Determining hydraulic properties of a loam soil by alternative infiltrometer techniques

Alagna, Vincenzo; Bagarello, Vincenzo; Prima, Simone Di; Iovino, Massimo

doi:10.1002/hyp.10607

Cited by 44 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Following similar investigations [37,52], unique values of clay, silt, sand, OC, ρ b , total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity and θ i were determined for each plot by averaging the measured values, considering the small size of the sampled areas [52]. The hypothesis of normal distribution of both the untransformed and the log-transformed K s data were tested by the Lilliefors test [53].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We conducted a K s characterization using the Beerkan method [35], referred to as BEST. We chose the BEST test because it is a simple, fast and inexpensive method [36][37][38]. At each plot, we carried out seven infiltration runs using a steel ring with an inner diameter of 0.16 m inserted approximately 0.01 m into the soil surface, with a minimum distance between measurements of 2 m. Before the ring's insertion, the litter was removed and, if necessary, the grass and ground cover were cut in order to expose the soil surface.…”

Section: Soil Sampling and Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Lozano-Baez

Cooper

Ferraz

et al. 2018

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Knowledge of soil hydraulic properties after forest restoration is essential for understanding the recovery of hydrological processes, such as water infiltration. An increase of forest cover may improve water infiltration and soil hydraulic properties, but little is known about the response and extent to which forest restoration can affect these properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of forest restoration on surface-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (K s ), and to verify the K s recovery to the pre-disturbance soil conditions. We sampled field K s at the surface in Campinas municipality, São Paulo State, Brazil, at 18 plots under three land-cover types: (i) a pasture; (ii) a restored forest using a high-diversity mix of plantings (85 regional native species) of 9 years of age; and (iii) a remnant forest patch. We used the Beerkan method for soil hydraulic characterization. Bulk density (ρ b ), soil organic carbon content (OC), soil porosity and particle size data were also sampled. We found considerable differences in soil hydraulic properties between land-cover classes. The highest K s were observed in remnant forest sites and the lowest K s were associated with pasture sites. The K s recovery differs markedly between restored forests. Our results strongly suggest that soil attributes and K s recovery are influenced by the duration and intensity of land use prior to forest restoration. Attention needs to be given to management activities before, during and after forest restoration, especially where the soil is still compacted and K s is low.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soil Sampling and Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Lozano-Baez

Cooper

Ferraz

et al. 2018

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hunter et al (2011) assessed the influence of disk size suggesting that the minidisk infiltrometer (MDI), having a 45 mm diameter disk, is appropriate for field assessment of SWR. In a recent investigation, the MDI proved to be a practical alternative to the classical tension infiltrometer to estimate hydrodynamic properties of a loam soil (Alagna et al, 2016). Furthermore, repellency assessment based on MDI tests appears inherently scaled to account for soil physical properties other than hydrophobicity (e.g., the volume, connectivity and the geometry of pores) that directly influence the hydrological processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of minidisk infiltrometer to estimate water repellency in Mediterranean pine forest soils

Alagna

Iovino

Bagarello

et al. 2017

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Assessment of soil water repellency (SWR) was conducted in the decomposed organic floor layer (duff) and in the mineral soil layer of two Mediterranean pine forests, one in Italy and the other in Spain, by the widely-used water drop penetration time (WDPT) test and alternative indices derived from infiltration experiments carried out by the minidisk infiltrometer (MDI). In particular, the repellency index (RI) was calculated as the adjusted ratio between ethanol and water soil sorptivities whereas the water repellency cessation time (WRCT) and the specifically proposed modified repellency index (RI m ) were derived from the hydrophobic and wettable stages of a single water infiltration experiment. Time evolution of SWR and vegetation cover influence was also investigated at the Italian site. All indices unanimously detected severe SWR conditions in the duff of the pine forests. The mineral subsoils in the two forests showed different wettability and the clay-loam subsoil at Ciavolo forest was hydrophobic even if characterized by organic matter (OM) content similar to the wettable soil of an adjacent glade. It was therefore assumed that the composition rather than the total amount of OM influenced SWR. The hydraulic conductivity of the duff differed by a factor of 3.8-5.8 between the two forested sites thus influencing the vertical extent of SWR. Indeed, the mineral subsoil of Javea showed wettable or weak hydrophobic conditions probably because leaching of hydrophobic compounds was slowed or prevented at all. Estimations of SWR according to the different indices were in general agreement even if some discrepancies were observed. In particular, at low hydrophobicity levels the SWR indices gathered from the MDI tests were able to signal sub-critical SWR conditions that were not detected by the traditional WDPT index. The WRCT and modified repellency index RI m yielded SWR estimates in reasonable agreement with those obtained with the more cumbersome RI test and, therefore, can be proposed as alternative procedures for SWR assessment.

show abstract

“…OPD Verbist et al (2013) Method 2 by Wu et al (1999) Alagna et al (2016b TPD TPD, two-ponding depth approach by Reynolds and Elrick (1990); OPD, one-ponding depth approach by Reynolds and Elrick (1990). Ks and φm are given by (Reynolds and Elrick, 1990):…”

Section: Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Source shape and data analysis procedure effects on hydraulic conductivity of a sandy-loam soil determined by ponding infiltration runs

Bagarello¹,

Santis²,

Giordano³

et al. 2017

J Agricult Engineer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Performing ponding infiltration runs with non-circular sources could represent a good means to sample completely an area of interest. Regardless of the shape of the source, predicting the expected reliability of the collected data by infiltrometers should facilitate soil hydraulic characterisation and also allow a more conscious use of the field data. The influence of the shape of the infiltration source (i.e., circular or square) and the analysis procedure of the steady-state infiltration data on the saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, of a sandy-loam soil was tested in this investigation. Circular and square surfaces sampled with the pressure infiltrometer (PI) yielded similar estimates of Ks (i.e., differing by a factor of 1.05-1.16, depending on the calculation method) when an equivalent radius was considered to geometrically describe the square source. With the simplified falling head (SFH) technique, the shape of the source was irrelevant (i.e., circular and square sources yielding Ks values that differed by a factor of 1.19), as theoretically expected. For the steady-state PI experiment, the twoponding depth approach yielded two times smaller Ks values than the one-ponding depth (OPD) approach, probably due to lower steady-state flow rates than those expected for the second phase of the two-level run. The conclusions were that: i) simple infiltrometer experiments (PI, SFH) can be carried out with square sources; and ii) the simplest PI run (OPD approach) is expected to yield the most reliable predictions of Ks. Sampling other soils is advisable in an attempt to make these conclusions of general validity.

show abstract

Determining hydraulic properties of a loam soil by alternative infiltrometer techniques

Cited by 44 publications

References 70 publications

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Previous Land Use Affects the Recovery of Soil Hydraulic Properties after Forest Restoration

Application of minidisk infiltrometer to estimate water repellency in Mediterranean pine forest soils

Source shape and data analysis procedure effects on hydraulic conductivity of a sandy-loam soil determined by ponding infiltration runs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About