The influence of macropores on runoff generation from a hillslope soil with a contrasting textural class

Smettem, K.R.J.; Chittleborough, David J.; Richards, B G; Leaney, Fred

doi:10.1016/0022-1694(91)90180-p

Cited by 52 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Ghodrati and Jury, 1990;Bootlink et al, 1993;Li and Ghodrati, 1997;Perret et al, 2000). Hillslope hydrologists have especially discussed the effect of macropore flow on runoff generation (McDonnell, 1990;Smettem et al, 1991;Tsuboyama et al, 1994;Faeh et al, 1997;Tani, 1997;Weiler et al, 1998;Bronstert, 1999;Sidle et al, 2000). Yet, macropore flow processes are often not considered in hydrological rainfall-runoff models, where soils are usually treated as a continuous porous medium and flow depends only on the hydraulic conductivity and the water content in the soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils

Weiler

Naef²

2003

Hydrological Processes

287

217

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Abstract:Water flow in macropores is an important mechanism of infiltration in natural soils and, as such, is crucial for the prediction of runoff generation. The major flow processes controlling macropore flow are the initiation of macropore flow (water supply into macropores) and the water transfer from the macropores into the surrounding soil matrix (interaction). The water movement during infiltration and the resulting flow paths were studied with combined sprinkling and dye tracer experiments under different rainfall intensities and initial soil moisture conditions. The dye tracer was continuously applied with the sprinkling water on 1 m 2 plots. After the sprinkling, horizontal and vertical soil sections were prepared for surveying dye patterns, which showed the cumulated flow pathways in the soils. These experiments were carried out on four hillslope sites covered with grassland, where earthworms mainly built the macropore system. The evaluation of the flow processes in the soil was based on classified dye patterns and measurements of water content and matric potential. The results illustrate how flow in earthworm channels influences general hydrological flow processes during extreme rainfall events. Macropore flow was initiated from the soil surface or from a saturated or partially saturated soil layer. Transfer of water from the macropores into the soil matrix was mainly influenced by the soil properties and soil water content. The permeability of the underlying bedrock in combination with this transfer of water controlled the drainage of the macropores. Finally, major effects of macropore flow processes on the hydrological response were extracted. Infiltration excess overland flow was reduced if water bypassed the less permeable layer through macropores, saturation excess overland flow was less affected by macropores, and subsurface flow was activated very rapidly because the infiltrated water bypassed the soil matrix. This study highlights the most important processes that have to be considered in order to understand better and to model infiltration in natural soils in the future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils

Weiler

Naef²

2003

Hydrological Processes

287

217

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“…In agriculture, soil shrinkage cracking allows rapid transport of water, nutrients and pesticides to the subsoil where they are both inaccessible to shallow rooting plants and can pollute the local groundwater system (Kissel et al, 1974;Harris et al, 1994;Bronswijk et al, 1995;Kelly and Pomes, 1998). In addition, seasonal cracking of the soil matrix results in poor estimates of runoff and infiltration due to the changing soil storage conditions (Smettem et al, 1991;Stolte et al, 1997;Ruan and Illangasekare, 1998). In all cases, the prediction of the temporal change in soil volume is paramount to proper assessment of soil behaviour (Lin et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Estimation of soil cracking and the effect on surface runoff in a Texas Blackland Prairie watershed

Arnold

Potter

King

et al. 2005

Hydrological Processes

100

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Abstract:Seasonal cracking of the soil matrix results in poor estimates of runoff and infiltration by simulation models due to the changing soil storage conditions. In this study, soil surface elevation changes were measured every two weeks and soil crack volume was calculated for a two-year period at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Riesel Y-2 watershed in central Texas. Soil anchors were placed in triplicate at depths of 0Ð15, 0Ð45, 0Ð90, 1Ð50 and 2Ð5 m and relative movement from a monument at 4Ð5 m was measured. Soil movement was translated into crack volume assuming isotrophic shrinkage. A crack flow model was developed for this study that computes crack volume from crack potential, soil depth and soil moisture. Simulated crack volume followed the seasonal trends found in the measured crack volume and was in general agreement with a regression R 2 D 0Ð84. The crack model was incorporated into SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), a comprehensive hydrologic model. Regression analysis was performed on measured and simulated daily surface runoff with an R 2 D 0Ð87 indicating good agreement. The model was able to simulate surface runoff accurately in winter months when cracks were swelled closed and in the fall recharge events of 1998 when crack volume went from 70 to 10 mm. The relationships between measured crack volume and hydrologic variables simulated by the model were also examined and discussed.

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“…These questions lie at the heart of the double paradox, as outlined by Kirchner (2003) and tested by Bishop et al (2004), and quantification of flow and transport processes that connect the plot, hillslope and catchment scales. Studies generally have shown that preferential flow can have a strong influence on runoff processes at the hillslope (Mosley, 1979;Tsukamoto and Ohta, 1988;Smettem et al, 1991;Tsuboyama et al, 1994;Noguchi et al, 1999;Uchida et al, 1999) and the catchment scale (Sidle et al, 2000;Blöschl and Zehe, 2005;Zehe et al, 2007) with important controls on contaminant transport (e.g. Sidle et al, 1977;Flury et al, 1995;Šimůnek et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macropore flow of old water revisited: experimental insights from a tile-drained hillslope

Klaus

Zehe

Elsner

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

135

133

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Abstract. The mechanisms allowing the rapid release of stored water to streams are poorly understood. Here we use a tile-drained field site to combine macroporous soils at the hillslope scale with the advantage of at least partly controlled lower boundary conditions. We performed a series of three irrigation experiments combining hydrometric measurements with stable isotope and bromide tracers to better understand macropore-matrix interactions and stored water release processes at the hillslope scale. Stable isotope concentrations were monitored in the irrigation water, the tile-drain discharge and the soil water before and after the experiment. Bromide was measured every 5-15 min in the tile-drain hydrograph. Different initial conditions for each experiment were used to examine how these influenced flow and transport. Different amounts of irrigation water were necessary to increase tile-drain discharge above the baseflow level. Hydrograph separation based on bromide data revealed that irrigation water contributions to peak tile-drain discharge were on the order of 20 %. Oxygen-18 and deuterium data were consistent with the bromide data and showed that pre-event soil water contributed significantly to the tile-drain event flow. However, the isotopic composition of soil water converged towards the isotopic composition of irrigation water through the course of the experiment. Mixing calculations revealed that by the end of the irrigation experiments 20 % of the soil water in the entire profile was irrigation water. The isotopic data showed that the pre-event water in the tile drain was mobilized in 20-40 cm soil depth where the macroporematrix interaction leads to an initiation of macropore flow after a moisture threshold is exceeded.

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The influence of macropores on runoff generation from a hillslope soil with a contrasting textural class

Cited by 52 publications

References 21 publications

An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils

An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils

Estimation of soil cracking and the effect on surface runoff in a Texas Blackland Prairie watershed

Macropore flow of old water revisited: experimental insights from a tile-drained hillslope

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