Abstract
Results from a user friendly, menu-driven, and interactive computer program for rapid estimation of thermal properties of soils are presented. The model developed is an extension of the de Vries approach. The new model allows easy estimation of the thermal conductivity of soils with approximately log-normal particle-size distribution. The model introduces the individual characteristics of five main mineral soil constituents (i.e., quartz, feldspar, calcite, clay minerals, and mica) and relates their occurrence in individual soils to grain-size distribution. The user also has a possibility of inserting to the model up to 20 additional mineralogical components, providing that mass fraction, thermal conductivity, density, shape, and specific heat are known. Soil-water hydraulic relations follow an extended power function model and allow the calculation of the apparent thermal conductivity of soils (water-vapor migration) at low moisture contents. Thus the model predicts soil thermal conductivity in a full range of moisture content from dryness to saturation and a temperature range of 0–95 °C. Good agreement with experimental data was reported. Key words : moist soils, soil thermal properties, thermal conductivity, specific heat, de Vries method.
Published Version
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