Subsoil hydraulic conductivity estimates for the Lower Macquarie Valley

Soil Research ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
TL Bird ◽  
TM Willis ◽  
GJ Melville
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Soil Variation ◽  
Constant Head ◽  
Semi Empirical ◽  
Soil Groups

Field saturated hydraulic conductivity was measured in situ, at two depths in the B horizon, on irrigated soils in the Lower Macquarie Valley. Measurements were made with constant head well permeameters, using the single-head method, and water of moderate sodicity and high salinity. The hydraulic conductivity data were log-normally distributed for all soil groups and there were significant differences between some of these soil groups in mean hydraulic conductivity. Three soils exhibited significant differences in mean hydraulic conductivity between depths. Hydraulic conductivity measurements ranged up to 3 orders of magnitude within a soil. Variation in hydraulic conductivity estimates, both between and within soil groups, confirmed the variation observed in previous predictions of deep drainage, which were obtained using a semi-empirical model. A cluster analysis on hydraulic conductivity indicated that similar morphological soil properties did not necessarily reflect similar hydrologic properties. There was a strong relationship between hydraulic conductivity and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), hydraulic conductivity and clay content, and ESP and clay content. A model was developed to predict field saturated hydraulic conductivity from ESP and clay content data. Hydraulic conductivity measured in this study may not have been representative of percolation rates which would occur with low salinity irrigation water, but can be used to assess the risk of recharge from irrigation on different soils in the lower Macquarie Valley. Shallow watertables may potentially develop when the application of irrigation water greatly exceeds crop water requirements. Quantification of groundwater recharge will allow the likelihood of shallow watertable development in the Lower Macquarie Valley to be assessed.

scholarly journals Predicting the Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Clayey Soils and Clayey or Silty Sands

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Stefania Bilardi ◽  
Domenico Ielo ◽  
Nicola Moraci
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Reliable Estimate ◽  
Clayey Soils ◽  
Geotechnical Parameters ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Different Soils

Predictive models able to provide a reliable estimate of hydraulic conductivity can be useful in various geotechnical applications. Since most of the existing predictive methods for saturated hydraulic conductivity estimation are valid only for a limited range of soils or can be applied under certain restrictive conditions, a new method applicable to clayey soils and clayey or silty sands having a wide range of values of soil index properties is proposed in this study. For this purpose, 329 saturated hydraulic conductivity values, obtained by laboratory tests carried out on different soils, were collected in a database and used to develop five equations using a multiple regression approach. Each equation correlates the hydraulic conductivity with one or more geotechnical parameters. An equation was developed that predicts, within an order of magnitude, the saturated hydraulic conductivity in the range from 1.2 × 10−11 to 3.9 × 10−6 m/s, based on simple geotechnical parameters (i.e., clay content, void ratio, plastic limit, and silt content).

Effects of skidding on forest soil infiltration in west-central Alberta

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Startsev ◽  
D. H. McNabb
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Soil Water Potential ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Freezing ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
Soil Infiltration ◽  
Constant Head

Soil compaction during forest harvesting generally reduces macropore space, which reduces infiltration and increases the potential for surface erosion and waterlogging. Hydrological effects of 3, 7 and 12 skidding cycles and their persistence were evaluated for 3 yr at 14 sites, which represented a range of soil texture and compaction conditions in the foothills and boreal forests of Alberta. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (HC) was determined using a constant head method on soil cores collected from 5- and 10-cm depths; unconfined infiltration rate of the surface soil (IR) was measured in situ with tension infiltrometers at near saturation. A significant (P < 0.05) increase in bulk density during skidding caused a significant reduction in both HC and IR after the first three cycles at eight sites where soil water potential at the time of skidding was higher than −15 kPa; the decrease at the other sites was not significant. Additional traffic, up to 12 cycles, did not cause a further significant decrease in HC or IR. The infiltration rate of soil compacted by three skidding cycles showed a recovery trend. However, in more intensively trafficked soils, compaction effects on infiltration remained significant for at least 3 yr, which was possibly attributed to heavy snowpacks preventing soil freezing at lower depths. Key words: Saturated hydraulic conductivity, unconfined infiltration rate, tension infiltrometers, skidders, boreal forest, Alberta

COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR DETERMINING SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY AND DRAINABLE POROSITY OF TWO SOUTHERN ALBERTA SOILS

1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. BUCKLAND ◽  
D. B. HARKER ◽  
T. G. SOMMERFELDT
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Subsurface Drainage ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Drainage Design ◽  
Moisture Characteristic ◽  
Constant Head ◽  
Subsurface Drains ◽  
Drainable Porosity

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and drainable porosity (f) determined by different methods and for different depths were compared with those determined from the performance of drainage systems installed at two locations. These comparisons were made to determine which methods are suitable for use in subsurface drainage design. Auger hole and constant-head well permeameter Ks were 140 and 110%, respectively, of Ks determined from subsurface drains. Agreement of horizontal or vertical Ks, from in situ falling-head permeameters; to other methods was satisfactory providing sample numbers were large. Ks by Tempe cells was only 3–10% of drain Ks and in one instance was significantly lower than Ks determined by all other methods. At one site a profile-averaged value of f determined from the soil moisture characteristic curve (0–5 kPa) of semidisturbed cores agreed with that determined from drainage trials. At the other site, a satisfactory value of f was found only when the zone in which the water table fluctuated was considered. Results indicate that Ks determined by the auger hole and constant-head well permeameter methods, and f determined from the soil moisture characteristic curve of semidisturbed cores, are sufficiently reliable and practical for subsurface drainage design. Key words: Subsurface drainage, hydraulic conductivity, drainable porosity

scholarly journals A modification of the constant-head permeameter to measure saturated hydraulic conductivity of highly permeable media

