A COMPARISON OF THREE FIELD METHODS FOR MEASURING SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
- 1 August 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Soil Science
- Vol. 65 (3), 563-573
- https://doi.org/10.4141/cjss85-060
Abstract
The saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, was measured on a loamy sand, a fine sandy loam, a silt loam and a clay at four 100-m2-area sites in southern Ontario [USA]. Twenty measurements of Ks were obtained by each of three different measurement techniques at each of the four sites. The techniques included: (1) the air-empty permeameter method; (2) the constant head well permeameter method using the Guelph Permeameter; and (3) the falling-head permeameter method applied to small soil cores. The Ks data were found to be better described by the log-normal frequency distribution than by the normal frequency distribution. Statistical comparison of the mean Ks values (.hivin.Ks) indicated significant differences between some or all of the methods within each site. This site-method interaction was interpreted in terms of the influence of macropores and air entrapment on each of the measurement techniques. The measured Ks values ranged over an order of magnitude on the sand, one to two orders of magnitude on the loams, and three orders of magnitude on the clay. The .hivin.Ks estimates averaged over the three methods were: 3 .times. 10-5 m .cntdot. s-1 for the sand; 2 .times. 10-6 m .cntdot. s-1 for the loams and 1 .times. 10-7 m .cntdot. s-1 for the clay. Although all techniques were able to discriminate between the three soil types, the best choice of method for any particular situation appears dependent on the required type and accuracy of the Ks measurement, soil type, and the various practical constraints on the investigation.This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Laboratory Measurement of Hydraulic Conductivity of Saturated SoilPublished by Wiley ,2015
- THE THREE-PARAMETER INFILTRATION EQUATIONSoil Science, 1982
- THE VARIATION OF IN SITU MEASURED SOIL WATER PROPERTIES WITHIN SOIL MAP UNITSCanadian Journal of Soil Science, 1980
- Spatial Variability of Soil Physical Properties in the FieldPublished by Elsevier ,1980
- FIELD MEASUREMENT OF HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY WITH A MODIFIED AIR-ENTRY PERMEAMETERCanadian Journal of Soil Science, 1976
- Theory of InfiltrationPublished by Elsevier ,1969
- Rapid field measurement of air entry value and hydraulic conductivity of soil as significant parameters in flow system analysisWater Resources Research, 1966