<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Soil hydraulic conductivity is a key parameter to predict water flow through the soil profile. We have developed an automatic minidisk infiltrometer (AMI) to enable easy measurement of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the tension infiltrometer method in the field. AMI senses the cumulative infiltration by recording change in buoyancy force acting on a vertical solid bar fixed in the reservoir tube of the infiltrometer. Performance of the instrument was tested in the laboratory and in two contrasting catchments at three sites with different land use. Hydraulic conductivities determined using AMI were compared with earlier manually taken readings. The results of laboratory testing demonstrated high accuracy and robustness of the AMI measurement. Field testing of AMI proved the suitability of the instrument for use in the determination of sorptivity and near saturated hydraulic conductivity</p></abstract>

Soil hydraulic conductivity is a key parameter to predict water flow through the soil profile. We have developed an automatic minidisk infiltrometer (AMI) to enable easy measurement of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the tension infiltrometer method in the field. AMI senses the cumulative infiltration by recording change in buoyancy force acting on a vertical solid bar fixed in the reservoir tube of the infiltrometer. Performance of the instrument was tested in the laboratory and in two contrasting catchments at three sites with different land use. Hydraulic conductivities determined using AMI were compared with earlier manually taken readings. The results of laboratory testing demonstrated high accuracy and robustness of the AMI measurement. Field testing of AMI proved the suitability of the instrument for use in the determination of sorptivity and near saturated hydraulic conductivity

New automatic minidisk infiltrometer: design and testing

Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Thákurova 7, 166 29 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"New automatic minidisk infiltrometer: design and testing"}

Soil hydraulic conductivity is a key parameter to predict water flow through the soil profile. We have developed an automatic minidisk infiltrometer (AMI) to...

New automatic minidisk infiltrometer: design and testing

Published Online: Apr 07, 2015

Page range: 110 - 116

Received: Dec 05, 2014

Accepted: Feb 18, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/johh-2015-0023

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.