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The Three Stages of Drying of a Field Soil
Author(s) -
Idso S. B.,
Reginato R. J.,
Jackson R. D.,
Kimball B. A.,
Nakayama F. S.
Publication year - 1974
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/sssaj1974.03615995003800050037x
Subject(s) - evaporation , environmental science , loam , soil science , albedo (alchemy) , field capacity , stage (stratigraphy) , soil water , water content , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , physics , art , paleontology , performance art , art history
Six major drying experiments were conducted on a smooth, bare field of Avondale clay loam at Phoenix, Arizona, during all seasons of the year. Intensive measurements of evaporation, soil‐water contents, soil temperatures, soil heat flux, albedo, and net radiation allowed us to delineate the three classical stages of soil drying. The first stage was characterized by potential evaporation. The second stage was characterized by drying of the soil surface, resulting in a significantly reduced evaporation rate. This stage continued until the volumetric water content at the soil surface reached a value of about 0.06, the predicted starting point for stage three for this soil—based on the assumption that physical adsorption takes place in the first two molecular layers of water surrounding the soil particles. Simple albedo measurements often predicted the transition points between the different stages.