Calculation of Thermal Conductivity and Heat Capacity from Physical Data for Some Representative Soils of Korea

Abstract

The thermal properties including volumetric heat capacity, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and diurnal and annual damping depths of 10 representative soil series of Korea were calculated using some measurable soil parameters based on the Taxonomical Classification of Korean Soils. The heat capacity of soils demonstrated a linear function of water content and ranged from 0.2 to <TEX>$0.8cal\;cm^{-3}^{\circ}C^{-1}$</TEX> for dry and saturated medium-textured soil, respectively. A small increase in water content of the dry soils caused a sharp increase in thermal conductivity. Upon further increases in water content, the conductivity increased ever more gradually and reached to a maximum value at saturation. The transition from low to high thermal conductivity occurred at low water content in the soils with coarse texture, and at high water content in the other textures. Thermal conductivity ranged between <TEX>$0.37{\times}10^{-3}cal\;cm^{-1}s^{-1}^{\circ}C^{-1}$</TEX> for dry (medium-textured) soil and <TEX>$4.01{\times}10^{-3}cal\;cm^{-1}s^{-1}^{\circ}C^{-1}$</TEX> for saturated (medium/coarse-textured) soil. The thermal diffusivity initially increased rapidly with small increases in water content of the soils, and then decreased upon further increases in the soil-water content. Even in an extreme soil with the highest diffusivity value (<TEX>$1.1{\times}10^{-2}cm^2s^{-1}$</TEX>), the daily temperature variation did not penetrate below 70 cm soil depth and the yearly variation not below 13.4 m as four times of damping depths.