Performance of Horton Infiltration model in Predicting the Infiltration Capacity of some Soils of the Sudan Savanna of Nigeria.
Infiltration study is very crucial in modelling water requirement of crops during their growth season. Infiltration rate measurements were carried out on dryland areas of Sokoto, Sudan savanna ecological zone of Nigeria; using the double ring infiltrometer. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were used to determine some physical characteristics (Texture, Saturated hydraulic Conductivity, particle density, bulk density, porosity and organic matter) of the soil. The results showed that the cumulative infiltration predicted by Horton infiltration model was very close to the field measurements for all the spots from the average values (3.35, 2.83 and 1.71 cm/min) and predicted rates (2.37,2.34 and 1.54 cm/min) with coefficient of determination (R2) close to unity (0.98, 0.97, 0.97) for the three spots. The study showed that the Horton infiltration model can be applied to estimate infiltration characteristics of some soils in Sudan Savanna of Nigeria.