A Comparison of the Effects of Solar Radiation on Sandy-Loam and Clay-Loam Soils with Convective Boundary Condition

Abstract

A comparison of the effects of solar radiation on sandy-loam and clay-loam soils with convective boundary condition was made. The dimensional governing equations (the continuity, momentum and energy equations) were converted to non-dimensional form using some set of dimensionless quantities, which resulted to a pair of partial differential equations of second order. With the use of perturbation method, these equations were reduced to ordinary differential equation and then solved analytically. Using the numerical values of the thermal conductivities of sandy-loam and clay-loam soils, a good comparison was made between the effects of the solar radiation parameter and internal heat generation parameter on the two soil samples. These results were worked out with the use of Matlab R2009b and visibly displayed on graphs for clearer illustration. For a rise in the intensity of solar radiation and mounting internal heat, the temperature of the soils increased generally. However, the proportion of moisture content influenced the level and the rate at which the temperature is boosted in both soil samples.

The Effects of Moisture Content on the Temperature of Some Selected Soil Samples in the Presence of Internal Heat

“…In order to be able to examine the emerged physical parameters on the temperature of the soils in consideration, the adopted numerical values of the thermal conductivities and porosities of the soils were displayed on tables 1 and 2 below. In line with some existing literature like [22], [19], and [24]…”

“…Meanwhile, Akinpelu et al [19] examined the combination of sandy soil with loamy soil and clay soil with loamy soil as being affected by solar radiation in order to attain a recommendation for maximum yield in some agricultural crops. They considered this at various wet/water levels of the soils combinations which ranges from about 1.4% to about 21.1 %.…”