Potential theory for dual-depth subsurface drainage of ponded land

Dual-depth subsurface drainage is considered to be more effective in removing excess water from soil than single-depth drainage, but this problem has not been analyzed in detail. Therefore, assuming that uniform, water-saturated soil covered by ponded water and overlying an impervious barrier is drained by equally spaced, alternating deep circular drain tubes, existing potential flow theory for a single-depth drainage system was extended. Sample calculations with the newly derived equations show that a dual-depth subsurface drainage system can be highly effective to remove excess water from soil. For example, a relative drain discharge of 160% is calculated when new drain tubes, added at the 0.60 m depth, are placed midway between the original drain tubes, which are 25 m apart and at the 1.20 m depth. In this calculation we have assumed that the impervious layer is at the 3.0 m depth, the radius of the tubes is 0.05 m, the soil hydraulic conductivity is 1 m/d, and the thickness of the ponded water is 0.0 m. For the same conditions, but with the additional tubes at the 1.20 m depth (same depth as original tubes), the relative drain discharge becomes nearly 200%, and with the additional tubes at the 2.40 depth (1.20 m below original tubes) it is more than 250%. When the impervious layer is at a greater depth and when the original drain spacing is more than 25.0 m, the relative drain discharge becomes even larger. The effectiveness of the dual-depth tube system becomes particularly large, if the second tube system is placed below the level of the first one

Subsurface Flow Barriers to Reduce Nitrate Leaching

Groundwater is a very important natural resource which directly affects many human lives. In the United States, groundwater is the source of about 22 percent of the freshwater used. About 53 percent of the total population and 97 percent of the rural population use groundwater supplies for their drinking water (Moody, 1990). Although contamination of groundwater can occur naturally, agriculture is considered to be one of the most widespread nonprofit sources of groundwater contamination. Among agricultural chemicals, nitrogen-fertilizer has been used most extensively, especially by com producers. About one million tons of nitrogen-fertilizer are used annually in Iowa. In some studies, more than 50 percent of the applied fertilizer nitrogen is not removed by the crop or stored in the soil, and leaching as a form of nitrate is thought to be a major reason for the losses (Blackmer, 1987). Leached nitrate may enter groundwater supplies. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations found in unsaturated soil below the rootzone of agricultural fields are in the range of 5 to 100 mg!L (Bouwer, 1990). Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in tile drainage below row crops often exceed 10 mg/L, the U.S.A. drinking water standard (Gast et al., 1978; Baker and Johnson, 1981; Timmons and Dylla, 1981; Baker et al., 1985)

Temperature Dependence of Water Retention Curves for Wettable and Water-Repellent Soils

The capillary pressure (ψ) in unsaturated porous media is known to be a function of temperature (T). Temperature affects the surface tension (σ) of the pore water, but possibly also the angle of contact (γ). Because information on the temperature dependence of γ in porous media is rare, we conducted experiments with three wettable soils and their hydrophobic counterparts. The objectives were (i) to determine the temperature dependence of the water retention curve (WRC) for wettable and water-repellent soils, (ii) to assess temperature effects on the apparent contact angle γA derived from those WRCs, and (iii) to evaluate two models (Philip-de Vries and Grant-Salehzadeh) that describe temperature effects on ψ. Columns packed with natural or hydrophobized soil materials were first water saturated, then drained at 5, 20, and 38°C, and rewetted again to saturation. Capillary pressure and water content, θ, at five depths in the columns were measured continuously. The observations were used to determine the change in γA with T, as well as a parameter β0 that describes the change in ψ with T It was found that the Philip-de Vries model did not adequately describe the observed relation between ψ and T A mean value for β0 of −457 K was measured, whereas the Philip-de Vries model predicts a value of −766 K. Our results seem to confirm the Grant-Salezahdeh model that predicts a temperature effect on γA For the sand and the silt we studied, we found a decrease in γA between 1.0 to 8.5°, when the temperature was increased from 5 to 38°C. Both β0 and γA were only weak functions of θ. Furthermore, it seemed that for the humic soil under study, surfactants, i.e., the dissolution of soil organic matter, may compound the contact angle effect of the soil solids