MethodsX ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelmer J. Nijp ◽  
Klaas Metselaar ◽  
Juul Limpens ◽  
Harm P.A. Gooren ◽  
Sjoerd E.A.T.M. van der Zee
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Permeable Media ◽  
Constant Head

scholarly journals Evaluation of pedotransfer functions to predict saturated hydraulic conductivity of Ukrainian soils

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Podzolic Soils ◽  
Experimental Values ◽  
Filtration Properties ◽  
Soil Groups

Literature overview. The parameterization of hydrological models requires knowledge of the soil filtration properties. Generally, soil profiles are characterized by properties such as sand, silt and clay content, bulk density, organic carbon fraction or humus content, and no data on filtration properties are available. Ukrainian soil database, created in Geoecophysics of soil laboratory of National Scientific Center “Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Researched named after O.N. Sokolovsky” (Laktionova et al., 2012), among other properties has extensive data on texture and bulk density for more than 2000 profiles, less on organic carbon content, and almost no data on saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat). The most probable ranges of Ksat for most types of Ukrainian soils are given in the Atlas of natural conditions and natural resources of the Ukrainian SSR (“Pochvenno-meliorativnoye rayonirovaniye. Masshtab 1:4000000,” 1978), however, the data doesn’t present Ksat for different textures inside one soil type. To fill this gap, the best solution is the applying of pedotransfer function (PTF). The purpose of this work is to synthesize the most realistic Ksat of the main soil groups of Ukraine, corresponding to a scale map of 1:2 500 000 (Krupskiy, 1977), as well as their genetic horizons, on the basis of calculated and experimental values available in the literature. Material and methods. Ten PTFs used in the study are based on regression equations (Cosby et al., 1984; Saxton & Rawls, 2006; Weynants et al., 2009; Wösten et al., 1999), decision tree (Tóth et al., 2015), or neural network (Zhang & Schaap, 2017). Ksat was estimated for 942 horizons of 171 profiles which represented all 40 soil groups (corresponding to the legend of 1:2 500 000 map) of Ukraine according to Dokuchaev classification. Results. Wösten and Rosetta3 PTFs are determined as the most relevant by comparing the calculated Ksat values with the available data of the bottom (horizons A2, B, C) and top (A0, A1) soil layers of Ukraine. In particular, they are relevant for widespread soils such as Soddy podzolic soils (WRB – Eutric podzoluvisols), dark gray podzolized soils (Phaeozems Albic), chernozems podzolized (Chernozems Chernic), chernozems southern (Chernozems Calcic), meadow-chernozemic soils (Phaeozems Haplic), dark chestnut and chestnut soils (Kastanozems Haplic and Kastanozems Luvic), meadow soils (Umbrisols Gleic, Fluvisols Dystrict, Fluvisols Eutryc, Leptosols Umbric), mountain soils (Cambisols), and top layer of Chernozems ordinary (Chernozems Chernic). Unfortunately, all ten PTFs underestimate 2-4 times Ksat of bottom layer of ordinary and typical chernozems (Chernozems Chernic) and overestimate 2-5 times for relatively impermeable horizons (< 2 mm/h). Conclusions. Based on the calculated and experimental values, the map of Ksat of the top and bottom soil layers was obtained. Sandy soils, common in Polissia, have the highest filtration rate. Ksat of loam and clay soils of forest-steppe and steppe can differ between different types by an order. The highest Ksat have soils with high structural properties (Chernozems Luvic, Chernozems Chernic). The lowest Ksat (0.2-3 mm/h) have Phaeozems Sodic, Solonetz, Solonchaks, Planosols Albic, and bottom layer of soddy manly gley (Arenosols Protic/ Haplic) and loamy soddy podzolic soils (Albeluvisols Umbric). The estimated values should be considered as the most probable because Ksat depends on landscape location of soil profile, tillage operations, and soil temperate. The results are acceptable to use in hydrological calculations and modeling.

Application of the steady-state principle of constant-head well permeameter to indirect subsurface drip irrigation

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z Weixia ◽  
C Huanjie ◽  
Z Zhenhua ◽  
S Zhijie
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Subsurface Drip Irrigation ◽  
Equilibration Time ◽  
Constant Head ◽  
Subsurface Drip ◽  
Emitter Discharge

Indirect subsurface drip irrigation (ISDI) is a method of increasing the irrigation water use efficiency of drip irrigation without the need to bury irrigation tubes and wet the soil surface. A major problem of ISDI is the mismatch between emitter discharge rate and water-conducting device dimension, which will result in over-filling of application water. In this paper, we propose to use the steady-state principle of constant-head well permeameter (CHWP) to quantify the relationship between emitter discharge rate and water-conducting device dimension for ISDI. CHWP tests and ISDI tests were carried out in a 300 m2 winter wheat fallow to verify its feasibility. The steady-state characteristic of these two methods was also studied using long-term infiltration. Results indicate that the equilibration time (110 min) in the ISDI tests was greater than that in the CHWP tests (30 min). The steady ponded depth in ISDI had a smaller variation than the steady water discharge rate in the CHWP. When using the steady-state principle of CHWP to design ISDI systems, there was significant linear correlation between predicted and measured ponded depth values (R2 = 0.8379). The soil field-saturated hydraulic conductivity calculated by these two tests was approximately equal. These results demonstrate that the steady-state principle of CHWP could be used to select appropriate irrigation systems for ISDI, and ISDI provides another technique to obtain the field-saturated hydraulic conductivity. Key words: Constant-head well permeameter, field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, indirect subsurface drip irrigation, steady-state

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