

In order to investigate the effect of different levels of irrigation on qualitative and quantitative yield and determine the corn's optimum depth of Irrigation in sShahrekord, a randomized complete block design experiment was done with 7 treatments including 40, 55, 70, 85, 100, 115 and 130 percent of soil moisture deficit and three replications in furrow irrigation. Effects of irrigation levels on yield, water use efficiency, weight of dry matter, plant height, stem diameter, median diameter, length and weight of corn were significant. Different levels of irrigation had no significant effect on seed oil and protein content, but their impact on plant fiber content was significant. With increasing depth of irrigation, stem length, grain weight and plant fiber content increased. The minimum and maximum corn yield were related to 40 and 130% of full irrigation with the yield of 43.1 and 88.1 tons per hectare, respectively. The maximum and minimum use efficiencies were 55 and 130% of full irrigation treatments with values ​​of 16.17 and 10.1 Kg per cubic meter, respectively. The result of economic analysis showed that the water consumption is 5/582 mm, equivalent to 86% full irrigation depth.

Petroleum pollution is an important environmental issue in most countries especially those with an oil industry. To study the effect of petroleum pollution on soil water repellency and its relation to soil structural stability, this study was conducted in Bakhtiardasht area, Isfahan. Polluted and adjacent non-polluted locations were selected to be representative in the green space around the Isfahan Oil Refinery. Soil water repellency was assessed using water drop penetration time (WDPT) in the polluted locations. Soil samples with the least aggregate disturbance were collected and their physical and chemical properties were measured. Soil structural stability was evaluated using the wet-sieving method and mechanically dispersible clay (MDC); structural stability indices of mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric weight diameter (GMD) of aggregates and MDC were then calculated. Results showed that the positive effect of petroleum pollution on the MWD and GMD was significant. Negative impact of petroleum pollution on MDC was also significant. Increment of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) increased soil water repellency. A positive correlation was observed between water repellency and GMD in the soil. Although greater soil water repellency increased MWD and GMD and decreased MDC in the polluted locations compared with control locations, the diminished water retention of polluted soil created an unfavorable condition for the green space in the area.

Rainfall-runoff modeling and prediction of river discharge is one important parameter in flood control and management, hydraulic structure design, and drought management. The goal of this study is simulating the daily discharge in Kasilian watershed by using WetSpa model and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The WetSpa model is a distributed hydrological and physically based model, which is able to predict flood on the watershed scale with various time intervals. The ANFIS is a black box model which has attracted the attention of many researchers. The digital maps of topography, land use, and soil type are 3 base maps used in the model for the prediction of daily discharge while intelligent models use available hydrometric and meteorological station's data. The results of WetSpa model showed that this model can simulate the river base flow with Nash- Sutcliff criteria of 64 percent in the validation period, but shows less accuracy with flooding discharges. The reason for this result can be the small and short Travel time noted. This model can simulate the water balance in Kasilian watershed as well. The sensitivity analysis showed that groundwater flow recession and rainfall degree-day parameters have the highest and lowest effect on the results, respectively. Also, ANFIS with the inputs of rainfall 1-day lag and evaporation 1-day lag, with Nash-Sutcliff criteria of 80, was superior to WetSpa model with Nash-Sutcliff criteria of 24 percent in the validation period.

The rainfall-runoff process and flooding are hydrological phenomena that are difficult to study due to the influence of different parameters. So far, different methods and models have been provided to analyze these phenomena. The purpose of this study is evaluation of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for storm runoff coefficient forecasting. To that end, Barariyeh watershed was chosen in Neishabour and the data of 33 events were collected from 1952 to 2006. Factor analysis (FA) was used for determination of independent variables in storm runoff coefficient forecasting. Four variables were selected as independent variables, including average rainfall, third, first and fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity and also five other variables included φ index and first to fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity. Other variables combined based on their hydrological role were considered as ANFIS inputs. The results revealed that the ANFIS inputs including first to fourth quartiles of rainfall intensity, φ index, and total rainfall of five days before can predict storm runoff coefficient with R2=0.91, RMSE=0.02506, MAE=0.0666 and CE=0.87.

