3. Results
3.1. Temporal and spatial variation of soil water content
Temporal variation of soil moisture under different partial
root-zone drip irrigations is shown in Fig. 2. Results showed
that the asymmetrical distribution of soil moisture in the two
sides of ADI root-zone was achieved due to the alternate
wetting and drying in arid fields (Fig. 2a). Soil moisture content
in the drying side was relatively constant or increased slightly
several days after irrigation as a result of redistribution of
water through root systems, which was more significant in FDI
(Fig. 2b).
Spatial variation of soil moisture in different root-zones
under ADI at 1.0m soil profile during the second alternating
cycle from 10 June to 11 July in 2005 is presented in Fig. 3. Soil
water content in the two root-zones was different during the
alternating cycles (Fig. 3a and b). Soil water content in the
wetted side was higher than that of the drying side as a result
of irrigation (Fig. 3a and d), but the soil water content was
found to be relatively constant or increased slightly for several
days after irrigation in the non-irrigated side (Fig. 3b and c).
This may be caused by lateral infiltration or redistribution of
water through the root systems. Moreover, water was