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Mathematical analysis of heat pulse signals for soil water flux determination
Author(s) -
Wang Quanjiu,
Ochsner Tyson E.,
Horton Robert
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2001wr001089
Subject(s) - soil thermal properties , environmental science , infiltration (hvac) , heat flux , groundwater recharge , soil science , soil water , flux (metallurgy) , surface runoff , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , heat transfer , mechanics , materials science , geotechnical engineering , geology , field capacity , aquifer , physics , biology , metallurgy , composite material , ecology
Soil water flux is an important parameter in studies of runoff, infiltration, groundwater recharge, and subsurface chemical transport. Heat pulse sensors have been proposed as promising tools for measuring soil water fluxes. To date, heat pulse methods have required cumbersome mathematical analyses to calculate soil water flux from the measured data. We present a new mathematical analysis showing that a simple linear relationship exists between soil water flux and the natural log of the ratio of the temperature increase downstream from the line heat source to the temperature increase upstream from the line heat source. The simplicity of this relationship makes heat pulse sensors an attractive option for measuring soil water fluxes. In theory, this method is valid for fluxes with magnitudes between 10 −4 and 10 −7 m s −1 . The range of measurable fluxes is defined by temperature measurement resolution at the lower end and by the assumptions used in the analysis at the higher end.