The relationship between thermal conductivity and matric suction of soils

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sen Lu

<p>The soil thermal conductivity (λ) and matric suction of soil water (h, the negative of matric potential) relationship has been widely used in land surface models for estimating soil temperature and heat flux following the McCumber and Pielke (1981, MP81) λ-h model. However, few datasets are available for evaluating the accuracy and feasibility of the MP81 λ-h model under various soil and moisture conditions. In this study, we developed a new λ-h model and compared its performance with that of the MP81 model using measurements on 18 soils with a wide range of textures, water contents and bulk densities. The heat pulse technique was used to measure λ, and the suction table, micro-tensiometers, pressure plate device, and the dew point potentiometer were applied to obtain soil water retention curves at the appropriate suction ranges. In the range of pF (the common logarithm of h in cm)≤3, the λ-h relationships were highly nonlinear and varied strongly with soil texture and bulk density. In the dry range (i.e., pF > 3), there existed a universal λ-h relationship for all soil textures and bulk densities, and an exponential function was established to describe the relationship. Independent evaluations using λ-h data on five intact soil samples showed that the new model produced accurate λ data from pF values with root mean square errors (RMSE) with the range of 0.03–0.18W m<sup>−1</sup> K<sup>−1</sup>. While, large errors (RMSEs within 0.17–0.36W m<sup>−1</sup> K<sup>−1</sup>) were observed with λ estimates from the MP81 model. </p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sen Lu

<p>Soil thermal conductivity (λ) is an important physical property in land surface parameterization. The soil thermal conductivity (λ) and matric suction of soil water (h, the negative of matric potential) relationship has been widely used in land surface models for estimating soil temperature and heat flux following the McCumber and Pielke (1981, MP81) λ-h model. However, few datasets are available for evaluating the accuracy and feasibility of the MP81 λ-h model under various soil and moisture conditions. In this study, we developed a new λ-h model and compared its performance with that of the MP81 model using measurements on 18 soils with a wide range of textures, water contents and bulk densities. The heat pulse technique was used to measure λ, and the suction table, micro-tensiometers, pressure plate device, and the dew point potentiometer were applied to obtain soil water retention curves at the appropriate suction ranges. In the range of pF (the common logarithm of h in cm)≤3, the λ-h relationships were highly nonlinear and varied strongly with soil texture and bulk density. In the dry range (i.e., pF > 3), there existed a universal λ-h relationship for all soil textures and bulk densities, and an exponential function was established to describe the relationship. Independent evaluations using λ-h data on five intact soil samples showed that the new model produced accurate λ data from pF values with root mean square errors (RMSE) with the range of 0.03–0.18Wm−1 K−1. While, large errors (RMSEs within 0.17–0.36Wm−1 K−1) were observed with λ estimates from the MP81 model. </p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 453-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. Moreira ◽  
S. R. Freitas ◽  
J. P. Bonatti ◽  
L. M. Mercado ◽  
N. M. É. Rosário ◽  
...  

Abstract. This article presents the development of a new numerical system denominated JULES-CCATT-BRAMS, which resulted from the coupling of the JULES surface model to the CCATT-BRAMS atmospheric chemistry model. The performance of this system in relation to several meteorological variables (wind speed at 10 m, air temperature at 2 m, dew point temperature at 2 m, pressure reduced to mean sea level and 6 h accumulated precipitation) and the CO2 concentration above an extensive area of South America is also presented, focusing on the Amazon basin. The evaluations were conducted for two periods, the wet (March) and dry (September) seasons of 2010. The statistics used to perform the evaluation included bias (BIAS) and root mean squared error (RMSE). The errors were calculated in relation to observations at conventional stations in airports and automatic stations. In addition, CO2 concentrations in the first model level were compared with meteorological tower measurements and vertical CO2 profiles were compared with aircraft data. The results of this study show that the JULES model coupled to CCATT-BRAMS provided a significant gain in performance in the evaluated atmospheric fields relative to those simulated by the LEAF (version 3) surface model originally utilized by CCATT-BRAMS. Simulations of CO2 concentrations in Amazonia and a comparison with observations are also discussed and show that the system presents a gain in performance relative to previous studies. Finally, we discuss a wide range of numerical studies integrating coupled atmospheric, land surface and chemistry processes that could be produced with the system described here. Therefore, this work presents to the scientific community a free tool, with good performance in relation to the observed data and re-analyses, able to produce atmospheric simulations/forecasts at different resolutions, for any period of time and in any region of the globe.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1257-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Montaldo ◽  
J. D. Albertson ◽  
M. Mancini

