Premium
New approximate analytical technique to solve Richards Equation for arbitrary surface boundary conditions
Author(s) -
Parlange J.Y.,
Barry D. A.,
Parlange M. B.,
Hogarth W. L.,
Haverkamp R.,
Ross P. J.,
Ling L.,
Steenhuis T. S.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/96wr03846
Subject(s) - thermal diffusivity , richards equation , mathematics , boundary (topology) , constant (computer programming) , boundary value problem , surface (topology) , mathematical analysis , function (biology) , geotechnical engineering , geometry , computer science , geology , physics , water content , thermodynamics , evolutionary biology , biology , programming language
A general approximation for the solution to the one‐dimensional Richards equation is presented. It applies to arbitrary soil properties and boundary conditions but only uniform initial conditions at current stage. The result is very accurate (within 2%) when the diffusivity is constant, suggesting that the present general formulation is reliable, since the approximation becomes increasingly accurate as the soil‐water diffusivity approaches a delta function.