Articles | Volume 27, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1565-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1565-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
17 Apr 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 17 Apr 2023
| 17 Apr 2023
Prediction of the absolute hydraulic conductivity function from soil water retention data
Andre Peters
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Division of Soil Science and Soil Physics, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Tobias L. Hohenbrink
Division of Soil Science and Soil Physics, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
now at: Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Agrometeorological Research
Center, Braunschweig, Germany
Sascha C. Iden
Division of Soil Science and Soil Physics, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Martinus Th. van Genuchten
Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Federal University of Rio de
Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wolfgang Durner
Division of Soil Science and Soil Physics, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
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The article describes a collection of 572 data sets of soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity data measured with state-of-the-art laboratory methods. Furthermore, the data collection contains basic soil properties such as soil texture and organic carbon content. We expect that the data will be useful for various important purposes, for example, the development of soil hydraulic property models and related pedotransfer functions.
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This study proposes a model to predict soil hydraulic properties (SHPs) of constructed Technosols for urban greening. The SHPs are determined by the Technosol composition and describe their capacity to store and supply water to plants. The model predicts SHPs of any binary mixture based on the SHPs of its two pure components, facilitating simulations of flow and transport processes before production. This can help create Technosols designed for efficient urban greening and water management.
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We simulated stony soils with low to high volumes of rock fragments in 3D using evaporation and multistep unit-gradient experiments. Hydraulic properties of virtual stony soils were identified under a wide range of soil matric potentials. The developed models for scaling the hydraulic conductivity of stony soils were evaluated under unsaturated flow conditions.
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Executive editor
The study proposes a new approach to characterize soil hydraulic functions. The novel approach strongly improves simulation results. This is a significant advancement of vadose zone hydrology.
The study proposes a new approach to characterize soil hydraulic functions. The novel approach...
Short summary
The soil hydraulic conductivity function is usually predicted from the water retention curve (WRC) with the requirement of at least one measured conductivity data point for scaling the function. We propose a new scheme of absolute hydraulic conductivity prediction from the WRC without the need of measured conductivity data. Testing the new prediction with independent data shows good results. This scheme can be used when insufficient or no conductivity data are available.
The soil hydraulic conductivity function is usually predicted from the water retention curve...