Abstract. Mediterranean ecosystems are commonly heterogeneous savanna-like ecosystems, with contrasting plant functional types (PFTs, e.g. grass and woody vegetation) competing for water. Mediterranean ecosystems are also commonly characterized by strong inter-annual rainfall variability, which influences the distributions of PFTs that vary spatially and temporally. An extensive field campaign in a Mediterranean setting was performed with the objective to investigate interactions between vegetation dynamics, soil water budget and land-surface fluxes in a water-limited ecosystem. Also a vegetation dynamic model (VDM) is coupled to a 3-component (bare soil, grass and woody vegetation) Land surface model (LSM). The case study is in Orroli, situated in the mid-west of Sardegna within the Flumendosa river basin. The landscape is a mixture of Mediterranean patchy vegetation types: trees, including wild olives and cork oaks, different shrubs and herbaceous species. Land surface fluxes, soil moisture and vegetation growth were monitored during the May 2003–June 2006 period. Interestingly, hydrometeorological conditions of the monitored years strongly differ, with dry and wet years in turn, such that a wide range of hydrometeorological conditions can be analyzed. The coupled VDM-LSM model is successfully tested for the case study, demonstrating high model performance for the wide range of eco-hydrologic conditions. Results demonstrate also that vegetation dynamics are strongly influenced by the inter-annual variability of atmospheric forcing, with grass leaf area index changing significantly each spring season according to seasonal rainfall amount.


Author(s):  
Austin A. Phoenix ◽  
Evan Wilson

The novel adaptive thermal metamaterial developed in this paper provides a unique thermal management capability that can address the needs of future spacecraft. While advances in metamaterials have provided the ability to generate materials with a broad range of material properties, relatively little advancement has been made in the development of adaptive metamaterials. This metamaterial concept enables the development of materials with a highly nonlinear thermal conductivity as a function of temperature. Through enabling active or passive control of the metamaterials bulk effective thermal conductivity, this metamaterial that can improve the spacecraft's thermal management systems performance. This variable thermal conductivity is achieved through induced contact that results in changes in the F path length and the conductive path area. The contact can be generated internally using thermal strain from shape memory alloys, bimetal springs, and mismatches in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) or it can be generated externally using applied mechanical loading. The metamaterial can actively control the temperature of an interface by dynamically changing the bulk thermal conductivity controlling the instantaneous heat flux through the metamaterial. The design of thermal stability regions (regions of constant thermal conductivity versus temperature) into the nonlinear thermal conductivity as a function of temperature can provide passive thermal control. While this concept can be used in a wide range of applications, this paper focuses on the development of a metamaterial that achieves highly nonlinear thermal conductivity as a function of temperature to enable passive thermal control of spacecraft systems on orbit.


2013 ◽  
Vol 712-715 ◽  
pp. 873-876
Author(s):  
Peng Du ◽  
Xiao Ling Liu ◽  
Xiao Ying Li

The swelling-shrinking soil embodies the features of expanding when absorbing water and shrinking when drying out; its engineering properties are sensitive to water fluctuation. Mainstream test instruments of SWCC cannot accurately get its relationship between matric suction and water volume fraction. So a correction method based on the results of shrinkage test is carried out. The method is accomplished by using the volume deformation which is obtained in shrinkage test to calculate its real water volume fraction and then combining the results of SWCC test and finally constructing the relationship between matric suction and water volume fraction. Through real application, this method is proved to be feasible and essential.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. I. Kömle ◽  
W. Macher ◽  
G. Kargl ◽  
M. S. Bentley

Abstract. A popular method for measuring the thermal conductivity of solid materials is the transient hot needle method. It allows the thermal conductivity of a solid or granular material to be evaluated simply by combining a temperature measurement with a well-defined electrical current flowing through a resistance wire enclosed in a long and thin needle. Standard laboratory sensors that are typically used in laboratory work consist of very thin steel needles with a large length-to-diameter ratio. This type of needle is convenient since it is mathematically easy to derive the thermal conductivity of a soft granular material from a simple temperature measurement. However, such a geometry often results in a mechanically weak sensor, which can bend or fail when inserted into a material that is harder than expected. For deploying such a sensor on a planetary surface, with often unknown soil properties, it is necessary to construct more rugged sensors. These requirements can lead to a design which differs substantially from the ideal geometry, and additional care must be taken in the calibration and data analysis. In this paper we present the performance of a prototype thermal conductivity sensor designed for planetary missions. The thermal conductivity of a suite of solid and granular materials was measured both by a standard needle sensor and by several customized sensors with non-ideal geometry. We thus obtained a calibration curve for the non-ideal sensors. The theory describing the temperature response of a sensor with such unfavorable length-to-diameter ratio is complicated and highly nonlinear. However, our measurements reveal that over a wide range of thermal conductivities there is an almost linear relationship between the result obtained by the standard sensor and the result derived from the customized, non-ideal sensors. This allows for the measurement of thermal conductivity values for harder soils, which are not easily accessible when using standard needle sensors.


