Soil infiltration and redistribution are important processes in field water cycle, and it is necessary to develop a simple model to describe the processes. In this study, an algebraic solution for one-dimensional wate...Soil infiltration and redistribution are important processes in field water cycle, and it is necessary to develop a simple model to describe the processes. In this study, an algebraic solution for one-dimensional water infiltration and redistribution without evaporation in unsaturated soil was developed based on Richards equation. The algebraic solution had three parameters, namely, the saturated water conductivity, the comprehensive shape coefficient of the soil water content distribution, and the soil suction allocation coefficient. To analyze the physical features of these parameters, a relationship between the Green-Ampt model and the algebraic solution was established. The three parameters were estimated based on experimental observations, whereas the soil water content and the water infiltration duration were calculated using the algebraic solution. The calculated soil water content and infiltration duration were compared with the experimental observations, and the results indicated that the algebraic solution accurately described the unsaturated soil water flow processes.展开更多
A knowledge of soil permeability is essential to evaluate hydrologic characteristics of soil, such as water storage and water movement, and soil permeability coefficient is an important parameter that reflects soil pe...A knowledge of soil permeability is essential to evaluate hydrologic characteristics of soil, such as water storage and water movement, and soil permeability coefficient is an important parameter that reflects soil permeability. In order to confirm the acceptability of the one-dimensional horizontal infiltration method（one-D method） for simultaneously determining both the saturated and unsaturated permeability coefficients of loamy sand, we first measured the cumulative infiltration and the wetting front distance under various infiltration heads through a series of one-dimensional horizontal infiltration experiments, and then analyzed the relationships of the cumulative horizontal infiltration with the wetting front distance and the square root of infiltration time. We finally compared the permeability results from Gardner model based on the one-D method with the results from other two commonly-used methods（i.e., constant head method and van Genuchten model） to evaluate the acceptability and applicability of the one-D method. The results showed that there was a robust linear relationship between the cumulative horizontal infiltration and the wetting front distance, suggesting that it is more appropriate to take the soil moisture content after infiltration in the entire wetted zone as the average soil moisture content than as the saturated soil moisture content. The results also showed that there was a robust linear relationship between the cumulative horizontal infiltration and the square root of infiltration time, suggesting that the Philip infiltration formula can better reflect the characteristics of cumulative horizontal infiltration under different infiltration heads. The following two facts indicate that it is feasible to use the one-D method for simultaneously determining the saturated and unsaturated permeability coefficients of loamy sand. First, the saturated permeability coefficient（prescribed in the Gardner model） of loamy sand obtained from the one-D method well agreed with the value obtained from the constant head method. Second, the relationship of unsaturated permeability coefficient with soil water suction for loamy sand calculated using Gardner model based on the one-D method was nearly identical with the same relationship calculated using van Genuchten model.展开更多
基金supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.KSCX2-YW-N-003)the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2005CB121103)the National Natural Science Foundation ofChina (No.50879067).
文摘Soil infiltration and redistribution are important processes in field water cycle, and it is necessary to develop a simple model to describe the processes. In this study, an algebraic solution for one-dimensional water infiltration and redistribution without evaporation in unsaturated soil was developed based on Richards equation. The algebraic solution had three parameters, namely, the saturated water conductivity, the comprehensive shape coefficient of the soil water content distribution, and the soil suction allocation coefficient. To analyze the physical features of these parameters, a relationship between the Green-Ampt model and the algebraic solution was established. The three parameters were estimated based on experimental observations, whereas the soil water content and the water infiltration duration were calculated using the algebraic solution. The calculated soil water content and infiltration duration were compared with the experimental observations, and the results indicated that the algebraic solution accurately described the unsaturated soil water flow processes.
基金funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB429902)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1303181, 41671032)
文摘A knowledge of soil permeability is essential to evaluate hydrologic characteristics of soil, such as water storage and water movement, and soil permeability coefficient is an important parameter that reflects soil permeability. In order to confirm the acceptability of the one-dimensional horizontal infiltration method（one-D method） for simultaneously determining both the saturated and unsaturated permeability coefficients of loamy sand, we first measured the cumulative infiltration and the wetting front distance under various infiltration heads through a series of one-dimensional horizontal infiltration experiments, and then analyzed the relationships of the cumulative horizontal infiltration with the wetting front distance and the square root of infiltration time. We finally compared the permeability results from Gardner model based on the one-D method with the results from other two commonly-used methods（i.e., constant head method and van Genuchten model） to evaluate the acceptability and applicability of the one-D method. The results showed that there was a robust linear relationship between the cumulative horizontal infiltration and the wetting front distance, suggesting that it is more appropriate to take the soil moisture content after infiltration in the entire wetted zone as the average soil moisture content than as the saturated soil moisture content. The results also showed that there was a robust linear relationship between the cumulative horizontal infiltration and the square root of infiltration time, suggesting that the Philip infiltration formula can better reflect the characteristics of cumulative horizontal infiltration under different infiltration heads. The following two facts indicate that it is feasible to use the one-D method for simultaneously determining the saturated and unsaturated permeability coefficients of loamy sand. First, the saturated permeability coefficient（prescribed in the Gardner model） of loamy sand obtained from the one-D method well agreed with the value obtained from the constant head method. Second, the relationship of unsaturated permeability coefficient with soil water suction for loamy sand calculated using Gardner model based on the one-D method was nearly identical with the same relationship calculated using van Genuchten model.
