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Description of Soil Characteristics for Partially Saturated Flow
Author(s) -
King L. G.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1965.03615995002900040006x
Subject(s) - saturation (graph theory) , capillary pressure , thermal diffusivity , relative permeability , mathematics , differentiable function , soil water , function (biology) , vapor pressure , richards equation , capillary action , mathematical analysis , thermodynamics , chemistry , soil science , porous medium , physics , environmental science , porosity , combinatorics , evolutionary biology , biology , organic chemistry
Two empirical equations are presented for describing relative permeability as a function of capillary pressure. Of the two, Gardner's equation appears to fit the experimental data better and is easier to use because of its simple form. An equation is also presented for representing saturation as a function of capillary pressure. This equation is differentiable. The equations are used to calculate relative permeability and diffusivity as functions of saturation. The main utility of the equations is in the ease of handling input data and programming for numerical solutions, using digital computers. The equations may also prove useful in some theoretical studies where a wide range of possible soils may be described by changing a small number of parameters.