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A key challenge to the application of surface irrigation analysis tools is the difficulty in characterizing system parameters, particularly those describing infiltration and hydraulic roughness. An ASCE Task Committee was formed with the purpose of examining the various available soil and crop hydraulic parameter estimation methods and to develop guidelines that would facilitate their calculation and use. This paper reviews practical concepts used to model infiltration and hydraulic resistance, methodologies for estimating the needed parameters, and discusses how these concepts and estimation methods are actually being used in practice.