Testing infiltration run effects on the estimated water transmission properties of a sandy-loam soil

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

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.12.029

Cited by 42 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…In the illustrated case of the MC monolith for WLD = 5 cm (Figure 3b), transient ending flows were measured despite the fact that in an early stage of the process steady-state conditions were detected. Similar circumstances were reported in Alagna et al [35] for the recorded infiltration rates during prolonged runs. The same behavior also was pointed out by Bagarello et al [29] in long-time drainage experiments on small (0.001 m 3 ) undisturbed soil samples.…”

Section: Benefits Of the Proposed Field Soil K Sl Assessment Toolsupporting

confidence: 89%

Lateral Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil Horizons Evaluated in Large-Volume Soil Monoliths

Pirastru

Marrosu

Prima

et al. 2017

Water

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Abstract:Evaluating the lateral saturated hydraulic conductivity, K s,l , of soil horizons is crucial for understanding and modelling the subsurface flow dynamics in many shallow hill soils. A K s,l measurement method should be able to catch the effects of soil heterogeneities governing hydrological processes at the scale of interest, in order to yield K s,l representative values over large spatial scales. This study aims to develop a field technique to determine spatially representative K s,l values of soil horizons of an experimental hillslope. Drainage experiments were performed on soil monoliths of about 0.12 m 3 volume, encased in situ with polyurethane foam. Median K s,l of 2450 mm·h −1 and 552 mm·h −1 were estimated in the A and B horizon, respectively. In the upper part of the B horizon, the median K s,l was 490 mm·h −1 , whereas it mostly halved near the underlying restricting layer. The decline of K s,l values with depth was consistent with the water-table dynamics observed at the same site in previous studies. Moreover, the K s,l from the monoliths were in line with large spatial-scale K s,l values reported from the hillslope in a prior investigation based on drain data analysis. This indicated that the large-scale hydrological effects of the macropore network were well represented in the investigated soil blocks. Our findings suggest that performing drainage experiments on large-volume monoliths is a promising method for characterizing lateral conductivities over large spatial scales. This information could improve our understanding of hydrological processes and can be used to parameterize runoff-generation models at hillslope and catchment scale.

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Section: Benefits Of the Proposed Field Soil K Sl Assessment Toolsupporting

confidence: 89%

Lateral Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil Horizons Evaluated in Large-Volume Soil Monoliths

Pirastru

Marrosu

Prima

et al. 2017

Water

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“…The mean Ks values obtained in this investigation with the PI and SFH runs were in line with the saturated conductivity previously measured at the same field site with the same techniques and (Bagarello and Sgroi, 2007;Bagarello et al, 2014b;Alagna et al, 2016a). In particular, it was confirmed that high Ks values have to be expected at the field site when the soil is initially relatively dry.…”

Section: Comparison With Previous Experimentssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The soil (Typic Rhodoxeralf) had a relatively high sand and gravel content. The soil texture of the upper part of the profile, 0.1 m thick, was sandy-loam according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) classification (Alagna et al, 2016a).…”

Section: Field Sitementioning

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

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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.

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“…Among the soil hydraulic properties, field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, K fs , exerts a key role in the partitioning of rainfall infiltration and excess runoff [14,30]. Therefore, estimates of K fs are essential for evaluating the hydrological response of fire-affected soils.…”

Section: Overview Of This Special Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aim of this Special Issue is to enhance our understanding on conservation strategies for effective and sustainable soil and water management. Contributions focus on: recovery of soil hydraulic properties [14][15][16]; erosion risk [17][18][19]; novel modeling [20][21][22], monitoring [23] and experimental [24] approaches for soil hydraulic characterization; improvement of crop yields [25,26]; water availability and food security [27]; and soil salinity [28]. In the following section we resume all the contributions of this Special Issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Water Conservation: Dynamics and Impact

Prima

Castellini

Pirastru

et al. 2018

Water

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Human needs like food and clean water are directly related to good maintenance of healthy and productive soils. A good understanding of human impact on the natural environment is therefore necessary to preserve and manage soil and water resources. This knowledge is particularly important in semi-arid and arid regions, where the increasing demands on limited water supplies require urgent efforts to improve water quality and water use efficiency. It is important to keep in mind that both soil and water are limited resources. Thus, wise use of these natural resources is a fundamental prerequisite for the sustainability of human societies. This Special Issue collects 15 original contributions addressing the state of the art of soil and water conservation research. Contributions cover a wide range of topics, including (1) recovery of soil hydraulic properties; (2) erosion risk; (3) novel modeling, monitoring and experimental approaches for soil hydraulic characterization; (4) improvement of crop yields; (5) water availability; and (6) soil salinity. The collection of manuscripts presented in this Special Issue provides more insights into conservation strategies for effective and sustainable soil and water management.

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Testing infiltration run effects on the estimated water transmission properties of a sandy-loam soil

Cited by 42 publications

References 54 publications

Lateral Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil Horizons Evaluated in Large-Volume Soil Monoliths

Lateral Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil Horizons Evaluated in Large-Volume Soil Monoliths

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

Soil Water Conservation: Dynamics and Impact

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