Scale-dependency and spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties

Abstract

Water resources assessment and protection requires quantitative descriptions of field-scale water flow and contaminant transport through the subsurface, which, in turn, require reliable information about soil hydraulic properties. However, much is still unknown concerning hydraulic properties and flow behavior in heterogeneous soils. Especially, relationships of hydraulic properties changing with measured scales are poorly understood. Soil hydraulic properties are usually measured at a small scale and used for quantifying flow and transport in large scales, which causes misleading results. Therefore, determination of scale-dependent and spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties provides the essential information for quantifying water flow and chemical transport through the subsurface, which are the key processes for detection of potential agricultural/industrial contaminants, reduction of agricultural chemical movement, improvement of soil and water quality, and increase of agricultural productivity. The original research objectives of this project were: 1. to measure soil hydraulic properties at different locations and different scales at large fields; 2. to develop scale-dependent relationships of soil hydraulic properties; and 3. to determine spatial variability and heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties as a function of measurement scales. The US investigators conducted field and lab experiments to measure soil hydraulic properties at different locations and different scales. Based on the field and lab experiments, a well-structured database of soil physical and hydraulic properties was developed. The database was used to study scale-dependency, spatial variability, and heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties. An improved method was developed for calculating hydraulic properties based on infiltration data from the disc infiltrometer. Compared with the other methods, the proposed method provided more accurate and stable estimations of the hydraulic conductivity and macroscopic capillary length, using infiltration data collected atshort experiment periods. We also developed scale-dependent relationships of soil hydraulic properties using the fractal and geostatistical characterization. The research effort of the Israeli research team concentrates on tasks along the second objective. The main accomplishment of this effort is that we succeed to derive first-order, upscaled (block effective) conductivity tensor, K'ᵢⱼ, and time-dependent dispersion tensor, D'ᵢⱼ, i,j=1,2,3, for steady-state flow in three-dimensional, partially saturated, heterogeneous formations, for length-scales comparable with those of the formation heterogeneity. Numerical simulations designed to test the applicability of the upscaling methodology to more general situations involving complex, transient flow regimes originating from periodic rain/irrigation events and water uptake by plant roots suggested that even in this complicated case, the upscaling methodology essentially compensated for the loss of sub-grid-scale variations of the velocity field caused by coarse discretization of the flow domain. These results have significant implications with respect to the development of field-scale solute transport models capable of simulating complex real-world scenarios in the subsurface, and, in turn, are essential for the assessment of the threat posed by contamination from agricultural and/or industrial sources.