Articles | Volume 25, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-983-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-983-2021
Technical note
 | 
25 Feb 2021
Technical note |  | 25 Feb 2021

Sigmoidal water retention function with improved behaviour in dry and wet soils

Gerrit Huibert de Rooij, Juliane Mai, and Raneem Madi

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Cited articles

Assouline, S. and Or, D.: Conceptual and parametric representation of soil hydraulic properties: a review, Vadose Zone J., 12, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2013.07.0121, 2013. 
Assouline, S., Tessier, D., and Bruand, A.: A conceptual model of the soil water retention curve, Water Resour. Res., 34, 223–231, 1998. 
Bittelli, M. and Flury, M.: Errors in water retention curves determined with pressure plates, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 73, 1453–1460, https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2008.0082, 2009. 
Bradley, R. S.: Polymolecular adsorbed films. Part 1. The adsorption of argon on salt crystals at low temperatures, and the determination of surface fields, J. Chem. Soc. (Resumed), 1467–1474, https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9360001467, 1936. 
Brooks, R. H. and Corey, A. T.: Hydraulic properties of porous media, Hydrology Paper No. 3, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, 1964. 
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Short summary
The way soils capture infiltrating water affects crops and natural vegetation and groundwater recharge. This retention of soil water is described by a mathematical function that covers all water contents from very dry to water saturated. We combined two existing lines of research to improve the behaviour of a popular function for very dry and very wet conditions. Our new function could handle a wider range of conditions than earlier curves. We provide fits to a wide range of soils.
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