Abstract By considering the initial and boundary conditions corresponding to parallel subsurface drains, the linear form of a one-dimensional fractional Boussinesq equation was solved and an analytical mathematical model was developed to predict the water table profile between two parallel subsurface drains. The developed model is a generalization of the Glover–Dumm’s mathematical model. As a result, the new model is applicable for both homogeneous and heterogeneous soils. It considers the degree of heterogeneity of soil as a determinable parameter. This parameter was called the heterogeneity index. The laboratory and field tests were conducted to study the performance of the proposed mathematical model in a homogenous soil and in an agricultural soil. The optimal values of parameters of the fractional model developed in this study and Glover–Dumm’s model were estimated using the inverse problem method. In the proposed inverse model, a beesalgorithm (BA) was used. The results showed that in the homogenous soil, the heterogeneity index was nearly equal to 2 and therefore, the developed mathematical model reduced to the Glover–Dumm’s mathematical model. The heterogeneity index of the experimental field soil considered was equal to 1.04; hence, this soil was classified as a very heterogeneous soil. In the experimental field soil, the proposed mathematical model better represented the water table profile between two parallel subsurface drains than the Glover–Dumm’s mathematical model. Therefore, it appears that the proposed fractional model presented is a highly general and effective method to estimate the water table profile between two parallel subsurface drains, and the scale effects are robustly reflected by the introduced heterogeneity index.
