Lecture 5

INTERCEPTION AND
INFILTRATION

Interception
The capture of
rainfall by the plant
canopy and its
subsequent return to
the atmosphere
through evaporation
Varies with leaf type,
canopy architecture,
wind speed, available
radiation,
temperature, and
humidity of the
atmosphere

Infiltration
Infiltration is the process by which water on
the ground surface enters the soil.
Infiltration rate measured in inches per hour
or millimeters per hour (mm/hr)
The rate decreases as the soil becomes
saturated.
If the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration
rate, runoff will usually occur unless there is
some physical barrier.

Infiltration
Infiltrometer a device used to measure the
rate of water infiltration into soil
Types of infiltrometer
Single ring infiltrometer involves driving a ring
into the soil and supplying water in the ring either
at constant head or falling head condition
Double ring infiltrometer requires two rings: an
inner and outer ring. The purpose is to create a
one dimensional flow of water from the inner ring.

Single Ring Infiltrometer

Double Ring Infiltrometer

Double Ring Infiltrometer

Percolation
Percolation is the movement of water though the soil,
and it's layers, by gravity and capillary forces.
The prime moving force of groundwater is gravity.
Water that is in the zone of aeration where air exists is
called vadose water. Water that is in the zone of
saturation is called groundwater.
The boundary that separates the vadose and the
saturation zones is called the water table.
Usually the direction of water movement is changed
from downward and a horizontal component to the
movement is added that is based on the geologic
boundary conditions.

Vadose
Zone

Zone of
Saturation