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Unsaturated water transmission characteristics of soils in relation to texture, aggregate size and initial moisture content

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. C. Mundra ,
Raj Pal ,
R. S. Siyag  and
S. R. Poonia
M. C. Mundra
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar J25004, India
Raj Pal
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar J25004, India
R. S. Siyag
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar J25004, India
S. R. Poonia
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar J25004, India
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Summary

To study the effect of soil texture, aggregate size and initial moisture content on soil water diffusivity, D(θ), and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, K(θ), horizontal absorption experiments were conducted on samples of loamy sand, sandy loam and clay–loam soils as well as on artificially prepared water-stable aggregates of a clay–loam sample (sizes 0.·25–0–25, 0·25–0·5, 0·5–1, 1–2, and 2–4 mm). For comparable moisture contents, D(θ) followed the order loamy sand > sandy loam > clay–loam. The effect of initial moisture content on D(θ) varied with soil texture. K(θ), which was evaluated using D(θ) for air-dry initial moisture content and the slopes of the water retention curves, also varied with soil texture.

The D(θ) function for air-dry initial moisture content increased with the decrease in aggregate size, the increase being more pronounced below a size of 1 mm. Values of D(θ) obtained from initially airdry soil and at 10% of saturation moisture content did not differ greatly from one another. The K(θ) function was almost the same for aggregate sizes 1–2 and 2–4 mm. In the size ranges of < 1 mm, K(θ) increased with the decrease in aggregate size. The particle/aggregate size range of 0·1–0·5 mm was the most conducive to unsaturated water flow.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 112 , Issue 2 , April 1989 , pp. 199 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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