Simulation of Salinity Stress on Growth of Winter Wheat by Soil Water Atmosphere Plant Model in Loess Plateau

The sustainable development of efficient water-saving agricultural irrigation in Loess Plateau requires reasonable and quantitative planning, design, management, and strategies based on crop-water-salt response relationship. In the present paper, data were measured by using the soil-water-salt sensor CS655 to modify the simulation of root uptake in the original Soil Water Atmosphere Plant (SWAP) model. Spring wheat field experiment data in the salinized irrigation district of Fuping County, Shaanxi Province, China were used to test the feasibility of using the SWAP model in irrigation districts of Loess Plateau. The comparison of soil moisture and salt concentration in the root system, along with simulated and measured values of partial aboveground biomass showed the following results: the average relative error and root-square error of soil moisture in the root layer were close to 0; model R 2 tended to be 1; simulation accuracy of water module was high; salt concentration in the simulation varied, but the overall simulation consistency was good; crop growth parameters matched well; and simulated yield was close to the actual value with a relative error of 3.6%. The SWAP model can be well applied to simulate soil, water and salt transfer at field scale in salinized districts of Loess Plateau.