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The Measurement of the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Porous Materials Utilizing a Zone of Entrapped Air¹

ABSTRACT

A steady-state method for determining the major portion of the hydraulic conductivity-water content relationship of reasonably coarse-grained unsaturated porous materials is presented. In the method, an initially saturated column of the material, in the process of draining to a water table at its base, is rewet at an appropriate time at its upper surface from a ponded supply. This occasions an increase in the pore air pressure in the zone of air entrapped in the profile between the wetting and draining fronts. Two physical consequences of this flow system, the formation of a bell-shaped water content profile and the rapid attainment of steady-state conditions, allow the determination of the conductivity-water content relationship. Precautions to be taken in using the method are outlined, and experimental details are discussed. Two sets of experimental results are documented.

¹ Contribution from the Soil and Water Conserv. Res. Div., ARS, USDA.

² Research Civil Engineer, US Water Conserv. Lab. Phoenix, Ariz. During 1966 the author was on sabbatical leave from the School of Civil Eng., The Univ. of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W., Australia.

Received for publication May 8, 1967. Accepted for publication July 21, 1967.