Infiltration & soil moisture

(Ch. 6)

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Infiltration & soil moisture

(Ch. 6)

Infiltration of moisture from the surface & subsequent redistribution through the unsaturated soil moisture zone is an important hydrological process. Controls rates of runoff, soil moisture recharge, lateral flow in the unsaturated zone as interflow, and percolation to the groundwater table. Quantification of soil moisture infiltration and transfer is also of obvious importance for management of agricultural crops, soil drainage and groundwater recharge.
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012 D.L. Peters

Infiltration process is affected by numerous environmental factors that control the ability of the soil matrix to transmit water and include:
rate of water delivery to the surface via precipitation or snowmelt
Overland flow resulting from dumping 2.5m3 of water on the R-5 catchment.

depth of ponding on surface hydraulic conductivity of the soil

Horton overland flow on an R-5 road resulting from a long-duration 65mm rainfall event

soil porosity pre-existing moisture content in soil pores slope and roughness of the surface chemical characteristics of the soil surface (i.e., hydrophobic or hydrophilic) physical & chemical properties of water (i.e., temp., acidity, dissolved constituents)

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Infiltration
Defined as process of water entry into the soil through the soil surface
infiltration rate, f(t) [L T-1]: rate of downward moisture movement into the soil at time t, whereas F(t) is total amount of moisture infiltrated up to time t as a depth [L]. Usually expressed in cm/hr.

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Infiltration Measurement
Double Ring Infiltrometer

During rainfall inputs infiltration rate declines & becomes steady

controlled by infiltration capacity

maximum rate (cm hr-1) at which water can enter soil defined by soil properties (e.g. texture, porosity) recall Horton Overland Flow?

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Infiltration rate, f(t) different soil types

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Infiltration moisture zones

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Green-Ampt Model Infiltration

Normally done in a Lab assignment

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Soil moisture

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Why is soil moisture important?

small portion of total global water balance

0.005% total or 0.174% fresh (however)

76% all P that reaches the surface infiltrates short residence time 3 months 1 yr due to ET losses & drainage

cycled 1 to 4 times a year

moisture available to plants, key to soil development & nutrient transfer recharges groundwater excess becomes runoff
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012 D.L. Peters

Soil moisture processes

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Soil water types

defined by amount of force (pressure or tension) with which water held in soil 1. hygroscopic water: thin
(microscopic) layer of H2O adhered to particles unavailable lost only as vapour
2. capillary

water: held in

small pores & resistant to gravitational drainage flow upward via capillarity
3.

gravitational water: stored in largest pores

drains readily under its own weight
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

gravitational water
D.L. Peters

Soil Water Status as Function of Pressure (Tension)

available moisture = fc - pwp moves readily under limited by porosity

defined by: , plant type, soil texture, porosity, moisture content () field capacity (fc): water held under capillary + hygroscopic forces residual after drainage wilting point (pwp): water held near hygroscopic adhesion unavailable for plants, leaves via evaporation
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012 D.L. Peters

Total soil moisture potential ()

= g + p + o

g = gravitational potential = g h p = pressure potential = -ve suction pressure

Force of attraction into (& held within) a soil matrix (includes capillary & adhesive forces)

p = +ve hydrostatic if saturated o = osmotic potential often assumed negligible water move from high to low total potential energy

varies with depth in soil profile

varying contributions of g & p g decreases with depth why? p increases with depth why?
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012 D.L. Peters

Soil matrix potentials ()

ae 10 mm for gravel (low tension), 1500 mm for silts, several metres for clay (high tension)

why increase for fines? specific surface available for adhesion

high ae poses back pressure to inputs ponding & runoff slow to infiltrate but high capacity

amount of adsorptive (capillary) force: m = 14.76 / r

r = pore radius (mm) e.g., sandy soil with r 0.01 mm, m = 1476 mm

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Capillary rise a component of

Soil moisture retention curve

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Soil moisture measurement

soil water pressure potential (p)

tensiometer measures -ve suction P using porous cups installed at depth, pressure membranes, thermocouple psychrometer (matric+ osmotic)

Volumetric moisture content, [dimensionless]:

ratio of volume of water to the total volume of a soil sample i.e., VW/VT

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Soil moisture measurement

gravimetric method compares wet-dry weights & density electrical resistance blocks measure resistivity of soil with capacitance probes measure di-electric constant of soil with

di-electric constant: measure of polarity of a medium

neutron scattering from radioactive source high/fast neutrons slowed/absorbed by moisture time-domain reflectrometry (TDR) measures decay in time return signal with . Measures di-electric constant of soil satellite technologies: measure surface using IR or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to estimates di-electric constant

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Soil moisture measurement -Instrumentation

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Hydraulic conductivity
hydraulic conductivity, Kh [L T-1]: rate of water
movement through a porous soil. Determined largely by the area of permeable pore space for water flow

Saturated

depends mainly upon geometry & distribution of the pore spaces includes textural voids and macropores (e.g. root channels) macropores may increase saturated conductivity by several orders of magnitude

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Factors controlling soil moisture movement Porosity: ratio of volume of void space to total
volume of soil = [1 (bulk/particles)]

e.g. medium textured soil: bulk = 1.3 g cm-3, particles = 2.65 g cm-3 P = 0.51 or 51%

Ranges from 25% in compacted soil to 60% in wellaggregated surface soil with high organic matter content Controls total amount of water stored and transmitted
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012 D.L. Peters

Kh for Unsaturated Soils

Saturation

Draining

Field capacity

Darcys Law Unsaturated flow = -Kh() [dh/dL]

= unsaturated flow speed ( pore radius) Kh = hydraulic conductivity (m s-1) at dh/dL = hydraulic gradient in flow direction
GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Permeability for Sediments

Permeability or Hydraulic Conductivity (cm/s) 10-2 to -1 10-3 to -1 10-5 to -3 10-6 to -4 10-9 to -6
(C.W. Fetter 2)

Material well-sorted gravel well-sorted sands, glacial outwash silty sands, fine sands silt, sandy silts, clayey sands, till clay

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters

Factors controlling soil moisture movement soil texture & porosity

grain size & sorting control available surface for adhesion, porosity and flow pathways affects pressure potential e.g., rainfall intensity agriculture vs urban promotes runoff OR contributes to groundwater

moisture content

water input rates

land use

slope

GEOG370 Hydrology Spring 2012

D.L. Peters