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Soil hydraulic properties in one‐dimensional layered soil profile using layer‐specific soil moisture assimilation scheme
Author(s) -
Shin Yongchul,
Mohanty Binayak P.,
Ines Amor V. M.
Publication year - 2012
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 - 10.1029/2010wr009581
Subject(s) - layering , soil science , pedotransfer function , soil horizon , water content , environmental science , soil morphology , soil water , macropore , soil thermal properties , field capacity , geology , soil type , hydrology (agriculture) , hydraulic conductivity , geotechnical engineering , mesoporous material , biochemistry , chemistry , botany , biology , catalysis
We developed a layer‐specific soil‐moisture assimilation scheme using a simulation‐optimization framework, Soil‐Water‐Atmosphere‐Plant model with genetic algorithm (SWAP‐GA). Here, we explored the quantification of the soil hydraulic properties in a layered soil column under various combinations of soil types, vegetation covers, bottom boundary conditions and soil layering using idealized (synthetic) numerical studies and actual field experiments. We demonstrated that soil layers and vertical heterogeneity (layering arrangements) could impact to the uncertainty of quantifying soil hydraulic parameters. We also found that, under layered soil system, when the subsurface flows are dominated by upward fluxes, e.g., from a shallow water table, the solution to the inverse problem appears to be more elusive. However, when the soil profile is predominantly draining, the soil hydraulic parameters could be fairly estimated well across soil layers, corroborating the results of past studies on homogenous soil columns. In the field experiments, the layer‐specific assimilation scheme successfully matched soil moisture estimates with observations at the individual soil layers suggesting that this approach could be applied in real world conditions.