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Prediction of Field Soil Water Content
Author(s) -
Cameron D. R.
Publication year - 1979
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/sssaj1979.03615995004300020031x
Subject(s) - hydraulic conductivity , water content , field (mathematics) , thermal diffusivity , soil science , content (measure theory) , soil water , pedotransfer function , richards equation , mathematics , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , physics , thermodynamics , geology , mathematical analysis , pure mathematics
A 3‐year experiment was conducted to monitor and subsequently predict field water contents using the water transport model. Saturated hydraulic conductivities and soil water characteristic curve results were measured and averaged for each soil layer. The Millington‐Quirk (MQ) method was used to calculate average model parameters. Direct use of the MQ‐derived conductivity and diffusivity functions did not give an exact fit to the observed field results. However, when reasonable adjustments were made to the K (θ) and D (θ) functions the prediction was improved considerably. The methodology for “averaging” and utilizing field data to derive model parameters, and subsequent adjustment or optimization of the model parameters all require more research if we hope to use the unsaturated flow equation for field water content prediction.