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Water flow characterization and test of a kinematic‐wave model for macropore flow in a highly contrasted and irregular double‐porosi medium
Author(s) -
PIETRO L.,
LAFOLIE F.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1991.tb00102.x
Subject(s) - hydrograph , macropore , flow (mathematics) , kinematic wave , porosity , attenuation , dispersion (optics) , aggregate (composite) , hydrology (agriculture) , water flow , porous medium , soil science , geotechnical engineering , mechanics , environmental science , materials science , geology , surface runoff , chemistry , composite material , physics , optics , mesoporous material , ecology , biochemistry , biology , catalysis
SUMMARY Laboratory experiments to characterize water flow through a column consisting of an artificial double‐porosity medium are described. A gamma‐attenuation device was used to measure water storage in the intra‐ and inter‐aggregate porosity domains after successive infiltrations. Several days after macropore flow had ceased, a significant proportion of the water that had infiltrated was retained within the aggregates. After the column had been brought to its water retention capacity, several rains with different intensities were applied, and the drainage hydrographs were recorded and analysed in order to characterize water transport in the coarser pores and to test the kinematic‐wave approach to macropore flow proposed by Germann (1985). Reasonable fits of calculated hydrographs to experimental data were obtained for high input intensities, but the model was unable to reproduce the hydrographs recorded at low intensities. In particular, the model could not simulate the high dispersion of the input signal observed at low rain intensities.