Author(s):  
N. I. Kömle ◽  
W. Macher ◽  
G. Kargl ◽  
M. S. Bentley

Abstract. A popular method for measuring the thermal conductivity of solid materials is the transient heated needle method. It allows to evaluate the thermal conductivity of a solid or granular material to be evaluated simply by combining a temperature measurement with a well-defined electrical current flowing through a resistance wire enclosed in a long and thin needle. Standard laboratory sensors that are typically used in laboratory work consist of very thin steel needles with a large length-to-diameter ratio. This type of needles is convenient since it is mathematically easy to derive the thermal conductivity of a soft granular material from a simple temperature measurement. However, such a geometry often results in a mechanically weak sensor, which can bend or fail when inserted into a material that is harder than expected. For deploying such a sensor on a planetary surface, with often unknown soil properties, it is necessary to construct more rugged sensors. These requirements can lead to a design which differs substantially from the ideal geometry, and additional care must be taken in the calibration and data analysis. In this paper we present the performance of a prototype thermal conductivity sensor designed for planetary missions. The thermal conductivity of a suite of solid and granular materials was measured both by a standard needle sensor and by several customized sensors with non-ideal geometry. We thus obtained a calibration curve for the non-ideal sensors. The theory describing the temperature response of a sensor with such unfavorable length-to-diameter ratio is complicated and highly nonlinear. However, our measurements reveal that over a wide range of thermal conductivities there is an almost linear relationship between the result obtained by the standard sensor and the result derived from the customized, non-ideal sensors. This allows to measure thermal conductivity values for harder soils, which are not easily accessible when using standard needle sensors.


2011 ◽  
Vol 250-253 ◽  
pp. 2157-2160
Author(s):  
Yan Xun Song ◽  
Qiang Xu ◽  
Xi An Li ◽  
Hong Zhou Lin

The matric suction has very important influence on the characteristics of unsaturated sand; and it is closely relevant to density. In order to discuss the relationship among the matric suction, water content and dry density, the matric suction of the eolian sand were measured in laboratory. The soil-water characteristics curves for unsaturated eolian sand with different dry densities are obtained. The test results show that the variation tendency of soil-water characteristics curves has been corresponding to the different densities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 261-263 ◽  
pp. 1094-1098
Author(s):  
Yu You Yang ◽  
Qin Xi Zhang ◽  
Gui He Wang ◽  
Chen Liu

The test of soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and its mathematic model are present. The SWCC can describe the relationship between unsaturated soil matric suction and water content. Matric suction is an important parameter to address when studying the engineering properties of unsaturated soil. And while the measurement of substrate attraction is a very difficult issue, it is also one of the biggest obstacles in the engineering applications of unsaturated soil. By analyzing and researching the test data of SWCC researchers can initially establish the mathematic model which is the SWCC equation. The Van Genuchten model and the Fredlund and Xing model were used to simulate better the changes between the volume water content and the matric suction. Predictions were compared with experimental results to determine the simulation capability of the model for the soil of Beijing.


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Montaldo ◽  
J. D. Albertson ◽  
M. Mancini

Abstract. Mediterranean ecosystems are commonly heterogeneous savanna-like ecosystems, with contrasting plant functional types (PFTs, e.g., grass and woody vegetation) competing for the water use. Mediterranean ecosystems are also commonly characterized by strong inter-annual rainfall variability, which influences the distributions of PFTs that vary spatially and temporally. With the objective to investigate interactions between vegetation dynamics, soil water budget and land-surface fluxes in a water-limited ecosystem, an extensive field campaign in a Mediterranean setting was performed. Also a vegetation dynamic model (VDM) is coupled to a 3-component (bare soil, grass and woody vegetation) Land surface model (LSM). The case study is in Orroli, situated in the mid-west of Sardegna within the Flumendosa river basin. The landscape is a mixture of Mediterranean patchy vegetation types: trees, including wild olives and cork oaks, different shrubs and herbaceous species. Land surface fluxes, soil moisture and vegetation growth were monitored during the May 2003–June 2006 period. Interestingly, hydrometeorological conditions of the monitored years strongly differ, with dry and wet years in turn, such that a wide range of hydrometeorological conditions can be analyzed. The coupled VDM-LSM model is successfully tested for the case study, demonstrating high model performance for the wide range of eco-hydrologic conditions. The use of the VDM in the LSM is demonstrated to be essential when studying the climate-soil-vegetation interactions of these water-limited ecosystems. Results demonstrate also that vegetation dynamics are strongly influenced by the inter-annual variability of atmospheric forcing, with grass leaf area index changing significantly each spring season according to seasonal rainfall amount.


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