Novel evaporation experiment to determine soil hydraulic properties

A novel experimental approach to determine soil hydraulic material properties for the dry and very dry range is presented. Evaporation from the surface of a soil column is controlled by a constant flux of preconditioned air and the resulting vapour flux is measured by infrared absorption spectroscopy. The data are inverted under the assumptions that (i) the simultaneous movement of water in the liquid and vapour is represented by Richards' equation with an effective hydraulic conductivity and that (ii) the coupling between the soil and the well-mixed atmosphere can be modelled by a boundary layer with a constant transfer resistance. The optimised model fits the data exceptionally well. Remaining deviations during the initial phase of an experiment are thought to be well-understood and are attributed to the onset of the heat flow through the column which compensates the latent heat of evaporation

Novel evaporation experiment to determine soil hydraulic properties

International audienceA novel experimental approach to determine soil hydraulic material properties for the dry and very dry range is presented. Evaporation from the surface of a soil column is controlled by a constant flux of preconditioned air and the resulting vapour flux is measured by infrared absorption spectroscopy. The data are inverted under the assumptions that (i) the simultaneous movement of water in the liquid and vapour is represented by Richards' equation with an effective hydraulic conductivity and that (ii) the coupling between the soil and the well-mixed atmosphere can be modelled by a boundary layer with a constant transfer resistance. The optimised model fits the data exceptionally well. Remaining deviations during the initial phase of an experiment are thought to be well-understood and are attributed to the onset of the heat flow through the column which compensates the latent heat of evaporation

Numerical solution of steady-state groundwater flow and solute transport problems: Discontinuous Galerkin based methods compared to the Streamline Diffusion approach

In this study, we consider the simulation of subsurface flow and solute transport processes in the stationary limit. In the convection-dominant case, the numerical solution of the transport problem may exhibit non-physical diffusion and under- and overshoots. For an interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin (DG) discretization, we present a $h$-adaptive refinement strategy and, alternatively, a new efficient approach for reducing numerical under- and overshoots using a diffusive $L^2$-projection. Furthermore, we illustrate an efficient way of solving the linear system arising from the DG discretization. In $2$-D and $3$-D examples, we compare the DG-based methods to the streamline diffusion approach with respect to computing time and their ability to resolve steep fronts

Do effective properties for unsaturated weakly layered porous media exist? An experimental study

International audienceIn a multi-step outflow experiment we found that a weak heterogeneity within a sand column prevents the estimated effective hydraulic parameters from being unique. We compared vertical water content profiles calculated from these parameters with profiles measured by x-ray attenuation. A layered material model based on x-ray data was able to reproduce the outflow curve and also the water content distribution inside the column. We also calculated effective parameters for the layered model turned upside down and obtained large differences to the set of values of the original sample

The dominant role of structure for solute transport in soil: experimental evidence and modelling of structure and transport in a field experiment

International audienceA classical transport experiment was performed in a field plot of 2.5 m2 using the dye tracer brilliant blue. The measured tracer distribution demonstrates the dominant role of the heterogeneous soil structure for solute transport. As with many other published experiments, this evidences the need of considering the macroscopic structure of soil to predict flow and transport. We combine three different approaches to represent the relevant structure of the specific situation of our experiment: i) direct measurement, ii) statistical description of heterogeneities and iii) a conceptual model of structure formation. The structure of soil layers was directly obtained from serial sections in the field. The sub-scale heterogeneity within the soil horizons was modelled through correlated random fields with estimated correlation lengths and anisotropy. Earthworm burrows played a dominant role at the transition between the upper soil horizon and the subsoil. A model based on percolation theory is introduced that mimics the geometry of earthworm burrow systems. The hydraulic material properties of the different structural units were obtained by direct measurements where available and by a best estimate otherwise. From the hydraulic structure, the 3-dimensional velocity field of water was calculated by solving Richards' Equation and solute transport was simulated. The simulated tracer distribution compares reasonably well with the experimental data. We conclude that a rough representation of the structure and a rough representation of the hydraulic properties might be sufficient to predict flow and transport, but both elements are definitely required

Water flow between soil aggregates

Aggregated soils are structured systems susceptible to non-uniform flow. The hydraulic properties depend on the aggregate fabric and the way the aggregates are assembled. We examined the hydraulic behavior of an aggregate packing. We focused on conditions when water mostly flows through the aggregates, leaving the inter-aggregate pore space air-filled. The aggregates were packed in 3mm thick slabs forming a quasi two-dimensional bedding. The larger aggregates were wetted with water and embedded in smaller aggregates equilibrated at a lower water content. The water exchange between wet and drier aggregates was monitored by neutron radiography. The three-dimensional arrangement of the aggregates was reconstructed by neutron tomography. The water flow turned out to be controlled by the contacts between aggregates, bottle-necks that slow down the flow. The bottle-neck effect is due to the narrow flow cross section of the contacts. The water exchange was simulated by considering the contact area between aggregates as the key parameter. In order to match the observed water flow, the contact area must be reduced by one to two orders of magnitude relative to that obtained from image analysis. The narrowness of the contacts is due to air-filled voids within the contact

Water flow between soil aggregates

Aggregated soils are structured systems susceptible to non-uniform flow. The hydraulic properties depend on the aggregate fabric and the way the aggregates are assembled. We examined the hydraulic behavior of an aggregate packing. We focused on conditions when water mostly flows through the aggregates, leaving the inter-aggregate pore space air-filled. The aggregates were packed in 3mm thick slabs forming a quasi two-dimensional bedding. The larger aggregates were wetted with water and embedded in smaller aggregates equilibrated at a lower water content. The water exchange between wet and drier aggregates was monitored by neutron radiography. The three-dimensional arrangement of the aggregates was reconstructed by neutron tomography. The water flow turned out to be controlled by the contacts between aggregates, bottle-necks that slow down the flow. The bottle-neck effect is due to the narrow flow cross section of the contacts. The water exchange was simulated by considering the contact area between aggregates as the key parameter. In order to match the observed water flow, the contact area must be reduced by one to two orders of magnitude relative to that obtained from image analysis. The narrowness of the contacts is due to air-filled voids within the contact

Solute mixing during imbibition and drainage in a macroscopically heterogeneous medium,

We studied the flow of water and the transport of solutes in a heterogeneously packed sand tank by performing transport experiments with a fluorescent tracer. The packing consisted of an inclined, layered sand bedding characterized by a large number of thin layers of three quartz sands of different grain sizes. The purpose was to evaluate to which extent the preceding wetting-draining history affects the mixing of solutes in presence of textural heterogeneities. We irrigated the surface at stepwise increased flow rates (imbibition) and afterward at stepwise decreased flow rates ( drainage). At each step the flow rate was kept constant to monitor the transport and spreading of several tracer plumes in the stationary flow field. The results show that during imbibition, mixing at the textural boundaries is hindered and the solutes are funneled through connected preferential flow paths. During drainage we observed enhanced mixing resulting in a definitely less heterogeneous transport regime. These results stress the role of the preceding wetting-draining history for determining the characteristics of solute transport in heterogeneous media. We demonstrate this using the integral mixing characteristics "dilution index'' and "reactor ratio,'' which quantify the degree of preferentiality of flow and transport