Modeling Conservation Drainage Practices with DRAINMOD. Part 1: Model Calibration

The hydrologic and water quality impacts of subsurface drainage design and management practices are being investigated through field and simulation studies throughout the northern Corn Belt. Six years of data from an ongoing field study in south central Minnesota (Sands et al., 2008) were used to support a modeling effort with DRAINMOD-NII to investigate: (1) the performance of the model in a region where soils are subject to seasonal freeze-thaw and (2) the long-term hydrologic and water quality characteristics of conventional and alternative subsurface drainage practices.