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Simulation of Profile Water Storage as Related to Soil Hydraulic Properties¹

ABSTRACT

A previously published numerical model of soil-water dynamics was used to simulate the separate and combined processes of infiltration, drainage, and evaporation, as determined by hydraulic properties.

Three hypothetical soils were compared: sand, loam, and clay. Typical soil moisture characteristic functions were assigned to each, and the respective hydraulic conductivity functions were calculated. Uniform profiles of these soils were then subjected to various sequences of rainstorms and dry periods. The sandy soil provided the least evaporation and the most rapid downward flow. This resulted in the most effective storage under a relatively dry regime. The situation was reversed in the case of the clay soil, which stored the most water under a relatively wet regime, while the loam exhibited intermediate behavior. Some consequences of this pattern affecting arid zone ecology are discussed.

¹ Contribution from Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843.

² Respectively, Visiting Professor and Professor, Dep. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Texas Agric. Exp. Stn., Texas A & M Univ., College Station, Texas. The senior author is on leave from the Dep. of Soil & Water Science, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.

Received for publication January 23, 1976. Accepted for publication June 15, 1976.