New water-conserving irrigation technologies are vital in arid countries. We investigated the effects of (i) soil substrates made of Smart Capillary Barrier Wick (SCB-W), consisting of silt loam blocks surrounded by sand-sheathes and irrigated with a sand wick cylinder (WC) as compared to a control (homogenous soil irrigated by the same wick system, HW), (ii) WC diameters (2.54 cm vs. 1.27 cm), and (iii) 2-cm sand mulch layer on soil–water dynamics during wetting–drying cycles. Field experiments with pots and HYDRUS (2D/3D) modeling were performed in two consecutive phases (with and without sand mulch). Analysis of variance at p < 0.05 was used to assess significant differences in measured water contents, θ , between the two substrates. For the wetting/drying cycles, the modeled and measured θ are in satisfactory/tolerable agreement, as documented by the model evaluation criteria, which are within acceptable ranges (the root mean squared error, RMSE 0.01–0.06; Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient, NSE 0.51–0.97, and Willmott index, d = 0.97–1). SCB-W wets the soil substrate about two times faster than HW during the wetting cycles ( p < 0.05). Reducing the WC diameter prolonged the wetting time by 1 and 2 days for SCB-W and HW, respectively, the same trend of two times faster wetting of SCB-W compared to HW was maintained. SCB-W showed higher θ storage (by 44.3–52.4%) at the bottom part of the composite than HW ( p < 0.05). The sand mulch layer reduced evaporation and resulted in 20 and 38.9% higher θ during the drying cycle for both the bottom and top sensors, respectively, in both substrates ( p < 0.05). SCB-W could improve water conservation in home gardens.

中文翻译：

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适用于干旱地区家庭花园的智能毛细管屏障-灯芯灌溉系统

新的节水灌溉技术在干旱国家至关重要。我们研究了 (i) 由 Smart Capillary Barrier Wick (SCB-W) 制成的土壤基质的影响，与对照（均质土壤）相比，土壤基质由被砂鞘包围并用砂芯筒（WC）灌溉的粉砂壤土块组成。由相同的灯芯系统灌溉，HW），（ii）WC 直径（2.54 厘米对 1.27 厘米），和（iii）2 厘米沙覆盖层在干湿循环期间对土壤-水动力学的影响。花盆和 HYDRUS (2D/3D) 建模的现场实验在两个连续阶段（有和没有沙子覆盖）进行。使用 p < 0.05 的方差分析来评估两种底物之间测得的水含量 θ 的显着差异。对于润湿/干燥循环，建模和测量的 θ 具有令人满意/可容忍的一致性，正如模型评估标准所记录的那样，它们在可接受的范围内（均方根误差，RMSE 0.01–0.06；Nash-Sutcliffe 系数，NSE 0.51–0.97，和 Willmott 指数，d = 0.97–1）。在润湿周期中，SCB-W 润湿土壤基质的速度大约是 HW 的两倍 (p < 0.05)。减小 WC 直径使 SCB-W 和 HW 的润湿时间分别延长了 1 天和 2 天，与 HW 相比，SCB-W 的润湿速度保持了两倍的相同趋势。SCB-W 在复合材料底部显示出比 HW 更高的 θ 存储（44.3-52.4%）（p < 0.05）。沙覆盖层减少了蒸发，并在干燥循环期间使底部和顶部传感器的 θ 在两种基质中分别增加了 20% 和 38.9%（p < 0.05）。SCB-W 可以改善家庭花园的节水效果。