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Test of a Soil Water Model Under Field Conditions¹

ABSTRACT

A 218-day experiment on a fallow loess soil was carried out to study infiltration and redistribution under natural field conditions. On an experimental plot of 6 by 6 m tensiometers had been installed in 11 depths: 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 200 cm. They were read at short irregular intervals. The precipitation was measured daily. The hydraulic functions of the layered, horizontal soil and a relation between potential evaporation, actual evaporation, and the soil suction at 5-cm depth had been established previously. With use of these soil and atmospheric data the unsaturated soil moisture flow equation was solved numerically. Purpose of the numerical analysis was to determine if the unsaturated soil moisture flow equation does describe observed soil moisture behavior for such a long period. It was found that the calculated soil suction values for all depths deviated less than 15% from the measured ones. It is concluded that the unsaturated moisture flow equation can be useful means to supplement field measurements on infiltration, redistribution, evaporation, and internal drainage.

¹ Contribution from the Inst. of Soil Sci. and For. Nutr., Georg-August Univ., 2 Buesgenweg, 3400 Goettingen, West Germany.

² Research Soil Scientist.

³ Former Graduate Student.

Received for publication August 23, 1976. Accepted for publication June 2, 1977.