Improving the determination of soil hydraulic properties of peat soils at different scales

Abstract

This thesis improves the characterization of unsaturated hydraulic properties for different types of peat and other organic soils at the laboratory and the field scale. First, suggestions for a general improvement of the unsaturated hydrological modeling in peatlands are made. Second, a novel one-dimensional expression for calculating specific yield for shallow groundwater systems with microrelief has been derived which was the basis for the development of a novel in situ method for determining soil water retention characteristics in shallow groundwater systems