scholarly journals Study on Runoff and Infiltration for Expansive Soil Slopes in Simulated Rainfall

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Wenkai Lei ◽  
Hongyuan Dong ◽  
Pan Chen ◽  
Haibo Lv ◽  
Liyun Fan ◽  
...  

In order to understand the hydrological process of expansive soil slopes, simulated rainfall experiments were conducted to study the effects of slope gradient and initial soil moisture content on runoff and infiltration for expansive soil slopes located in south China. The field program consisted of four neighboring slopes (70%, 47%, 32%, and 21%) instrumented by a runoff collection system and moisture content sensors (EC-5). Results from the monitored tests indicate that there was delay in the response of surface runoff. The runoff initiation time decreased with initial soil water content and increasing slope gradient. After the generation of runoff, the cumulative runoff per unit area and the runoff rate increased linearly and logarithmically with time, respectively. The greater the initial soil moisture content was, the smaller the influence of slope gradient on runoff. A rainfall may contribute from 39% to about 100% of its total rainfall as infiltration, indicating that infiltration remained an important component of the rainwater falling on the slope, despite the high initial soil water content. The larger the initial sealing degree of slope surface was the smaller the cumulative infiltration per unit area of the slope. However, the soil moisture reaction was more obvious. The influence of inclination is no longer discernible at high initial moisture levels. The greater the initial soil moisture content and the smaller the slope gradient, the weaker was the change of soil water content caused by simulated rainfall. The influence of initial soil moisture content and slope gradient on the processes of flow and changes of soil water content identified in this study may be helpful in the surface water control for expansive soil slopes.

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1007
Author(s):  
Jian-Jun Wang ◽  
Wei-Hu Lin ◽  
Yan-Ting Zhao ◽  
Cheng Meng ◽  
An-Wei Ma ◽  
...  

The interaction effects between temperature and soil moisture on Festuca sinensis Keng ex E.B.Alexeev were analysed to determine how F. sinensis responds to these environmental conditions. A pot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse under simulated growth conditions with four soil moisture contents (80, 65, 50 and 35% relative saturation moisture content) and three temperature conditions (15, 20 and 25°C). Physiological (relative water content and root activity) and biochemical parameters (chlorophyll, peroxidase (POD), malondialdehyde (MDA), soluble protein, soluble sugar and free proline) were evaluated at the seedling stage. Results showed that with a decrease in soil water content, the POD activities, MDA content, soluble protein content, soluble sugar content and free proline content of plants under the 15°C and 20°C treatments initially decreased and then increased, whereas they increased with a decrease of soil water content at 25°C. The relative water contents of plants under the three temperature treatments decreased with a decreasing soil moisture content, but then increased temperature significantly reduced the relative water content of the seedlings under low soil water content. The chlorophyll contents of plants under the 25°C treatment decreased with a decrease of soil moisture content, but those of plants under the 15°C and 20°C treatments initially increased and then decreased. The root activities of plants under the 15°C and 20°C treatments increased with a decreasing soil moisture content; however, those of plants under the 25°C treatment initially increased and then decreased. Thus, results indicated that changes of temperature and soil moisture content had significant and complicated effects on the physiological-biochemical characteristics of F. sinensis; the conditions of 20°C and 65% RSMC had positive effects on F. sinensis seedling growth and the appropriate drought stress could promote the growth of seedling roots under the three different temperature conditions. In conclusion, F. sinensis seedlings could adapt to certain changes in the ecological environment by regulating their physiological and biochemical reactions.


Biologia ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Horst Gerke ◽  
Rolf Kuchenbuch

AbstractPlants can affect soil moisture and the soil hydraulic properties both directly by root water uptake and indirectly by modifying the soil structure. Furthermore, water in plant roots is mostly neglected when studying soil hydraulic properties. In this contribution, we analyze effects of the moisture content inside roots as compared to bulk soil moisture contents and speculate on implications of non-capillary-bound root water for determination of soil moisture and calibration of soil hydraulic properties.In a field crop of maize (Zea mays) of 75 cm row spacing, we sampled the total soil volumes of 0.7 m × 0.4 m and 0.3 m deep plots at the time of tasseling. For each of the 84 soil cubes of 10 cm edge length, root mass and length as well as moisture content and soil bulk density were determined. Roots were separated in 3 size classes for which a mean root porosity of 0.82 was obtained from the relation between root dry mass density and root bulk density using pycnometers. The spatially distributed fractions of root water contents were compared with those of the water in capillary pores of the soil matrix.Water inside roots was mostly below 2–5% of total soil water content; however, locally near the plant rows it was up to 20%. The results suggest that soil moisture in roots should be separately considered. Upon drying, the relation between the soil and root water may change towards water remaining in roots. Relations depend especially on soil water retention properties, growth stages, and root distributions. Gravimetric soil water content measurement could be misleading and TDR probes providing an integrated signal are difficult to interpret. Root effects should be more intensively studied for improved field soil water balance calculations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY THERESA CALLAHAN ◽  
SHIRLEY A. MICALLEF ◽  
ROBERT L. BUCHANAN

