On Thursday December 5th Dr. Xinhua Jia presented her research results
from previous and current projects related to subsurface drainage/irrigation. Dr. Jia presented these results at the 2013
Annual Meeting and Tradeshow held by the Minnesota Association of Watershed
Districts (MAWD) in Alexandria, MN.
In addition to presenting results/findings from her
projects, Dr. Xinhua Jia, along with two of her graduate students (Kelsey
Kolars and Kyle Horntvedt), helped to set up, explain, and demonstrate
subsurface drainage/irrigation through the use of a couple 3D models which
allowed the team and observers to physically change the state of the system to
simulate field conditions (i.e. high water tables which induce drainage, low
water tables which allow for irrigation, controlled drainage which helps to
manage the water table at a specific depth). The props were aimed to help
landowners/farmers better understand the
principles behind subsurface drainage/irrigation and the specific properties of
water which make subsurface drainage/irrigation such a success (i.e. the
ability to manage the groundwater/water table).
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| Dr. Xinhua Jia demonstrating how the model works |
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| Dr. Xinhua Jia describing how the water tanks (clear blue containers) represent a sump located in the field |
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| Front view of two models used to describe/demonstrate subsurface drainage/irrigation |
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All smiles around the subsurface drainage/irrigation models
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