A geostatistical approach to optimize the determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity for large-scale subsurface drainage design in Egypt

2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud M Moustafa
1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. BUCKLAND ◽  
D. B. HARKER ◽  
T. G. SOMMERFELDT

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and drainable porosity (f) determined by different methods and for different depths were compared with those determined from the performance of drainage systems installed at two locations. These comparisons were made to determine which methods are suitable for use in subsurface drainage design. Auger hole and constant-head well permeameter Ks were 140 and 110%, respectively, of Ks determined from subsurface drains. Agreement of horizontal or vertical Ks, from in situ falling-head permeameters; to other methods was satisfactory providing sample numbers were large. Ks by Tempe cells was only 3–10% of drain Ks and in one instance was significantly lower than Ks determined by all other methods. At one site a profile-averaged value of f determined from the soil moisture characteristic curve (0–5 kPa) of semidisturbed cores agreed with that determined from drainage trials. At the other site, a satisfactory value of f was found only when the zone in which the water table fluctuated was considered. Results indicate that Ks determined by the auger hole and constant-head well permeameter methods, and f determined from the soil moisture characteristic curve of semidisturbed cores, are sufficiently reliable and practical for subsurface drainage design. Key words: Subsurface drainage, hydraulic conductivity, drainable porosity


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Decharme ◽  
H. Douville ◽  
A. Boone ◽  
F. Habets ◽  
J. Noilhan

Abstract This study focuses on the influence of an exponential profile of saturated hydraulic conductivity, ksat, with soil depth on the water budget simulated by the Interaction Soil Biosphere Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model over the French Rhône River basin. With this exponential profile, the saturated hydraulic conductivity at the surface increases by approximately a factor of 10, and its mean value increases in the root zone and decreases in the deeper region of the soil in comparison with the values given by Clapp and Hornberger. This new version of ISBA is compared to the original version in offline simulations using the Rhône-Aggregation high-resolution database. Low-resolution simulations, where all atmospheric data and surface parameters have been aggregated, are also performed to test the impact of the modified ksat profile at the typical scale of a climate model. The simulated discharges are compared to observations from a dense network consisting of 88 gauging stations. Results of the high-resolution experiments show that the exponential profile of ksat globally improves the simulated discharges and that the assumption of an increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity from the soil surface to a depth close to the rooting depth in comparison with values given by Clapp and Hornberger is reasonable. Results of the scaling experiments indicate that this parameterization is also suitable for large-scale hydrological applications. Nevertheless, low-resolution simulations with both model versions overestimate evapotranspiration (especially from the plant transpiration and the wet fraction of the canopy) to the detriment of total runoff, which emphasizes the need for implementing subgrid distribution of precipitation and land surface properties in large-scale hydrological applications.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Carrera

<p>I review early developments of the stochastic modeling approach. It is generally believed that it is an American contribution. Indeed, North-Americans (notably Lynn Gelhar and Allan Freeze, but also Eduardo Alonso) pointed to the importance of spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in controlling large scale water flow and solute transport in the mid 1970’s (Matheron’s much earlier 1967 solution did not become broadly known until much later). However, the formulation of an approach to solve the problem was the result of work by French mining engineers at Fontainebleau. They had developed the field of Geostatistics, initially for the assessment of mineral reserves. It was natural to apply these concepts to groundwater. It was Ghislain de Marsily who framed the basic concepts of the geostatistical approach to address spatial variability, which remains essentially unchanged to this day.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Ryczek ◽  
Edyta Kruk ◽  
Magdalena Malec ◽  
Sławomir Klatka

Abstract On one hand, direct methods of measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity coefficient are time consuming, and on the other hand, laboratory methods are cost consuming. That is why the popularity of empirical methods has increased. Their main advantages are speed of calculations and low costs. Comparison of various empirical methods (pedotransfer functions) for the determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity coefficient was the purpose of this work. The methods used were Shepard’s, Hazen’s, USBR (United States Bureau of Reclamation), Saxton et al.’s, Kozeny–Carman’s, Krüger’s, Terzaghi’s, Chapuis’s, Sheelheim’s, Chapuis’, and NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Command) methods. Calculations were carried out for the soil samples of differential texture. The obtained results shows the methods used for the determination of permeability coefficient differ considerably. Mean values obtained by analysed methods fluctuated between 0.0006 and 12.0 m·day−1. The results of calculations by the chosen methods were compared with the results of the laboratory method. The best compatibility with laboratory method was obtained by using the Terzaghi method.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine van der Ploeg ◽  
Attila Nemes

<p>Soil hydro-physical properties —such as soil water retention, (un)saturated hydraulic conductivity, shrinkage and swelling, organic matter content, texture (particle distribution), structure (soil aggregation/pore structure)and bulk density— are used in many sub(surface) modeling applications. Reliable soil-hydrophysical properties are key to proper predictions with such models, yet the harmonization and standardization of these properties has not received much attention. Lack of harmonization and standardization may lead to heterogeneity in data as a result of differences in methodologies, rather than real landscape heterogeneity. A need and scope has been identified to better harmonize, innovate, and standardize methodologies regarding measuring soil hydraulic properties that form the information base of many derived products in support of EU policy. With this identified need in mind the Soil Program on Hydro-Physics via International Engagement (SOPHIE) was initiated in 2017. Besides developing new activities that may advise future measurements, we also explore historic data and metadata and mine its relevant contents. The European Hydro-pedological Data Inventory (EU-HYDI), the largest European database on measured soil hydrophysical properties, is – to date – rather under-explored in this sense, which served as motivation for this work.</p><p>From EU-HYDI we selected those records that were complete for soil texture, bulk density and organic matter, and fitted pedo-transfer functions separately for particular water retention points (at heads of 0, 2.5, 10, 100, 300, 1000, 3000, 15000 cm) and saturated hydraulic conductivity by multi-linear regression. We then subtracted the observed retention and hydraulic conductivity values from their estimated counterparts, and grouped the residuals by measurement methodologies. The results show that there can be significant differences between different methodologies and sample sizes used to obtain the water retention and hydraulic conductivity in the laboratory. The results thus show that the EU-data that may underlie large scale modelling may introduce errors in the forcing data that are attributed to a lack of harmonization and standardization in currently used measurement protocols.</p>


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