Sensible heat measurements indicating depth and magnitude of subsurface soil water evaporation

Most measurement approaches for determining evaporation assume that the latent heat flux originates from the soil surface. Here, a new method is described for determining in situ soil water evaporation dynamics from fine-scale measurements of soil temperature and thermal properties with heat pulse sensors. A sensible heat balance is computed using soil heat flux density at two depths and change in sensible heat storage in between; the sensible heat balance residual is attributed to latent heat from evaporation of soil water. Comparisons between near-surface soil heat flux density and Bowen ratio energy balance measurements suggest that evaporation originates below the soil surface several days after rainfall. The sensible heat balance accounts for this evaporation dynamic in millimeter-scale depth increments within the soil. Comparisons of sensible heat balance daily evaporation estimates to Bowen ratio and mass balance estimates indicate strong agreement (r2 = 0.96, root-mean-square error = 0.20 mm). Potential applications of this technique include location of the depth and magnitude of subsurface evaporation fluxes and estimation of stage 2–3 daily evaporation without requirements for large fetch. These applications represent new contributions to vadose zone hydrology

An in situ probe‐spacing‐correcting thermo‐TDR sensor to measure soil water content accurately

To reduce the possibility of probe deflections, conventional thermo-time domain reflectometry (T-TDR) sensors have relatively short probe lengths (≤4 cm). However, short probes lead to large errors in TDR-estimated soil water content (θv). In this study, two new 6-cm-long probe-spacing-correcting T-TDR (CT-TDR) sensors were investigated. Compared to conventional 4-cm-long T-TDR sensors, the 6-cm-long CT-TDR sensors reduced errors in TDR-estimated θv. Errors in heat pulse (HP) estimated θv because of probe deflections were reduced when linear or nonlinear probe spacing correcting algorithms were implemented. The 6-cm-long CT-TDR sensors provided more accurate θv estimations than do the conventional 4-cm-long TTDR sensors

Soil Water Infiltration as Affected by the Use of the Paraplow

DOUBLE-RING infiltration measurements were made during the corn growing season to determine the effect of various tillage systems on 1- and 30-min cumulative infiltration at three locations in Iowa. The Paraplow*, a newly introduced tillage tool in North America, which loosens the soil but does not invert it, was compared with moldboard-plow, chisel-plow, and no-tillage treatments. The Paraplow treatment gave the highest 1- and 30-min cumulative infiltration throughout the growing season. Similar bulk densities to a depth of 10 cm were observed for all the tillage treatments except for immediately after fall tillage at one site where moldboard-plowed and chisel-plowed soils had the lowest bulk densities. No-tillage and Paraplow treatment plots generally had greater moisture contents in the top 10 cm. Deep, surface connected cracks enhanced soil water infiltration considerably, and residue cover, particularly on the surface of no-tillage and Paraplow treatment plots, seemed to prevent surface sealing that would restrict soil water infiltration

Comparing Field Methods that Estimate Mobile–Immobile Model Parameters

Recent studies have used field techniques that estimate soil hydraulic and solute transport parameters. These methods utilize a tension infiltrometer to infiltrate either a single tracer or a series of tracers in order to estimate immobile water content (θim) and mass exchange coefficient (α) of the mobile–immobile solute transport model. The objective of this study was to compare two single tracer methods (basic and variance) with one multiple tracer method for estimating θim and α from data obtained on the same field soil location. Hydraulic conductivity (K(h 0)) was also estimated using these methods. Research was done at five interrow sites in a ridge-tilled corn (Zea mays L.) field, and the soil was mapped as a Nicollet series (fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, Aquic Hapludoll). The values of θim and α estimated by the multiple tracer method compared well with previously measured values using the same technique on the same field. The θim values for the multiple tracer technique were larger than values derived from the basic single tracer technique. The basic single tracer technique did not take into consideration a mass exchange between θim and the mobile water domain (θm). The α values were less variable for the multiple tracer method than for the single tracer-variance method. Values of immobile water fraction (θim/θ) for the multiple and basic single tracer techniques ranged from 0.30 to 0.52 and from 0.24 to 0.35, respectively. The values of α for the multiple and single tracer-variance techniques ranged from 0.06 to 0.9 d−1 and from 0.03 to 60 d−1, respectively. The volumetric water content (θ) changed considerably over the course of the experiment for the estimation of α using the single tracer-variance method; thus, the assumptions of this technique were compromised. The measured values of K(h 0) at the five sites ranged from 0.47 to 1.66 μm s−1 There was evidence that the basic single tracer method underestimated θim and overestimated θm, because this method considers α = 0 during the tracer application

