Upward infiltration–evaporation method to estimate soil hydraulic properties. Issue 10 (27th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peña-Sancho, C.; Ghezzehei, T.A.; Latorre, B.; González-Cebollada, C.; Moret-Fernández, D.
• Is Part Of: Hydrological sciences journal. Volume 62:Issue 10(2017)
• Page Start: 1683
• Page End: 1693
• Publication Date: 2017-07-27
• Subjects: soil hydraulic properties -- inverse methods -- HYDRUS; Hydrology -- Periodicals; 551.4805
• DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2017.1343476
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0262-6667

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity, K s, and the van Genuchten water retention curve θ ( h ) parameters is crucial in evaluating unsaturated soil water flow. The aim of this work is to present a method to estimate K s, α and n from numerical analysis of an upward infiltration process at saturation (Cap0), with (Cap0 + h ) and without (Cap0) an overpressure step ( h ) at the end of the wetting phase, followed by an evaporation process (Evap). The HYDRUS model as well as a brute-force search method were used for theoretical loam soil parameter estimation. The uniqueness and the accuracy of solutions from the response surfaces, K s –n, α–n and K s –α, were evaluated for different scenarios. Numerical experiments showed that only the Cap0 + Evap and Cap0 + h + Evap scenarios were univocally able to estimate the hydraulic properties. The method gave reliable results in sand, loam and clay-loam soils.