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AGU: Water Resources Research

 

Keywords

  • unsaturated zone
  • water infiltration experiments
  • analytical modeling
  • numerical modeling
  • hydraulic characterization

Index Terms

  • Hydrology: Anthropogenic effects
  • Hydrology: Infiltration
  • Hydrology: Modeling
  • Hydrology: Soil moisture

Abstract

WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 45, W12415, 20 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009WR007941

Numerical evaluation of a set of analytical infiltration equations

L. Lassabatere

Division Eau et Environnement, LCPC, Bouguenais, France

R. Angulo-Jaramillo

Laboratoire d'Étude des Transferts en Hydrologie et Environnement, CNRS, Grenoble, France

Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Vaulx-en-Velin, France

J. M. Soria-Ugalde

Departamento de Ingenieriá Geomática e Hidráulica, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

J. Šimůnek

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California, USA

R. Haverkamp

Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Vaulx-en-Velin, France

In this paper, a set of analytical infiltration equations that are commonly used to evaluate one- and three-dimensional water infiltration from a surface disc source is studied. Both the quasi-exact analytical formulation and the related approximations for short and long times are assessed. The analytical properties of the quasi-exact formulation are evaluated using a proposed scaling procedure in order to define the validity domains of related approximations. Both quasi-exact and approximate analytical equations are then studied with respect to their ability to reproduce numerically generated cumulative infiltrations from a 10 cm radius disc source for four soils (sand, loam, silt, and silty clay) at several initial saturations. The quasi-exact formulation is suitable for sand, loam, and silt when their soil-dependent and saturation-independent shape parameters, γ and β, are properly chosen (between 0.75 and 1 and 0.3 and 1.7, respectively). Approximations derived for the same shape parameters can also be used, provided that their use is restricted to proposed validity intervals. However, none of these equations applies for silty clay, since its hydraulic properties do not fulfill the conditions required for the use of the quasi-exact formulation.

Received 4 March 2009; accepted 19 August 2009; published 19 December 2009.

Citation: Lassabatere, L., R. Angulo-Jaramillo, J. M. Soria-Ugalde, J. Šimůnek, and R. Haverkamp (2009), Numerical evaluation of a set of analytical infiltration equations, Water Resour. Res., 45, W12415, doi:10.1029/2009WR007941.

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