An Improved Approach for Measurement of Coupled Heat and Water Transfer in Soil Cells

Laboratory experiments on coupled heat and water transfer in soil have been limited in their measurement approaches. Inadequate temperature control creates undesired two-dimensional distributions of both temperature and moisture. Destructive sampling to determine soil volumetric water content (θ) prevents measurement of transient θ distributions and provides no direct information on soil thermal properties. The objectives of this work were to: (i) develop an instrumented closed soil cell that provides one-dimensional conditions and permits in situ measurement of temperature, θ, and thermal conductivity (λ) under transient boundary conditions, and (ii) test this cell in a series of experiments using four soil type–initial θ combinations and 10 transient boundary conditions. Experiments were conducted using soil-insulated cells instrumented with thermo-time domain reflectometry (T-TDR) sensors. Temperature distributions measured in the experiments show nonlinearity, which is consistent with nonuniform thermal properties provided by thermal moisture distribution but differs from previous studies lacking one-dimensional temperature control. The T-TDR measurements of θ based on dielectric permittivity, volumetric heat capacity, and change in volumetric heat capacity agreed well with post-experiment sampling, providing r 2 values of 0.87, 0.93, and 0.95, respectively. Measurements of θ and λ were also consistent with the shapes of the observed temperature distributions. Techniques implemented in these experiments allowed observation of transient temperature, θ, and λ distributions on the same soil sample for 10 sequentially imposed boundary conditions, including periods of rapid redistribution. This work demonstrates that, through improved measurement techniques, the study of heat and water transfer processes can be expanded in ways previously unavailable

Hydraulic properties of soil cores from untrafficked and trafficked areas

The hydraulic conductivity is an important soil parameter that is both difficult and time consuming to measure directly. Several methods have been proposed to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity indirectly. This paper focuses on one method of predi.:ting hydraulic conductivity from knowledge of the soil water retention curve. Water retention curves were measured for 15 undisturbed soil cores. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the same 15 soil cores also was determined directly by using unit gradient measurements. An equation was fitted to each of the retention curves, and a procedure using the fitting parameters was implemented to predict hydraulic conductivity of each core. Predicted and observed hydraulic conductivities are compared. The procedure describes hydraulic conductivity relationships better when observed values of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity are included in the curve fitting process, than when the saturated hydraulic conductivity alone is used as a matching point. Analysis of a data set taken from the literature indicates that observed air permeabilities may also be useful for estimating the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity

Localized compaction and doming to increase N-use efficiency and reduce leaching

Nitrate-nitrogen leaching from agricultural lands results in inefficient use of nitrogen-fertilizer as well as degradation of groundwater or surface water if leachate returns to the surf ace through artificial drainage or baseflow. Subsurface barriers placed above a fertilizer band have been shown to reduce anion leaching. Laboratory data suggest that compacted soil works well as a subsurface water-flow barrier (Kiuchi et al., 1992; Kiuchi et al., 1994). A field-scale implement has been designed and constructed to inject nitrate-nitrogen fertilizer below the soil surface and create a thin compacted strip of soil above the fertilizer band covered by a small dome of soil. Data from a field study indicate that nitrate-nitrogen placed beneath such a domed, compacted strip is less susceptible to leaching than nitrate-nitrogen placed below the soil surface without such a cover. In 1993, nitrate-nitrogen remaining in the upper soil profile (32 inches deep) after three months of the growing season was 56% of the total amount applied compared with 37% remaining where there was only the typical knife injection band. Grain weight and plant weight at black layer development were not significantly different between the two application methods. Overall grain yields at harvest were different, the conventional knife application technique yielding slightly more than the localized compaction and doming application technique