HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Reynolds, W. D. Articles by Elrick, D. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Reynolds, W. D. Articles by Elrick, D. E. Agricola Articles by Reynolds, W. D. Articles by Elrick, D. E.

Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity Using a Tension Infiltrometer

Land Resource Research Centre, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6

D. E. Elrick

Dep. of Land Resource Science, Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1

* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

A new procedure is presented for in situ determination of saturated and near-saturated hydraulic conductivity [K_fs and K(), respectively] from a sequence of steady infiltration measurements made at several tensions on a single infiltration surface. The method applies to tension infiltration from either a surface disk or from within a ring inserted a small distance into the soil. The analysis employs a modification of Wooding's solution for infiltration from a shallow pond, combined with numerically determined shape factors that account for the interaction effects between flow geometry and soil properties. The method is found, via numerical simulations, to have an overall accuracy within about ± 7%, regardless of whether the predicted K() function is flat with an indistinct air-entry value, steep with a distinct air-entry value, or very steep with no air-entry value. Some important practical features of the method are that it does not require measurement of the often-difficult square-root-of-time infiltration behavior, no special considerations are required regarding the thickness of the contact layer, it minimizes the effect of local spatial heterogeneity by using only one infiltration surface per set of K() measurements, it avoids the use of potentially unstable simultaneous-equations solution procedures, and it can be applied to tension infiltration from both disk and ring infiltrometers.

Land Resource Research Centre Contribution no. 90-60.

Received for publication August 1, 1990.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Segal, S. A. Bradford, P. Shouse, N. Lazarovitch, and D. Corwin Integration of Hard and Soft Data to Characterize Field-Scale Hydraulic Properties for Flow and Transport Studies Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2008; 7(3): 878 - 889. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. J. Miller, T. Curtis, F. J. Larney, T. A. McAllister, and B. M. Olson Physical and Chemical Properties of Feedlot Pen Surfaces Located on Moderately Coarse- and Moderately Fine-Textured Soils in Southern Alberta J. Environ. Qual., June 23, 2008; 37(4): 1589 - 1598. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Walker, H. S. Lin, and D. D. Fritton Is the Tension Beneath a Tension Infiltrometer What We Think It Is? Vadose Zone J., June 21, 2006; 5(3): 860 - 866. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Caron and D. Elrick Measuring the Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Growing Media with a Tension Disc Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., May 6, 2005; 69(3): 783 - 793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. G. Meadows, M. H. Young, and E. V. McDonald A Laboratory Method for Determining the Unsaturated Hydraulic Properties of Soil Peds Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., May 6, 2005; 69(3): 807 - 815. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Eynard, T. E. Schumacher, M. J. Lindstrom, and D. D. Malo Porosity and Pore-Size Distribution in Cultivated Ustolls and Usterts Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2004; 68(6): 1927 - 1934. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Begin, J. Fortin, and J. Caron Evaluation of the Fluoride Retardation Factor in Unsaturated and Undisturbed Soil Columns Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2003; 67(6): 1635 - 1646. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Bagarello and M. Iovino Field Testing Parameter Sensitivity of the Two-Term Infiltration Equation Using Differentiated Linearization Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2003; 2(3): 358 - 367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Begin and J. Fortin Evaluation of an Acid Ammonium Oxalate Extraction to Determine Fluoride Resident Concentrations in Soils J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2003; 32(2): 662 - 673. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Sauer and S. D. Logsdon Hydraulic and Physical Properties of Stony Soils in a Small Watershed Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2002; 66(6): 1947 - 1956. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. J. Miller, N. J. Sweetland, and C. Chang Hydrological Properties of a Clay Loam Soil after Long-Term Cattle Manure Application J. Environ. Qual., May 1, 2002; 31(3): 989 - 996. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. Al-Jabri, R. Horton, and D. B. Jaynes A Point-Source Method for Rapid Simultaneous Estimation of Soil Hydraulic and Chemical Transport Properties Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., January 1, 2002; 66(1): 12 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. X. M. Casey and N. E. Derby Improved design for an automated tension infiltrometer Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., January 1, 2002; 66(1): 64 - 67. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P.J. Ross and K.R.J. Smettem A Simple Treatment of Physical Nonequilibrium Water Flow in Soils Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2000; 64(6): 1926 - 1930. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				V. Bagarello, M. Iovino, and G. Tusa Factors Affecting Measurement of the Near-Saturated Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 2000; 64(4): 1203 - 1210. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J.-P. Vandervaere, M. Vauclin, and D. E. Elrick Transient Flow from Tension Infiltrometers: I. The Two-Parameter Equation Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 2000; 64(4): 1263 - 1272. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J.-P. Vandervaere, M. Vauclin, and D. E. Elrick Transient Flow from Tension Infiltrometers: II. Four Methods to Determine Sorptivity and Conductivity Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., July 1, 2000; 64(4): 1272 - 1284. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				W.D. Reynolds, B.T. Bowman, R.R. Brunke, C.F. Drury, and C.S. Tan Comparison of Tension Infiltrometer, Pressure Infiltrometer, and Soil Core Estimates of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., March 1, 2000; 64(2): 478 - 484. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				M. Mecke, C.J. Westman, and H. Ilvesniemi Prediction of Near-Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity in Three Podzolic Boreal Forest Soils Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., March 1, 2000; 64(2): 485 - 492. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				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]