Estimating Spatial Patterns in Water Content, Matric Suction, and Hydraulic Conductivity

1988 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Mulla
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Matric Suction

Hyphal colonization of Rhizophagus irregularis increases unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of a loamy sand distant from roots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bitterlich ◽  
Richard Pauwels
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Hydraulic Properties ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Rhizophagus Irregularis ◽  
Loamy Sand ◽  
Soil Hydraulic Properties ◽  
Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Hydraulic ◽  
Root Exclusion

<p>Hydraulic properties of mycorrhizal soils have rarely been reported and difficulties in directly assigning potential effects to hyphae of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) arise from other consequences of AMF being present, i.e. their influence on growth and water consumption rates of their host plants that both also influence soil hydraulic properties.</p><p>We assumed that the typical nylon meshes used for root-exclusion experiments in mycorrhizal research can provide a dynamic hydraulic barrier. It is expected that the uniform pore size of the rigid meshes causes a sudden hydraulic decoupling of the enmeshed inner volume from the surrounding soil as soon as the mesh pores become air-filled. Growing plants below the soil moisture threshold for hydraulic decoupling would minimize plant-size effects on root-exclusion compartments and allow for a more direct assignment of hyphal presence to modulations in soil hydraulic properties.</p><p>We carried out water retention and hydraulic conductivity measurements with two tensiometers introduced in two different heights in a cylindrical compartment (250 cm³) containing a loamy sand, either with or without the introduction of a 20 µm nylon mesh equidistantly between the tensiometers. Introduction of a mesh reduced hydraulic conductivity across the soil volumes by two orders of magnitude from 471 to 6 µm d<sup>-1</sup> at 20% volumetric water content.</p><p>We grew maize plants inoculated or not with Rhizophagus irregularis in the same soil in pots that contained root-exclusion compartments while maintaining 20% volumetric water content. When hyphae were present in the compartments, water potential and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity increased for a given water content compared to compartments free of hyphae. These differences increased with progressive soil drying.</p><p>We conclude that water extractability from soils distant to roots can be facilitated under dry conditions when AMF hyphae are present.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Hydraulic Conductivity of Polymer-Amended Sand-Bentonite Backfills Permeated with Lead Nitrate Solutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Qiang Shen ◽  
Ming-Li Wei
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Applied Pressure ◽  
Lead Nitrate ◽  
Bound Water ◽  
Liquid Limit ◽  
Filter Press ◽  
Diffuse Double Layer ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
Pb Concentration

Hydraulic conductivity of sand-bentonite (SB) backfills amended with polyanionic cellulose (PAC) to lead nitrate (Pb(NO3)2) solutions was evaluated experimentally in this study. PAC-amended sand-bentonite (PSB) backfills were synthesized by mixing sand-bentonite mixture with 0.3 to 1.2% dry PAC (by total dry mixture mass) and mixed with a certain weight of conventional bentonite (CB) slurry. The rheology properties including the filtrate loss, viscosity, density, and pH testes of slurry with various bentonite dosages were measured to determine the reasonable CB dosage of slurry. The slump tests on PSB backfills with various mass slurries were conducted to determine the corresponding water content of backfills with slump 125 ± 5 mm. Under the applied pressure 100 kPa, the hydraulic conductivity to Pb(NO3)2 solutions (kc) of PSB backfills with various PAC contents was evaluated based on the modified filter press (MFP) tests, to ascertain the optimum PAC content of PSB backfills when permeated with Pb(NO3)2 solutions. Index properties, including the specific gravity (Gs) and liquid limit (wL) of PSB backfills, were measured after MFP tests. The MFP tests for PSB backfills were then conducted under various applied pressures to obtain the relationship between void ratio (e) and hydraulic conductivity of backfills. Finally, the flexible-wall permeability test (FWP test) under osmotic pressure 100 kPa was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the MFP test. The results indicate that slurry with 8% bentonite dosage is the reasonable choice in slurry wall construction. PSB has lower GS and higher wL compared to SB; increasing Pb concentration leads to GS of PSB increased and wL of PSB decreased. PSB with 0.6% PAC content is supposed as the optimum proportion of backfills when permeated with concentrated Pb(NO3)2 solution. PAC adsorbs large amount of bound water, which leads to higher water content (w) and e of PSB backfills, while lead ions (Pb) cause the diffuse double layer (DDL) of bentonite compressed and e of PSB backfills reduced. The kc of PSB-0.6 remains lower than 10−9 m/s and increases less than 10 times though the Pb concentration was up to 500 mM, demonstrating that the hydraulic performance of backfills can be improved effectively in Pb(NO3)2 solution by the additive PAC. The comparison results between k from MFP tests and FWP tests show that the MFP test is an effective and easy evaluation of hydraulic conductivity of backfills.

