Transforming Drainage Research Data (USDA-NIFA Award No. 2015-68007-23193)
This dataset contains research data compiled by the “Managing Water for Increased Resiliency of Drained Agricultural Landscapes” project a.k.a. Transforming Drainage. This project was funded from 2015-2021 by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA, Award No. 2015-68007-23193). Data are also available from a separate web-accessible application (drainagedata.org). At drainagedata.org, users can visualize the data with customized tools, query based on specific sites and measurements of interest, and access site photographs, maps, summaries, and publications. Additional data or edits made following the publication of this data here at USDA NAL Ag Data Commons will be posted under the Versions tab on drainagedata.org.
These data began in 1996 and include plot- and field-level measurements for 39 experiments across the Midwest and North Carolina. Practices studied include controlled drainage, drainage water recycling, and saturated buffers. In total, 219 variables are reported and span 207 site-years for tile drainage, 154 for nitrate-N load, 181 for water quality, 92 for water table, and 201 for crop yield.
The Transforming Drainage Project worked to advance the process of designing and implementing agricultural drainage systems for storing water in the landscape to improve the resiliency and productivity of agricultural systems. At each site, a control plot was paired with a plot with one of the following three practices to assess impacts.
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Controlled Drainage (CD) is the practice of using a water control structure to raise the depth of the drainage outlet, holding water in the field during periods when drainage is not needed.
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Drainage Water Recycling (DWR) diverts subsurface drainage water into on-farm ponds or reservoirs, where it is stored until it can be used by the crop later in the season through supplemental irrigation.
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Saturated Buffers (SB) remove nitrate from subsurface drainage water by diverting it into the buffer where it can be taken up by growing vegetation or removed by denitrification.
Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Field management - tillage.
File Name: mngt_tillage_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about tillage operations performed in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – notes.
File Name: mngt_notes_data.csv
Resource Description: General information about field conditions during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – residue.
File Name: mngt_residue_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about residue management in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – fertilizing.
File Name: mngt_fertilizing_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about fertilizer application and soil amendments performed in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – harvesting.
File Name: mngt_harvesting_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about harvesting operations performed in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – planting.
File Name: mngt_planting_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about planting operations performed in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – irrigation.
File Name: mngt_irrigation_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about irrigation operations performed in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Field management – drainage water management.
File Name: mngt_dwm_data.csv
Resource Description: Information about drainage water management in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Weather data.
File Name: weather_data.csv
Resource Description: On-site weather data collected in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Soil physicochemical properties data.
File Name: soil_properties_data.csv
Resource Description: Soil physicochemical measurements collected in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Soil moisture data.
File Name: soil_moisture_data.csv
Resource Description: Soil moisture, temperature and bulk EC measurements collected in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Irrigation data.
File Name: irrigation_data.csv
Resource Description: Amount of irrigation water applied to the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Stage data.
File Name: water_stage_data.csv
Resource Description: Stage measurements in the wetlands during the study period
Resource Title: Water table data.
File Name: water_table_data.csv
Resource Description: Water table measurements collected in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Water quality data.
File Name: water_quality_data.csv
Resource Description: Water quality measurements collected from the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Methodology.
File Name: meta_methods.csv
Resource Description: Description of the drainage system set up, sampling procedures, and other protocols used at each research site during the study period
Resource Title: Plot treatment.
File Name: meta_treatment_identifier.csv
Resource Description: List of treatments used across the research sites during the study period
Resource Title: Plot description.
File Name: meta_plot_characteristics.csv
Resource Description: Description of plots and corresponding drainage systems for each research site
Resource Title: Agronomic data.
File Name: agronomic_data.csv
Resource Description: Agronomic measurements collected in the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Site description.
File Name: meta_site_characteristics.csv
Resource Description: Description of the research sites
Resource Title: Drainage data.
File Name: drain_flow_and_N_loads_data.csv
Resource Description: Drain flow and nitrate load measurements collected from the research fields during the study period
Resource Title: Data dictionary.
File Name: data_dictionary.csv
Funding
USDA-NIFA: 2015-68007-23193
History
Data contact name
Chighladze, GiorgiData contact email
isudatateam@iastate.eduPublisher
Ag Data CommonsIntended use
This project generated data that can provide a comprehensive understanding of hydrologic, environmental, and agronomic processes in agroecosystems with subsurface drainage across several Midwest states and North Carolina. Scientists, modelers, producers, and policymakers can gain a unique insight into the impacts of drainage water management practices on water quantity and quality, as well as on crop yield. The data will be of great use for calibrating or validating hydrologic models at ever-larger scales (field, farm, and landscape), which can be coupled with projections from regional climate models to extrapolate the observed results to climate regimes not included within the study period.Use limitations
Research data have been collected across 39 sites over a period of more than two decades. However, sites vary in the length of experimentation, years of available data, and variables reported. Most of the experiments were not coordinated at time of initiation, hence research data collected and protocols used vary among the sites. To ensure compatibility and integrity of the data, variables have been standardized across the sites and years as possible. We strongly recommend all users to reference the uploaded file detailing methods at each site used for collecting/measuring variables. Occasionally, site-specific protocols were not adhered to because of technical or environmental constraints resulting in missing or non-standard measurements (e.g. soil samples collected at different depths due to soil freezing). Monitoring instrumentation and data logger malfunctioning were main reasons for missing water data (e.g. depth of water table); care should be taken when interpolating or aggregating these data (e.g. when estimating monthly drain flow). Some of the missing drain flow data were filled in using a special imputation method developed by the project team and are available with the original drain flow data in this dataset. It should be noted that dielectric probes used to measure volumetric soil water content did not have soil-specific calibration. Therefore, syntheses of soil moisture data from different sites should be done with caution. Users should also be aware that at some sites, subsurface drainage systems were established at the onset of the project while others were drained for decades. Hence, the treatment effect and dynamics of certain measurements can differ based on length of history. We encourage everyone to become familiar with the history and details of each research site before starting data analysis.Temporal Extent Start Date
1996-01-01Temporal Extent End Date
2018-12-31Theme
- Not specified
Geographic Coverage
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Primarily Midwest production agriculture fields at University research farms or leased ground on farmer fields: Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South DakotaISO Topic Category
- economy
- environment
- farming
- inlandWaters
National Agricultural Library Thesaurus terms
data collection; agricultural land; National Institute of Food and Agriculture; drainage water; water reuse; buffers; tile drainage; nitrate nitrogen; water quality; water table; field experimentation; water storage; subsurface drainage; ponds; irrigation; crops; management systems; viability; tillage; soil properties; fertilizer application; harvesting; planting; meteorological data; soil water; agronomy; Indiana; Iowa; Minnesota; North Dakota; Ohio; South Dakota; North Carolina; MissouriOMB Bureau Code
- 005:18 - Agricultural Research Service
OMB Program Code
- 005:040 - National Research
ARS National Program Number
- 211
Pending citation
- No
Public Access Level
- Public