A dynamic simulation model, VS2D, was used to solve the two-dimensional equation of fluid flow in variably saturated porous media. The model incorporates Richards equation for unsaturated flow and a root extraction component. Throughout a peanut growing season, field measurements were made of soil water content, weather variables, and irrigation amounts. A modified root sink term was developed by apportioning plant transpiration based on root distribution functions and the soil conditions. This sink term reflects spatial and temporal variability in the water uptake characteristics of plant roots. The simulated soil water distributions with depth and time were in good agreement with field data under both full and minimum water treatments.
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Zhang et al. (1996) studied this question.