Hydraulic Conductivity of Compacted Tropical Clay Treated with Rice Husk Ash

2011 ◽  
Vol 367 ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian O. Eberemu ◽  
Agapitus A. Amadi ◽  
Joseph E. Edeh
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Rice Husk ◽  
Industrial Waste ◽  
Rice Husk Ash ◽  
Waste Product ◽  
Dry Density ◽  
Waste Containment ◽  
Hydraulic Behaviour ◽  
Waste Containment Systems

Laboratory study on compacted tropical clay treated with up to 16% rice husk ash (RHA), an agro-industrial waste; to evaluate its hydraulic properties and hence its suitability in waste containment systems was carried out. Soil-RHA mixtures were compacted using standard Proctor, West African Standard and modified Proctor efforts at-2, 0, 2 and 4% of optimum moisture content (OMC). Compacted samples were permeated and the hydraulic behaviour of the material was examined considering the effects of moulding water content, water content relative to optimum, dry density and RHA contents. Results showed decreasing hydraulic conductivity with increasing moulding water content and compactive efforts; it also varied greatly between the dry and wet side of optimum decreasing towards the wet side. Hydraulic conductivity generally decreased with increased dry density for all effort. Hydraulic conductivity increased with rice husk ash treatment at the OMC; but were within recommended values of 1 x 10-7 cm/s for up to 8% rice husk ash treatment irrespective of the compactive effort used. This shows the suitability of the material as a hydraulic barrier in waste containment systems for up to 8% rice husk ash treatment and beneficial reuse of this agro-industrial waste product.

scholarly journals Estimating spatially distributed soil water content at small watershed scales based on decomposition of temporal anomaly and time stability analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 571-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Hu ◽  
B. C. Si
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Watershed Scale ◽  
Small Watershed ◽  
Time Stability ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Space Variant

Abstract. Soil water content (SWC) is crucial to rainfall-runoff response at the watershed scale. A model was used to decompose the spatiotemporal SWC into a time-stable pattern (i.e., temporal mean), a space-invariant temporal anomaly, and a space-variant temporal anomaly. The space-variant temporal anomaly was further decomposed using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) for estimating spatially distributed SWC. This model was compared to a previous model that decomposes the spatiotemporal SWC into a spatial mean and a spatial anomaly, with the latter being further decomposed using the EOF. These two models are termed the temporal anomaly (TA) model and spatial anomaly (SA) model, respectively. We aimed to test the hypothesis that underlying (i.e., time-invariant) spatial patterns exist in the space-variant temporal anomaly at the small watershed scale, and to examine the advantages of the TA model over the SA model in terms of the estimation of spatially distributed SWC. For this purpose, a data set of near surface (0–0.2 m) and root zone (0–1.0 m) SWC, at a small watershed scale in the Canadian Prairies, was analyzed. Results showed that underlying spatial patterns exist in the space-variant temporal anomaly because of the permanent controls of static factors such as depth to the CaCO3 layer and organic carbon content. Combined with time stability analysis, the TA model improved the estimation of spatially distributed SWC over the SA model, especially for dry conditions. Further application of these two models demonstrated that the TA model outperformed the SA model at a hillslope in the Chinese Loess Plateau, but the performance of these two models in the GENCAI network (∼  250 km2) in Italy was equivalent. The TA model can be used to construct a high-resolution distribution of SWC at small watershed scales from coarse-resolution remotely sensed SWC products.

