Abstract
Film hole irrigation is a new type of film‐mulched irrigation technology. To investigate the influences of five factors—bulk density, initial soil water content, irrigation depth, film hole diameter and infiltration time—on the infiltration characteristics of film hole irrigation, 12 experiments were conducted. The infiltration characteristics considered were the cumulative infiltration ( I ), infiltration rate ( i ) and average increment of soil water content (∆ θ ). Two empirical models were established that describe the relationship of I with ∆ θ and various influential factors. The proposed models of I and ∆ θ had a root mean square error of 5.82 ml and 0.003 cm 3 cm −3 , respectively. The results revealed that the effects of initial soil water content and irrigation depth on I were not significant ( P > 0.05) and that the ranking of factors according to degree of influence, from large to small, was infiltration time, soil bulk density and film hole diameter. Soil bulk density, initial soil moisture, irrigation depth and film hole diameter had highly significant effects on ∆ θ ( P