Cadmium (Cd) is a metal with high toxicity and solubility in water, which is a serious environmental threat to human health. Phytoremediation is an environment-friendly method and a promising new and cost effective technology that uses plants to clean organic and inorganic contaminated media. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of Jatropha curcas for remediation of soils contaminated with Cd. Seedlings were planted in the soil spiked with Cd in amounts of 0, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 mg kg-1 (Cd0, Cd25, Cd50, Cd75, Cd100 and Cd150) for a period of five months. Biocentration factor (BCF, metal concentration ratio of plant roots to soil), translocation factor (TF, metal concentration ratio of plant shoots to soil) and removal efficiency (RE, total metal removed by plant biomass to total metal loaded in soil) were determined. Cd concentrations among plant parts were in the following trend: roots>stems>leaves. The highest total Cd concentration (up to 1100 mg kg-1) and the highest RE were found in Cd150 and Cd25, respectively. BCF and TF of the plant were more and less than 1, respectively. Hence, although this species has a potential to be used in phytostabilization of Cd-contaminated soil, more researches in the field condition are needed.

This study was conducted to determine some mineral content concentrations in soils and plants of three elevation classes (1500, 2200 and 3000m) and two phenological stages of flowering and seedling in north facing slopes of Sabalan rangelands. Soil samples from the depth of 20cm and plant samples using 1×1m plots with 10 replications were collected. After sample preparation, the concentrations of minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, ion, copper, zinc and magnesium were determined using spectrophotometer and flame photometer. Data was analyzed by SAS9.1 software using a Completely Randomized Design with a Generalized Linear Model procedure. Results showed that elevation had a significant effect on Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn of soil and P, Na, K, Mg and Mn of plants in the study areas (P≤0.05). Growing stages had a significant effect on all elements of plants except Ca (P≤0.05). Moreover, results showed that in three elevation classes the high demand mineral's concentrations were higher at the starting seedling stage in comparison with the flowering stage. In contrast, the low demand mineral's concentrations in three elevation sites were higher in the flowering stage in comparison with seedling stage. Interaction effect of elevation and growing stage was also significant in relation to all elements except Ca (P≤0.05).

Spatial estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) rates is essential for agriculture and water resources management. This study aimed to estimate ET v an ET estimation algorithm called Surface Energy Balance Algorithms for Land (SEBAL) and also by using TM June 2009 satellite data in Damaneh region of Isfahan province. To calculate the ET, all the energy balance components and related parameters including net radiation, surface albedo, incoming and emitting shortwave and longwave radiation, surface emissivity, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux, NDVI vegetation index, Leaf Area Index(LAI), and surface temperature were extracted from the geometrically and radiometrically corrected TM images. Results showed that ET rate was about 7.2 mm day-1 in agricultural areas, which was almost equal to 6.99 mm day-1 extracted from the FAO Penman-Monteith method in the synoptic weather station of Daran. Results here indicate that the extraction of ET rate which is almost equal to plant water requirements from remote sensing data can be used in selecting appropriate plants for agriculture and rehabilitation purposes in extensive arid and semi-arid regions of Isfahan province where severe droughts and water shortage are major problems.

The present study was conducted to isolate and identify phosphorus solubilizing fungi and to evaluate their ability through a qualitative and quantitative experiment. An experiment was carried out with 5 soil samples of Koh- Sepid Lar, Kohgyloyeh and Boyer Ahmad province. The ability of isolates was studied in solid and liquid cultures. Quantitative experiment consisted of blank, four fungi isolates and Aspergilus niger, with 3 replications. Two fungi that showed the highest potential in P solubilization were used for identification by ITS- PCR methods. Four of the fungi produced very clear zone on the Pikovskaya culture. The order of soluble P content in the liquid culture was: blank< fungi 4< fungi 3< fungi 2< Aspergilus niger< fungi 1. Two high potential isolates, 1 and 2, were Cladosporium cladosporioides and Eupenicillium rubidurum, respectively. This is the first report about the potential of these fungi to solubilize P.

