Abstract
Disc infiltrometers are used to characterize soil hydraulic properties. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference between three- and one-dimensional infiltration and to calculate the infiltration shape parameter γ from a proposed analytical infiltration equation. One- and three-dimensional infiltration tests were done on three repacked soils (loam, sandy loam, and silty clay loam) for two negative pressure heads. A mini disc infiltrometer of a radius of 22.5 mm with suction that ranged from −5 mm to −70 mm was used. The difference between experimental three- and one-dimensional cumulative infiltration was linear with time, which confirmed the proposed equation. In this study, the shape parameter γ seems not to be seriously affected by the soil type and acquires values from 0.561 to 0.615, i.e., smaller than the value γ = 0.75, which is widely used. With these values, the criteria proposed for calculating hydraulic conductivity using three-dimensional infiltration data may be fulfilled in most soils.
Highlights
For better agricultural water management, it is necessary to understand the infiltration process, which is a fundamental process through which cultivated crops absorb water and nutrients in a perpetual cycle to satisfy atmospheric energy and water demands
Knowledge of both soil water infiltration characteristics, saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil sorptivity, of the upper soil layers is essential for the modeling of the field infiltration process for agricultural water management and hydrological applications
The main objectives of this study were to (i) investigate the difference between three- and one-dimensional infiltration on three disturbed soils, a sandy loam, a loam, and a silty clay loam soil, using a mini disc infiltrometer, and to verify that this difference is a linear relationship with time; and (ii) calculate the shape parameter γ using the mini disc infiltrometer experiment and to investigate whether the value of γ depends on the soil type
Summary
For better agricultural water management, it is necessary to understand the infiltration process, which is a fundamental process through which cultivated crops absorb water and nutrients in a perpetual cycle to satisfy atmospheric energy and water demands. Knowledge of both soil water infiltration characteristics, saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil sorptivity, of the upper soil layers is essential for the modeling of the field infiltration process for agricultural water management and hydrological applications. Smettem et al [1]
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