ABSTRACT Pathogens in soil are readily mobilized by infiltrating water to travel downward through the soil. However, limited data are available on the horizontal movement of pathogens across a field. This study used a model system to evaluate the influence of soil type, initial soil moisture content, and field slope on the movement of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport across a horizontal plane of soil under flooding conditions. Three soil types of varying clay content were moistened to 40, 60, or 80% of their maximum water-holding capacities and flooded with water containing 6 log CFU/ml Salmonella Newport and Citrobacter freundii, the latter being evaluated as a potential surrogate for S. enterica in future field trials. A two-phase linear regression was used to analyze the microbial populations recovered from soil with increasing distance from the flood. This model reflected the presence of lag distances followed by a quantifiable linear decrease in the population of bacteria as a function of the distance from the site of flooding. The magnitude of the lag distance was significantly affected by the soil type, but this was not attributable to the soil clay content. The rate of the linear decline with distance from the flood zone was affected by soil type, initial soil moisture content, and soil incline. As the initial soil moisture content increased, the rate of decline in recovery decreased, indicating greater bacterial transport through soils. When flooding was simulated at the bottom of the soil incline, the rate of decline in recovery was much greater than when flooding was simulated at the top of the incline. There was no significant difference in recovery between Salmonella Newport and C. freundii, indicating that C. freundii may be a suitable surrogate for Salmonella Newport in future field studies.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulvahed Khaledi Darvishan ◽  
Kazimierz Banasik ◽  
Seyed Hamidreza Sadeghi ◽  
Leila Gholami ◽  
Leszek Hejduk

Abstract Although the possibility of measuring and analysing all parts of the rainfall, infiltration, runoff, and erosion process as a natural hydrologic cycle in field conditions is still one of the more unattainable goals in the hydrological sciences, it can be accomplished in laboratory conditions as a way to understand the whole process. The initial moisture content is one of the most effective factors on soil infiltration, runoff, and erosion responses. The present research was conducted on a 2 m2 laboratory plot at a slope of 9% on a typical sandy-loam soil. The effects of the initial soil moisture content on the infiltration, runoff, and erosion processes were studied at four levels of initial soil moisture content (12, 25, 33, and 40 volumetric percentage) and two rainfall intensities (60 and 120 mm h-1). The results showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlation between rainfall intensity and downstream splash, with r = 0.87. The results reflected the theory of hydrological responses, showing significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlations with r =-0.93, 0.98, -0.83, 0.88, and 0.73 between the initial soil moisture content and the time-to-runoff, runoff coefficient, drainage as a part of the infiltrated water, downstream splash, and total outflow sediment, respectively.


1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. SOMMERFELDT ◽  
C. CHANG ◽  
J. M. CAREFOOT

A column study was conducted to determine the effects of soil texture, initial soil moisture content and timing of leaching on N removal from two irrigated soils of southern Alberta. Pelleted NH4NO3 fertilizer (0.639 g N per column = 336 kg∙ha−1) was applied to Lethbridge loam (Leth L) and Cavendish fine sandy loam (CV FSL) at three initial levels of soil moisture: air dry (AD), 0.5 field capacity (0.5 FC), and wet (W, 25 cm suction). Leaching began immediately after the fertilizer application or was delayed 1 wk. Water was applied in 1400-mL (7.6 cm depth) increments every 2nd day for a total of 33 600 mL (175 cm depth). The leachate was collected, measured, and analyzed for NH4-N and NO3-N. The soil was analyzed for N content before and after leaching. More N was leached from CV FSL (0.600 g) than from Leth L (0.521 g). Responses to initial soil moisture were similar for both soils; the NO3-N concentration peak followed the advancing wetting front more closely in the AD than in the W systems and leaching losses were greatest from the 0.5 FC treatment. Delayed leaching did not significantly affect the amount of N leached. N losses, other than from leaching, were greatest in the W and AD treatments, in the AD treatment these losses were attributed to volatilization and, in the W soils, to denitrification.


CATENA ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Poesen ◽  
E De Luna ◽  
A Franca ◽  
J Nachtergaele ◽  
G Govers

1959 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-239
Author(s):  
Mikko Sillanpää

The effect of the soil moisture content (varying from the field-moist to air-dry before re-wetting the muddy clay soil samples for aggregate analysis) on aggregation was studied. Two wetting procedures were used and compared: They were spraying samples with a fine mist and wetting them by immersion; aggregate analyses were made by wet sieving method. The results of the aggregate analyses proved to be practically independent of the initial moisture condition of the soil samples when the samples were wetted slowly with a spray. When wetting the samples by direct immersion the mean weight diameters of aggregates decrease with decreasing initial soil moisture content to values of less than half of those obtained from samples in their original field-moist condition (34.6—36.7 % dry wt.) or of those wetted with a spray. Air-drying seems to be a minor factor affecting the destruction of aggregates but the destruction effect of the sample pre-treatment may be very harmful if immersion wetting is used. This, however, can be eliminated almost completely if wetting with a fine mist is used.


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