SSSAJ Grow Your Career with SSSA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:505-509 (1984)
© 1984 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mualem, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Mualem, Y.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Mualem, Y.

Anisotropy of Unsaturated Soils1

Yechezkel Mualem2

ABSTRACT

A conceptual model is applied for quantitative evaluation of the anisotropy factor during desaturation. The soil is assumed to consist of many thin parallel layers having different hydraulic properties. A uniform density distribution function is used to represent the saturated hydraulic conductivity probability of the various layers. A power function relationship is assumed between the hydraulic conductivity and the capillary head. The exponent in the hydraulic conductivity-capillary head relationship and the air entry value are allowed to be variables. The model indicates that the degree of anisotropy of unsaturated soil may vary considerably from its value at saturation. Reducing the capillary head gradually from zero, the anisotropy factor first decreases to a minimum and then increases rapidly as the soil dries. In some cases, the anisotropy factor can reach values several orders of magnitude higher than at saturation. Soil layers with very low permeability tend to diminish anisotropy on desaturation. Conversely, large variation of the hydraulic properties of the layers would enhance anisotropy in the unsaturated state.

NOTES

1 This paper was partly supported by the Seagram Center for Soil and Water Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.

2 Associate Professor of Soil Physics, Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.

Received for publication June 23, 1983. Accepted for publication December 28, 1983.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
G. Tang, E. Perfect, E. H. van den Berg, M. A. Mayes, and J. C. Parker
Estimating Effective Hydraulic Parameters of Unsaturated Layered Sediments Using a Cantor Bar Composite Medium Model
Vadose Zone J., May 27, 2008; 7(2): 493 - 499.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
R. J. Glass, J. R. Brainard, and T.-C. J. Yeh
Infiltration in Unsaturated Layered Fluvial Deposits at Rio Bravo: Macroscopic Anisotropy and Heterogeneous Transport
Vadose Zone J., February 1, 2005; 4(1): 22 - 31.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
Z. F. Zhang, Z. F. Zhang, A. L. Ward, and G. W. Gee
A Tensorial Connectivity-Tortuosity Concept to Describe the Unsaturated Hydraulic Properties of Anisotropic Soils
Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2003; 2(3): 313 - 321.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
K. Pruess, K. Pruess, S. Yabusaki, C. Steefel, and P. Lichtner
Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer, and Solute Transport at Nuclear Waste Storage Tanks in the Hanford Vadose Zone
Vadose Zone J., August 1, 2002; 1(1): 68 - 88.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Agronomy Journal Crop Science
Vadose Zone Journal Journal of Plant Registrations
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Journal of
Environmental Quality
Copyright © 1984 by the Soil Science Society of America.