This study was conducted to determine some mineral content concentration in soil and plant of three elevation classes (1500, 2200 and 3000m) and two phenological stages of flowering and seedling start in north-facing slopes of Sabalan rangelands. Soil samples from the depth of 20cm and plant samples using 1×1m plots with 10 replications were collected. After sample preparation, the concentrations of minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, ion, copper, zinc and magnesium were determined using spectrophotometer and flame photometer. Data was analyzed by SAS9.1 software using Completely Randomized Design with a Generalized Linear Model procedure. Results showed that elevation had a significant effect on Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn of soil and P, Na, K, Mg and Mn of plants in the study areas (P≤0.05). Growing stages had a significant effect on all elements of plants except Ca (P≤0.05). Moreover, results showed that in three elevation classes the high demand minerals’ concentration was higher at the starting seedling stage in comparison with the flowering stage. In contrast, the low demand minerals’ concentration in three elevation sites was higher in the flowering stage in comparison with seedling stage. Interaction effect of elevation and growing stage was also significant in relation to all elements except Ca (P≤0.05).

To improve the engineering properties of fine-grained soils, the use of various additives has always been considered important. In this study, the effect of hydrated lime on compressive strength of clay soils was studied in both optimum moisture and saturated modes. For this purpose, by adding varying amounts of hydrated lime (0, 1, 3and 5%) to the clay, several samples were prepared and tested by the standard proctor and Harvard miniature compaction apparatus. Then the samples were tested for unconfined compressive strength in optimum moisture and saturated modes after different curing days (7, 14, 28 and 90 days). The results showed that by increasing the amount of hydrated lime, the maximum dry unit weight was reduced and the optimum moisture was increased. Increasing the hydrated lime also increased the compressive strength of the soil in both dry and saturated modes and this resistance increase was significantly influenced by cured days and the amounts of hydrated lime. The results showed that the rate of 5% hydrated lime was the maximum compressive strength, but with regard to softening factor, the amount of 3% hydrated lime was determined as the optimum value.

Side weir is the structure to evacuate extra water from a canal when level of water rises. This structure is mounted on the wall of canal. It is used predominantly to set flow in irrigation and drainage systems or urban wastewater harvesting systems. Implementing guide vanes is a simple way to increase side weir efficiency. In this study, the effect of using guide vanes on discharge and discharge coefficient of rectangular sharp-crested side weirs was investigated. ADV instrument was applied for recording vertical velocity over the crest of side weir. Local discharge was calculated by vertical velocity data for both conditions of presence and no presence of guide vanes. Results showed that in both cases, increasing the Froude number results in the decrease of passing discharge and discharge coefficient of the rectangular sharp-crested side weir. Data analysis also showed that by increasing the Froude number, guide vanes have more effect on increasing discharge coefficient and local discharge. The local discharge increased along the crest and the most passing local discharge occurred near the end of the side weir. Analysis indicates that using guide vanes leads to the increase of discharge coefficient by about 32%.

A laboratory research program was arranged to study the effect of different factors influencing the stability of fine soils against wind action. For this purpose, a laboratory wind tunnel was stabilized and several soil samples were examined by putting the sample trays inside the wind tunnel for different rates of wind velocities. The tray for soil samples was 20´30 cm2 with the depth of 5 cm, and the fine soil samples were chosen with different sizes of particle and porosity. Because the main aim of this research was to investigate the effect of some polymer additives to the soil, many samples were made of the soils improved by different additives in different percentages. Furthermore, the effect of infiltration of the liquid additives was also examined, which could show different infiltration heights as functions of soil type, additive type and the height of pouring. Some of the results were examined by using software. The lab results in this research were compared with some proposed theoretical ones. It was found that as the average diameter of particles increases, erodibility under the same wind velocity decreases, and the applied polymer emulsions decrease the erodibility up to 90% compared to the initial condition. Impacts of dust emission due to the suspended dispersion of fine particles and creeping movements of coarse particles are mitigated as a result of treatment with these emulsions. Variations in erosion of soils at various wind velocities depend on the value of threshold friction velocity with the result that the soil erosion values in case of coarser soils after the increase in velocity would be higher than those of threshold friction velocity. Finally, a relationship is proposed for estimation of soil erosion in terms of wind velocity. The results are consistent with the transport rate relationships proposed by different scholars.

