69th SWCS International Annual Conference “Making Waves in Conservation: Our Life on Land and Its Impact on Water” July 27-30, 2014 Lombard, IL

1. the 69th Annual International Conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society
Making Waves in Conservation: Our Life On Land and its Impact on Water‐ Water Resources
Paper ID 97 : Assessing subsurface hardpan and pond
formation using feature extraction technique in a sandy
irrigation Scheme, Eastern Saudi
YOUSEF ALRUMIKHANI
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
P.O.BOX 6086. Riyadh 11442. Saudi Arabia
E‐Mial: byaalrumi2kacst.edu.sa
07/28/2014

2. Study Objectives.
I. To o draw an attention to the problem of water logging in irrigated agriculture in Saudi
Arabia.
II. To demonstrate the causes of water logging in the center pivot irrigation scheme.
III. To determine and affirm the presence and distribution of the subsurface hardpan; which is
the main cause of water logging in the affected irrigation scheme.
IV. TO develop an appropriate feature extracting technique that isolate the water logged
areas of the irrigation scheme for further analysis

3. Location and Problem Statement

4. The elevation of the ground surface topography is highly variable and
covered with light color sand dunes.
Geologically the area is part of the Arabian shelf with an undulating
topography dipping northeasterly; that confirms with the regional
trend.
The center pivot water logged irrigation scheme is
10 x 10 km2 (10000 ha.). It is located 47 km west of
the Arabian gulf coast.
The location and nature of irrigation scheme

5. Problem Statement:
The irrigation scheme consists of 79 center
pivots, each 1‐kilometer
diameter, utilized in grid patterns.
Original set up After water logging

8. Ponded Lakes

9. A5
A5
A6
A6
C6
C6
B5
B5
B6
B6
F5
F5
F6
F6
G6
G6
H6
H6
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
-400
-300
-200
-100
0
(depth in meters from sea level)
FORMATION TAPPED IN SHADCO WELLS
SECTION NO.3, SHOWING UMM ER RADHUMA
Irrigation Water Source
Cross Section showing Umm Er Radhuma Formation tapped in SHADCO wells

10. Sand Layer in Eastern Region is very thin With
a high infiltration rate of 30cm/hour.
Causes of Water logging in Irrigation Scheme.
1- Imprevious layer.
Excessive irrigation is required
because of high Evapotranspiration
rate
Due to excessive Irrigation, Water can not
percolate which results in the formation of
ponds in low lying areas.
Cross-section showing the Impervious Layer (Marl)
The preliminary excavation in several parts of
the project indicates a hard material
(hardpan) underlined the irrigation scheme and
causing the percolated irrigation water to rise
upwards forming water logged areas.

11. SOIL SAMPLING RESULTS
SOIL
SAMPLING
LOCATIONS
SAMPLING
DEPTHS.
Centimeters
0‐15
15‐30
30‐60
60‐90
Clay % Silt % Sand % Grade F.C % P.W.P % Available Water % Hydraulic Conductivity. Mete/day
5.4 13.5 81.1 Loamy sand 2.14 0.91 1.23 5
2‐ Soil Nature

12. 0‐15 CM DEPTH
30‐60 CM DEPTH
60‐90 CM DEPTH
Hydraulic Head. cm
Hydraulic Head. cmHydraulic Head. cm
Hydraulic Head. cm
Hydraulic Conductivity of Site Soil
(Permeability)
15‐30 CM DEPTH
SAMPLING
DEPTHS.
Centimeters
0‐15
15‐30
60‐90

13. WATER
PLANTS
SOIL
AREA OF INTREST
Spectral Range. nm
Pancromatic 450‐800
Blue 450‐510
Green 510‐580
Red 650‐690
Infra Red 780‐920
GeoEye‐1 Satellite Sensor (0.46m)
Date: 6/6/2011
Supervised Classification
Technique
‐ Training stage: collect spectra from
component.
‐Classification stage: assign each pixel into
a class
‐Output Stage: Result clean up and output
maps and statistics.
Feature Extraction Technique for the irrigation Scheme

14. Component Area. Ha Percentage. %
WATER 2195.7 23
PLANT 1147.5 12.8
SOIL 6011 64.5
PLANT
WATER
SOIL

15. ‐ Water conservation is a process that should be initiated at the very early stages of site selection
and before project implementation.
‐ Water wastage should not be only blamed on the natural features, but also on the inappropriate
irrigation practices during project operation.
‐ Non‐availability of qualified professionals to manage this type of irrigation projects has
significantly contributed to the problem.
- The installation of a drainage network in the project may require huge capital investments
- It is certain that continuing farming with center pivot irrigation systems, is not feasible.
- It is suggested that implementing drip irrigation for vegetable crops, with low irrigation water
requirements, grown in green houses should be practiced.
- This sort of experience should add to the awareness and knowledge of the concerned
specialist regarding the importance of a comprehensive reconnaissance survey of subsurface
hardpan presence before the inception of irrigation projects.

16. Thank You.
The END