Infiltration Characteristics under Intermittent Ponding

Abstract

The research aims to study the characteristics of each of the infiltration depth, wetting front depth and the initial moisture of the soil in the case intermittent ponding depths using successive cycles for distribution and redistribution patterns with different durations. Six laboratory experiments were conducted for cylindrical infiltration under intermittent ponding included four distribution cycles, each cycle includes distribution pattern with continuous ponding and redistribution pattern with intermittent ponding or without ponding. Also, one cylindrical infiltration under continues ponding was done for comparison purposes. Empirical relations were derived to express the wetting front depth, the initial moisture of soil, and the accumulative infiltration depth and infiltration rate. The results show that the average initial moisture increase during the successive distribution cycles , then seemed to be constant. The results also indicate that the infiltration depth with intermittent application is more than that of continuous application at the same application time and the difference increased as ON/OFF ratio decreased. Further, the results show that the infiltration rate with continues ponding is approximately equal to infiltration rate with intermittent ponding at the end of redistribution pattern for successive cycles.