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A simple analytical solution for horizontal absorption of water by soils for exponential soil water diffusivity
Author(s) -
Tolikas Panagiotis K.,
Tzimopoulos Christos D.,
Tolikas Demetrios K.
Publication year - 1980
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/wr016i004p00821
Subject(s) - inflection point , soil water , thermal diffusivity , exponential function , water content , soil science , domain (mathematical analysis) , absorption (acoustics) , mathematics , mathematical analysis , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , environmental science , thermodynamics , geology , physics , geometry , optics
A simple approximate analytical solution to the problem of horizontal absorption of water in unsaturated soils is presented. The soil water diffusivity is assumed to be an exponential function of soil water content, which at the boundaries is assumed to be constant. Under the assumption that the inflection point of the soil water content profile coincides with the wetting front, the infinite domain problem is reduced to a finite domain problem with one boundary at the inflection point. The soil water content at the inflection point as well as its location are calculated, and the result is employed to obtain an approximate solution to the problem. The resulting profiles are compared with others found in the existing literature. A discussion concludes this paper.