scholarly journals Effect of Biochar Application and Re-Application on Soil Bulk Density, Porosity, Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity, Water Content and Soil Water Availability in a Silty Loam Haplic Luvisol

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Toková ◽  
Dušan Igaz ◽  
Ján Horák ◽  
Elena Aydin
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Soil Bulk Density ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Drought ◽  
Silty Loam

Due to climate change the productive agricultural sectors have started to face various challenges, such as soil drought. Biochar is studied as a promising soil amendment. We studied the effect of a former biochar application (in 2014) and re-application (in 2018) on bulk density, porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water content and selected soil water constants at the experimental site in Dolná Malanta (Slovakia) in 2019. Biochar was applied and re-applied at the rates of 0, 10 and 20 t ha−1. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied annually at application levels N0, N1 and N2. In 2019, these levels were represented by the doses of 0, 108 and 162 kg N ha−1, respectively. We found that biochar applied at 20 t ha−1 without fertilizer significantly reduced bulk density by 12% and increased porosity by 12%. During the dry period, a relative increase in soil water content was observed at all biochar treatments—the largest after re-application of biochar at a dose of 20 t ha−1 at all fertilization levels. The biochar application also significantly increased plant available water. We suppose that change in the soil structure following a biochar amendment was one of the main reasons of our observations.

Mucilage exudation facilitates root water uptake in dry soils

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mutez A. Ahmed ◽  
Eva Kroener ◽  
Maire Holz ◽  
Mohsen Zarebanadkouki ◽  
Andrea Carminati
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Water Uptake ◽  
Root Water Uptake ◽  
Root Surface ◽  
Pressure Probe ◽  
Root Pressure ◽  
Plant Trait ◽  
Suction Cup ◽  
Relaxation Curves

As plant roots take up water and the soil dries, water depletion is expected to occur in the rhizosphere. However, recent experiments showed that the rhizosphere was wetter than the bulk soil during root water uptake. We hypothesise that the increased water content in the rhizosphere was caused by mucilage exuded by roots. It is probably that the higher water content in the rhizosphere results in higher hydraulic conductivity of the root–soil interface. In this case, mucilage exudation would favour the uptake of water in dry soils. To test this hypothesis, we covered a suction cup, referred to as an artificial root, with mucilage. We placed it in soil with a water content of 0.03 cm3 cm–3, and used the root pressure probe technique to measure the hydraulic conductivity of the root–soil continuum. The results were compared with measurements with roots not covered with mucilage. The root pressure relaxation curves were fitted with a model of root water uptake including rhizosphere dynamics. The results demonstrated that when mucilage is added to the root surface, it keeps the soil near the roots wet and hydraulically well conductive, facilitating the water flow from dry soils towards the root surface. Mucilage exudation seems to be an optimal plant trait that favours the capture of water when water is scarce.

Impacts of matric suction equalization on small strain shear modulus of soils during air drying

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 1982-1997
Author(s):  
Thang Pham Ngoc ◽  
Behzad Fatahi ◽  
Hadi Khabbaz ◽  
Daichao Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Shear Modulus ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Sample ◽  
Closed System ◽  
Small Strain ◽  
Matric Suction ◽  
Drying Process ◽  
Air Drying ◽  
Small Strain Shear Modulus ◽  
The Impact

In this study, a weight-control bender element system has been developed to investigate the impact of matric suction equalization on the measurement of small strain shear modulus (Gmax) during an air-drying process. The setup employed is capable of measuring the shear wave velocity and the corresponding Gmax of the soil sample in either an open system in which the soil sample evaporates freely or in a closed system that allows the process of matric suction equalization. The comparison between measurements of Gmax in the open and closed systems revealed underestimations of Gmax when matric suction equalization was ignored due to the nonuniform distribution of water content across the sample cross-sectional area. This study also investigated the time required for matric suction equalization tse to be established for samples with different sizes. The experimental results indicated two main mechanisms driving the matric suction equalization in a closed system during an air-drying process, namely the hydraulic flow of water and the flow of vapour. While the former played the key role when the micropores were still saturated at the high range of water content, effects of the latter increased and finally dominated when more air invaded the micropores at lower water contents.

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