DRAINMOD Course Information

BAE 574 DRAINMOD : Theory and Application

Offered for University Credit or Workshop Format

Course Information

The goal of this DE course is to present the principles of water movement and fate in shallow water table systems and to use those principles in the application of the drainage/water management model DRAINMOD to a wide range of problems. The theory of water movement in both the saturated and unsaturated states is applied to characterize processes such as drainage, infiltration, upward water movement from the water table to supply ET, and seepage. These theories are used to develop inputs for DRAINMOD. The model is applied to solve problems related to evaluation, design and management of poorly drained soils, as well as, to wetland hydrology. DRAINMOD simulates the day-by-day hydrology and/or performance of drainage and related water management systems. In addition to learning the theory of the model and how to apply it to solve a variety of drainage and water management problems, the student will learn how to estimate model inputs when field data are incomplete and the use of sensitivity analyses to determine which inputs are most critical.

The course is taught by lectures on the application of principles of saturated and unsaturated flow to describe important hydrologic processes for shallow water table soils. A series of 13 problems sets are assigned to demonstrate how inputs to the model are determined, and how the model may be applied to describe the complex interactions of multiple processes affecting the hydrology of shallow water table soils. The projects include application of the model to describe wetland hydrology; effect of drainage design on trafficability of a construction site; design of a drainage system to optimize crop yields and profits; analysis and design of controlled drainage and subirrigation systems; effect of drainage design on nitrogen losses; drainage for salinity control; effect of drainage design on volume of waste water that can treated by land application; and drainage design to permit on-site waste water treatment; and modeling the performance of storm water bioretention areas. Application of the model is demonstrated for each major problem area.

Syllabus and Lecture Schedule

BAE 574 Course Syllabus and Schedule Spring 2012 Download BAE 574 Syllabus

How to Enroll – University Credit

NC State Distance Education : Apply and Enroll Go to Distance Education
NC State Distance Education : Graduate Tuition Rates Go to Distance Education

How to Enroll – Workshop Format

The DRAINMOD course is also offered in a ‘workshop’ format. The participant will be granted access to all lectures and materials offered to the traditional ‘for credit’ students. If you would like additional information and pricing, please contact the DRAINMOD Team.