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Effective hydraulic conductivities of transient unsaturated flow in stratified soils
Author(s) -
Mantoglou Aristotelis,
Gelhar Lynn W.
Publication year - 1987
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/wr023i001p00057
Subject(s) - anisotropy , hydraulic conductivity , soil water , hysteresis , flow (mathematics) , geotechnical engineering , soil science , transient (computer programming) , wetting , geology , mechanics , thermodynamics , physics , computer science , operating system , quantum mechanics
The effective hydraulic conductivities of transient unsaturated flow in stratified soils are evaluated using a three‐dimensional stochastic approach. Because of the disparity of the correlation scales in a stratified soil, the general stochastic equations are simplified, and this allows analytical evaluation and derivation of generic expressions for the effective hydraulic conductivities. Simple asymptotic expressions, valid at particular ranges of the soil property and the mean flow characteristics, are also derived. Several examples illustrating the results using data from two real soils are also presented. It was found that the effective hydraulic conductivities show significant hysteresis and are anisotropic with a degree of anisotropy depending on the mean flow conditions (wetting or drying). Such hysteresis and anisotropy are produced by the spatial variability of the hydraulic soil properties rather than hysteresis or anisotropy of the local parameters. A physical interpretation of the results is given along with a qualitative comparison with field observations. The ramifications of this study need to be further investigated and be considered in field applications such as waste disposal control.