Due to the time and space changes of hydrological events in the arid and semi-arid regions, recharge measurement in these areas is very difficult. Hence, groundwater recharge is a complicated phenomenon for which there is not a fixed method to determine. The aim of this research was to develop a method for estimation of groundwater recharge based on a hybrid method. In this study, a hybrid method for calculating recharge was presented by combining empirical methods with a mathematical model, MODFLOW, and AHP analysis. The results showed that the most important parameters affecting groundwater recharge are soil properties, unsaturated thickness, land cover, land slope, irrigation and precipitation, from which the soil properties and precipitation are most important. The results showed that the overall impact of small changes in precipitation and temperature significantly affect the groundwater recharge, and heavy soils are much more sensitive to these changes than light soils. By changing 10% precipitation, the recharge rate is changed between 16% and 77% and by changing 1ºC temperature, the recharge rate is changed between 6% and 42%. Also, results showed that precipitation and evapotranspiration changes in four months including December, January, February and March had significant effects on annual recharge rate. Using the results of this research, the vulnerable areas of the plain, appropriate places and time for artificial recharge could be identified. Overall, the results of this study can be useful in various aspects of groundwater management.

The aim of this study was to assess the kinetics of nonexcheangable potassium release in surface and subsurface soil horizons, using organic and inorganic extractions, in Kohgilouye-va-Boyerahmad Province. Kinetics of K+ release was studied by successive extractions of K from 64 selective surface and subsurface soil samples, using 0.01 M CaCl2 and 0.01 M oxalic acid, for 1948 h, with two replicates. Nonexchangeable K+ release was fitted by Elovich, Pseudo-first order, Power function and Parabolic equations. Result showed that the average nonexchangeable K+ released (extracted by 1M HNO3) was 356 mg/kg, while those extracted by CaCl2 and oxalic acid after 1948 h were only 58% and 52% of the total amount of nonexchangeable K+ of the soils, respectively. In all soil samples, nonexchangeable K+ released by oxalic acid was less than that released by CaCl2, due to the high buffering capacity resulting from high carbonates in the soils. Potassium release rate in Elovich and Parabolic equations were significantly correlated with non-exchangeable potassium and some physical and chemical characteristics. Based on high Coefficients of determination (r2) and low Standard errors (SE), Elovich, Power function, First order and Parabolic equations were selected as the best equations for prediction of K+ release from the soils.

Non-linear Muskingum model is an efficient method for flood routing. However, the efficiency of this method is influenced by three applied parameters. Therefore, efficiency assessment of Imperialist Competition Algorithm (ICA) to evaluate optimum parameters of non-linear Muskingum model was addressed in this study. In addition to ICA, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) were also used to find an available criterion to verify ICA. In this regard, ICA was applied for Wilson flood routing; then, routing of two flood events of DoAab Samsami River was investigated. In case of Wilson flood, the target function was considered as the sum of squared deviation (SSQ) of observed and calculated dischargem. Routing two other floods, in addition to SSQ, another target function was also considered as the sum of absolute deviations of observed and calculated discharge. For the first floodwater based on SSQ, GA indicated the best performance; however, ICA was in the first place, based on SAD. For the second floodwater, based on both target functions, ICA indicated a better operation. According to the obtained results, it can be said that ICA could be recommended as an appropriate method to evaluate the parameters of Muskingum non-linear model.