from the aquifer. Also it offers the possibility to introduce subsurface drainage systems at varying depths and with varying capacity so that they can be optimized. Other features of Saltmod are found in the next section. Principles Seasonal approach The computation method Saltmod is based on seasonal water balances of agricultural lands. Four seasons in one year can be distinguished, e.g. dry, wet, cold, hot, irrigation or fallow seasons. The number of seasons (Ns) can be chosen between a minimum of one and a maximum of four. The larger the number of seasons becomes, the larger is the number of input data required. The duration of each season (Ts) is given in number of months (0 < Ts < 12). Day to day water balances are not considered for several reasons: daily inputs would require much information, which may not be readily available; the method is especially developed to predict long term, not day-to-day, trends and predictions for the future are more reliably made on a seasonal (long term) than on a daily (short term) basis, due to the high variability of short-term data; even though the precision of the predictions for the future may still not be very high, a lot is gained when the trend is sufficiently clear; for example, it need not be a major constraint to design appropriate soil salinity control measures when a certain salinity level, predicted by Saltmod to occur after 20 years, will in reality occur after 15 or 25 years. Hydrological data The method uses seasonal water balance components as input data. These are related to the surface hydrology (like rainfall, evaporation, irrigation, use of drain and well water for irrigation, runoff), and the aquifer hydrology (like upward seepage, natural drainage, pumping from wells). The other water balance components (like downward percolation, upward capillary rise, subsurface drainage) are given as output. The quantity of drainage water, as an output, is determined by two drainage intensity factors for drainage above and below drain level respectively (to be given with the input data), a drainage reduction factor (to simulate a limited operation of the drainage system), and the height of the water table, resulting from the computed water balance. Variation of the drainage intensity factors and the drainage reduction factor gives the opportunity to simulate the effect of different drainage options. Agricultural data The input data on irrigation, evaporation, and surface runoff are to