SSSAJ Grow Your Career with SSSA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:329-335 (1988)
© 1988 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wilson, G. V.
Right arrow Articles by Luxmoore, R. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Wilson, G. V.
Right arrow Articles by Luxmoore, R. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Wilson, G. V.
Right arrow Articles by Luxmoore, R. J.

Infiltration, Macroporosity, and Mesoporosity Distributions on Two Forested Watersheds

G. V. Wilson* and R. J. Luxmoore

Oak Ridge National Lab., MS-038, Building 1505, Environmental Sciences Div. (respectively), Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6038

* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Macro- and mesopore processes substantially control the subsurface flow in forested watersheds. Limited field scale information is available on spatial variability of macropore infiltration and associated porosity of the hydrologically active macro- and mesopores. The double-ring and tension infiltrometer methods were employed at 37 and 39 locations, respectively, on two contrasting forested watersheds. The spatial variability of infiltration under ponded-flow (macropore-flow) and under 2-, 5-, and 14-cm water tension (mesopore-flow) conditions was determined. The frequency distributions were tested for lognormality with the Shapiro-Wilk {omega}-statistic and with isopleth probability analysis, and the spatial dependence of these data was tested with semivariogram analysis. The infiltration rates were found to be lognormally distributed, with the mesopore infiltration rates as variable (coefficients of variation of 102–184%) as the macropore infiltration rates (coefficient of variation of 107%). Macropore flow constituted 85% of the ponded flux; however, the mesopore fluxes were large ({approx}2 x 10–5 m s–1) and were considered sufficient to infiltrate rainfall without macropores filling and contributing to the flow. The large measured infiltration rates were associated with exceedingly small macroporosities of 0.0003 m3 m–3 for Walker Branch Watershed and 0.0002 m3 m–3 for Melton Branch Watershed, respectively. The reduction in infiltration rate with increased tension was described as an exponential function of the diameter of the largest effective pore. Semivariograms revealed no spatial dependence for separation distances >4 m at Walker Branch Watershed and weak spatial dependence for separation distances < 15 m at Melton Branch Watershed. Infiltration into these forested watersheds can be considered a stochastic process for hydrologic modeling.

NOTES

Research sponsored by the Ecological Research Div., Office of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Dep. of Energy, under contract DE-AC05-840R21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.

Received for publication June 16, 1987.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
P. Jiang, S. H. Anderson, N. R. Kitchen, E. J. Sadler, and K. A. Sudduth
Landscape and Conservation Management Effects on Hydraulic Properties of a Claypan-Soil Toposequence
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., April 5, 2007; 71(3): 803 - 811.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
U. Buczko, O. Bens, and R. F. Huttl
Tillage Effects on Hydraulic Properties and Macroporosity in Silty and Sandy Soils
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., October 27, 2006; 70(6): 1998 - 2007.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
T. B. Ramos, M. C. Goncalves, J. C. Martins, M. Th. van Genuchten, and F. P. Pires
Estimation of Soil Hydraulic Properties from Numerical Inversion of Tension Disk Infiltrometer Data
Vadose Zone J., May 26, 2006; 5(2): 684 - 696.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
P. M. Jardine, M. A. Mayes, P. J. Mulholland, P. J. Hanson, J. R. Tarver, R. J. Luxmoore, J. F. McCarthy, and G. V. Wilson
Vadose Zone Flow and Transport of Dissolved Organic Carbon at Multiple Scales in Humid Regimes
Vadose Zone J., March 8, 2006; 5(1): 140 - 152.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
B. C. Si and W. Bodhinayake
Determining Soil Hydraulic Properties from Tension Infiltrometer Measurements: Fuzzy Regression
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., October 27, 2005; 69(6): 1922 - 1930.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
P. Castiglione, P. J. Shouse, B. Mohanty, D. Hudson, and M. Th. van Genuchten
Improved Tension Infiltrometer for Measuring Low Fluid Flow Rates in Unsaturated Fractured Rock
Vadose Zone J., August 16, 2005; 4(3): 885 - 890.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
P. J. Hanson, C. W. Swanston, C. T. Garten Jr., D. E. Todd, and S. E. Trumbore
Reconciling Change in Oi-Horizon Carbon-14 with Mass Loss for an Oak Forest
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., August 4, 2005; 69(5): 1492 - 1502.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
P. Castiglione, P. J. Shouse, B. P. Mohanty, and M. Th. van Genuchten
Analysis of Temperature Effects on Tension Infiltrometry of Low Permeability Materials
Vadose Zone J., June 9, 2005; 4(3): 481 - 487.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Environ. Qual.Home page
B. Gjettermann, H. C. B. Hansen, H. E. Jensen, and S. Hansen
Transport of Phosphate through Artificial Macropores during Film and Pulse Flow
J. Environ. Qual., November 1, 2004; 33(6): 2263 - 2271.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
W. Bodhinayake, B. C. Si, and K. Noborio
Determination of Hydraulic Properties in Sloping Landscapes from Tension and Double-Ring Infiltrometers
Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2004; 3(3): 964 - 970.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
W. Bodhinayake, B. C. Si, and C. Xiao
New Method for Determining Water-Conducting Macro- and Mesoporosity from Tension Infiltrometer
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., May 1, 2004; 68(3): 760 - 769.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
B. P. Wilcox, D. D. Breshears, and H. J. Turin
Hydraulic Conductivity in a Pinon-Juniper Woodland: Influence of Vegetation
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 2003; 67(4): 1243 - 1249.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Sedimentary ResearchHome page
Lithologic and Pedogenic Influences on Porosity Distribution and Groundwater Flow in Fractured Sedimentary Saprolite: A New Application of Environmental Sedimentology
Journal of Sedimentary Research, September 1, 2001; 71(5): 843 - 857.


Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
G.V. Wilson, D.M. Ely, S.L. Hokett, and D.R. Gillespie
Recharge from a Subsidence Crater at the Nevada Test Site
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., September 1, 2000; 64(5): 1570 - 1581.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Soil Sci.Home page
H.S. Lin, K.J. McInnes, L.P. Wilding, and C.T. Hallmark
Effects of Soil Morphology on Hydraulic Properties: II. Hydraulic Pedotransfer Functions
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 1999; 63(4): 955 - 961.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Agronomy Journal Crop Science
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1988 by the Soil Science Society of America.