<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Layered soils can consist of a thin little permeable upper layer over a more permeable subsoil. There are not many experimental data on the influence of this upper layer on infiltration. The mini-disk infiltrometer set at a pressure head of –3 cm was used to compare infiltration of nearly 40 mm of water in homogeneous loam and clay soil columns with that in columns made by a thin layer (1 and 3 cm) of clay soil over the loam soil. For each run, the Horton infiltration model was fitted to the data and the soil sorptivity was also estimated by considering the complete infiltration run. For the two layered soils, the estimates of initial infiltration rate and decay constant were similar but a thicker upper layer induced 2.4 times smaller final infiltration rates. Depending on the infiltration parameter and the thickness of the upper layer, the layered soils were characterized by 2.2–6.3 times smaller values than the loam soil and 2.2–6.6 higher values than the clay soil. Sorptivity did not differ between the homogeneous clay soil and the layered soil with a thick upper layer and a thin layer was enough to induce a decrease of this hydrodynamic parameter by 2.5 times as compared with that of the homogeneous loam soil. Even a thin upper layer influences appreciably infiltration and hydrodynamic parameters. Layering effects vary with the thickness of the upper layer and the considered parameter. The applied experimental methodology could be used with other soils and soil combinations.</p>
</abstract>

Layered soils can consist of a thin little permeable upper layer over a more permeable subsoil. There are not many experimental data on the influence of this upper layer on infiltration. The mini-disk infiltrometer set at a pressure head of –3 cm was used to compare infiltration of nearly 40 mm of water in homogeneous loam and clay soil columns with that in columns made by a thin layer (1 and 3 cm) of clay soil over the loam soil. For each run, the Horton infiltration model was fitted to the data and the soil sorptivity was also estimated by considering the complete infiltration run. For the two layered soils, the estimates of initial infiltration rate and decay constant were similar but a thicker upper layer induced 2.4 times smaller final infiltration rates. Depending on the infiltration parameter and the thickness of the upper layer, the layered soils were characterized by 2.2–6.3 times smaller values than the loam soil and 2.2–6.6 higher values than the clay soil. Sorptivity did not differ between the homogeneous clay soil and the layered soil with a thick upper layer and a thin layer was enough to induce a decrease of this hydrodynamic parameter by 2.5 times as compared with that of the homogeneous loam soil. Even a thin upper layer influences appreciably infiltration and hydrodynamic parameters. Layering effects vary with the thickness of the upper layer and the considered parameter. The applied experimental methodology could be used with other soils and soil combinations.

One-dimensional infiltration in a layered soil measured in the laboratory with the mini-disk infiltrometer

Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Layered soils can consist of a thin little permeable upper layer over a more permeable subsoil. There are not many experimental data on the influence of this...

One-dimensional infiltration in a layered soil measured in the laboratory with the mini-disk infiltrometer

Published Online: May 09, 2024

Page range: 149 - 157

Received: Sep 11, 2023

Accepted: Jan 19, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2024-0001

Keywords
One-dimensional infiltration, Homogeneous soils, Layered soils, Mini-disk infiltrometer

© 2024 Dario Autovino et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

One-dimensional infiltration in a layered soil measured in the laboratory with the mini-disk infiltrometer

Published Online: May 09, 2024

Page range: 149 - 157

Received: Sep 11, 2023

Accepted: Jan 19, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2024-0001

KeywordsOne-dimensional infiltration, Homogeneous soils, Layered soils, Mini-disk infiltrometer

© 2024 Dario Autovino et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
One-dimensional infiltration, Homogeneous soils, Layered soils, Mini-disk infiltrometer