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ABSTRACT
Mulched soil slots may be used to increase infiltration and reduce runoff and erosion on land where infiltration is restricted by soil freezing or low soil permeability. To establish optimum slot dimensions and spacing, the effect of slot width, slot depth, and saturated hydraulic conductivity on infiltration must be determined. A numerical solution to the soil water flow equation in two dimensions was used to simulate slot mulch infiltration. The Kirchhoff integral transform was used to reduce the nonlinearity of the coefficients, and the finite difference equations were solved using a Newton-Raphson procedure. Simulations were in reasonable agreement with field measurements. A sensitivity analysis was used to show the effect of simulated changes in saturated conductivity, slot dimensions, and slope on water infiltration into the slots. The effect of slope on infiltration was negligible. A function was derived which predicts steady infiltration rate, given values for saturated conductivity, slot depth, and slot width.
1 Paper number SP6656. College of Agric. Res. Ctr., Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA 99164. Proj. 0427.
2 Former Research Assistant and Professor of Soils, Dep. of Agronomy and Soils, WSU; Agricultural Engineer and Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA. Senior author's present address is Campbell Scientific, Inc., Box 551, Logan, UT.
Received for publication October 24, 1983. Accepted for publication April 18, 1984.
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