Premium
In situ estimation of hydraulic conductivity using simplified methods
Author(s) -
Jones A. J.,
Wagenet R. J.
Publication year - 1984
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/wr020i011p01620
Subject(s) - hydraulic conductivity , loam , infiltration (hvac) , soil science , richards equation , flux (metallurgy) , hydrology (agriculture) , water content , exponential function , mathematics , soil water , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , geology , materials science , thermodynamics , mathematical analysis , physics , metallurgy
Five simplified methods of estimating the relationship between hydraulic conductivity K and water content θ were compared in this study. Redistribution of water following constant rate infiltration (steady state) was monitored for a 10‐day period at 100 locations and seven depths at each location within a 5000‐m 2 fallow sandy loam field. All the methods assumed a unit hydraulic gradient during redistribution and an exponential relationship between k and θ of the form K (θ) = k 0 exp [β(θ − θ 0 )]. The five methods were the θ, flux, and CGA methods (Libardi et al., 1980) and two methods based on a Lax solution of the Richards’ equation (Sisson et al., 1980). Water content data were used to calculate K 0 and β by each method at each depth and location. Soil water flux was estimated for selected depths using appropriate mean and variance values of K 0 and β for the field. Relative differences between the methods are briefly discussed.