Roman Koptyuk’s research while affiliated with National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and other places

The chapter provides information on crop evaporation and water consumption during different growth stages, influenced by prevailing weather and climate conditions. This data serves as the basis for designing and implementing effective water regulation strategies. The authors conducted an assessment of the weather and climate in Western Polissia of Ukraine, and performed computer simulations of diverse climate scenarios. These simulations were based on comprehensive forecasts and models, considering key parameters of hydro-melioration systems, local climatic conditions, water management techniques, and the productivity of drained lands under various natural, agronomic, and reclamation conditions. Long-term forecasts were utilized to determine the vegetative values of total evaporation and the water demand of drained lands under changing weather and climatic conditions. Additionally, the authors evaluated the technological efficiency of different methods for moistening drained lands.

The forecast data on the impact of changing weather and climatic conditions on evaporation, water demand, and crop yield on drained lands in Western Polissia of Ukraine at different stages of their development are presented. They serve as the basis for creating the project water management regimes and forming the operational water management regimes, which are implemented by selecting and justifying the necessary water management methods, types, structures, and operation modes of drainage systems, and to calculate their parameters. Computer simulation modeling of various climatic scenarios was planned to accomplish the objective. The forecast was made through a machining experiment based on the implementation of a corresponding complex of forecast-simulation models regarding the main regime-technological variable parameters of drainage systems, local climatic conditions, water regime, water management technologies, and productivity of drained lands for schematized natural, agrotechnical, and meliorative conditions. Vegetation values of total evaporation and water demand formation of drained lands were determined for the long-term forecast module of water supply regarding variable climatic and agro-meliorative conditions. The technological efficiency of different irrigation technologies (subsoil irrigation, sprinkler irrigation) of drained lands was evaluated. The research showed that in the Western Polissia of Ukraine, the water supply module for irrigating drained lands varies significantly depending on the type of crops, drained soil (mineral, peat), irrigation technologies, and heat and moisture supply conditions during the vegetation period. Compared to the existing normative values of 0.5…0.75 l/s·ha, its range of variation is 0.5…3.9 l/s·ha. In this case, the water demand for cultivated crops increases almost two to three times, necessitating the transition from periodic to regular irrigation of drained lands.

This chapter considered qualitatively different approaches to the water regime model of drained lands implementation. The fundamental difference of these approaches is that the regime forecast calculations on a long-term basis are performed for schematized natural reclamation conditions by typing meteorological regimes in the calculation periods of vegetation, appropriate schematization, and parameterization of water regulation of drained lands. Secondly, it is proposed in the framework of the balance equation to perform based on certain patterns, to calculate the process of water regime based on the relationship and interdependence of its elements at the boundaries and in connection with the process of redistribution of moisture within the active layer of soil in relation to its moisture content and storage capacity. Considered methods and models of water regime allow determining both potentially possible due to meteorological and agrotechnical conditions and effective values of irrigation norms in the development of design modes of irrigation by irrigation and subsoil at drained lands.

The results of assessing the nature and degree of influence of the terrain on drained lands are presented in making a design decision on water management technology, type and design of drainage system based on the indicator of land reclamation efficiency using BIM-technologies, forecasting and optimization calculations. The schematization of the relief conditions of drained lands according to the slopes and differences of the surface of the earth is considered. Schematization was performed and the classification of the drained lands was developed according to the index of reclamation efficiency of the relief, which depends on the degree of development of the relief by the slopes and differences of the surface of the land. The generalized results of the estimation of the land reclamation efficiency of the terrain of a separate section of the drainage system, the zonal conditions of the Rivne region and the Polesie of Ukraine within their administrative limits are presented.

This section analyses the technologies and means of traditional deep loosening as an agro-ameliorative measure, and their inconsistency with the requirements for improving the technology of water regulation of ameliorated lands in changing climatic conditions is determined. Therefore, it is advisable to switch from the traditional and most widespread technologies of slot and strip loosening to continuous loosening in profile and area, as well as differentiated loosening of deep soil horizons. It is proved that improved deep loosening can be the most effective means of ensuring the necessary filtration and simultaneous accumulation of excess soil moisture to ensure maximum productivity of ameliorated land throughout the entire growing season. Its implementation in the conditions of Polesie of Ukraine contributed to the improvement of water-physical properties, water permeability, and accumulating ability of the most common drained sod-podzolic soil, which provided an increase in the yield of cultivated crops by 20 ... 40%

The waste warm waters from power plants, owing to their temperature regime (25–38°C) and the volumes of discharge, allow for their use for heating of open ground areas in agriculture. Underground heating by such water is a new, special heat and irrigation method which enables not only purposeful regulation of temperature conditions of the crop growing environment, but also dissipates heat in the soil, thus cooling the water for its reuse. This makes it possible to reduce the thermal pollution of water sources.

One of the rational ways of energy saving is to use the heat of wastewater from energy companies for open ground heating and cultivation crops. The most significant sources of heat are thermal and nuclear power plants that produce low-thermal waters of 28–35°C. Heating of the ground with the use of circulating warm water allows to increase temperature at all points of the soil profile. The maximum thermal effect from heating ground is observed at the depth of pipe heaters (7.3– 11.1°C). Ground heating allows to extend the growing season for crops by 3–4 weeks, which can expedite harvesting and thus maximise the harvest. In natural moisture conditions, ground heating does not lead to significant reduction of moisture reserves in the active layer throughout the growing period. There is a redistribution of moisture in a soil profile. It decreases in the zone of pipe heaters and redistributes toward the top. The formation of the nutrient regime changes, the content of mobile phosphorus and potassium, and nitrate nitrogen increases, whereas the content of ammonia nitrogen is reduced. Ground heating is a new special heat reclamation technique. It allows not only to control temperature of the agricultural crop environment, but also to dissipate heat in the ground, and promote the utilisation of waste heat and the stabilisation of the environment.

Land reclamation is important in the development of agricultural production for unfavorable climatic conditions. This necessitates the improvement of scientific and methodological approaches to the creation and operation of water management and reclamation facilities, including drainage systems, which are adapted to these changes. Approaches to the type and design of drainage systems based on a combination of a modern progressive optimization approach with the traditional water balance method, hydrodynamic and hydraulic methods are presented. Approaches to the systemic optimization of technological and design solutions for the creation and operation of drainage systems have been determined. It seems that the drainage system is a complex natural and technical ecological and economic system. Finding the general optimum in such a system based on the system optimization consists in substantiating local optima for all its main components of heterogeneous elements in the system effect - mode - technology - design in their interconnection. The practical implementation of a complex of predictive-simulation and optimization calculations in projects for new construction, reconstruction and modernization of drainage systems based on the developed scientific, methodological, information and software can be carried out using the appropriate toolkit, which is CAD and modern BIM technologies. The transition to optimization methods will improve the feasibility and overall technical, technological, environmental and economic efficiency of the creation and operation of water management and reclamation facilities in accordance with modern requirements.