Premium
Soil air compression in clays during flood irrigation
Author(s) -
Navarro V.,
Yustres A.,
Candel M.,
García B.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
european journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 1351-0754
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2008.01035.x
Subject(s) - infiltration (hvac) , geotechnical engineering , water table , surface irrigation , soil water , environmental science , compressed air , flood myth , airflow , soil science , atmospheric pressure , compression (physics) , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , irrigation , groundwater , meteorology , materials science , engineering , geography , mechanical engineering , ecology , oceanography , archaeology , biology , composite material
Summary Soil air is compressed ahead of the wetting front in flood irrigation when the water table is close to the ground surface and the soil is clayey. The general perception is that a two‐dimensional two‐phase flow model should be used to take into account the effects of air compression on infiltration. In this paper, we apply a model of this kind to validate this perception. The results show that the behaviour of the system is controlled by lateral air flow towards the contours of the ponded area. Even in cases where the width of the ponded area is reduced, in the clayey soils analysed, the soil air pressure is 22% greater than the atmospheric pressure, with a water intake rate amounting to only 19% of the values that would have been obtained if air compression (free air escape) had not been considered. Therefore, the suitability of use of a two‐dimensional two‐phase flow model is demonstrated quantitatively.