Development of a hand portable rainfall-simulator infiltrometer

Abstract

Comparisons of relative infiltration of summer thundershowers into undisturbed and treated western dry lands are necessary for guidance of future treatment practices. A system designed for measuring infiltration of simulated rainfall into' smalt plots of undisturbed soil that can be handcarried to sites inaccessible to vehicles has been developed. Disturbance of surface soil by driven plot frames or cylinders, a primary source of errors in infiltration measurement, has been eliminated in this design. Water requirements have been reduced to 1 or 2 gallons per measurement; so, distilled water or controlled chemical solutions can be used. Accurate measurements can be made rapidly and economically.

Comparison of soil infiltration rates in burned and unburned mountainous watersheds

“…These raindrops, falling the distance from the rainulator to the ground surface (approximately 1Ð5 m), have an energy value of 0Ð137 J cm 2 cm 1 at the normal application rate of about 100 mm h 1 . McQueen (1963) estimates that this application rate approximates that of a natural storm with an intensity of about 48 mm h 1 . A major limitation of the McQueen (1963) portable rainfall-simulator infiltrometer is the size of the infiltration plot (0Ð017 m 2 ).…”

“…We used a portable rainfall-simulator infiltrometer (McQueen, 1963) for the infiltration measurements ( Figure 2). McQueen (1963) lists the main components of the device as (1) a reservoir and control unit, (2) a rainulator, (3) a supporting tripod and wind screen, (4) a base unit containing a splash screen, and (5) a system for measuring runoff water and sediment (a 0Ð05 m diameter plastic tube with a machined conical tip, calibrated to measure volume in millilitres).…”

“…McQueen (1963) lists the main components of the device as (1) a reservoir and control unit, (2) a rainulator, (3) a supporting tripod and wind screen, (4) a base unit containing a splash screen, and (5) a system for measuring runoff water and sediment (a 0Ð05 m diameter plastic tube with a machined conical tip, calibrated to measure volume in millilitres). We modified the infiltrometer to include an extra strut to stabilize the wind screen further, used siliconce cement to seal the cylindrical base unit to the soil (rather than bentonite as specified in the original design), and cut a small notch in the base unit to allow the surface runoff and sediment to drain from the soil via a flat metal spout into a container from which we aspirated the runoff into a measuring tube.…”

“…On the other hand, the size of the equipment and the amount of water needed for the infiltration experiments allowed us to access otherwise inaccessible sites. Issues of scaling up plot-scale McQueen (1963)] measurements to the watershed scale have been addressed elsewhere, for example by Kirkby et al (1996), Newman et al (1997), and Hendrayanto et al (2000).…”

Application of the precipitation-runoff modeling system to the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wash watershed, San Juan County, New Mexico

“…The equipment used was a hand portable, rainfall-simulator infiltrometer developed by McQueen (1963).…”