Thermally Induced Water Flux in Soils

Abstract

A comprehensive study is presented for the formulation of thermally induced water flux. For conditions without ice lenses, either frozen or unfrozen conditions, a theory is proposed to address the underestimation of water flux by the model of Philip and de Vries. In addition, experiments with a modified capillary rise method are proposed to calculate a gain factor that accounts for this underestimation. For thermally induced flux in frozen soils with ice lenses, a theoretical formulation is derived for the segregation potential, which is the key parameter in the model of Konrad and Morgenstern. This theoretical formulation, which is lacking in previous research, is expressed in a simple mathematical form and can be conveniently used for accurate prediction of segregation potential. The validity of the theory is proved with reported data, and more auxiliary relationships are provided for accurately predicting the segregation potential with the proposed formulation.