Modeling Soil Crack Volume at the Pedon Scale using Available Soil Data

Neely, Haly L.; Morgan, Cristine L.S.; McInnes, Kevin J.; Molling, Christine C.

doi:10.2136/sssaj2018.01.0007

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Even though it comes at the cost of two extra parameters (ϒ and K interaggr,max ), the results here indicate that including both interaggregate and interblock cracks can facilitate simulations from the smaller soil matrix scale to the larger hillslope scale. Beyond the studies examined here, such differentiation of crack domains may also reconcile observed and modeled crack distributions, such as have been measured in laboratory (Chertkov & Ravina, 2002) and field settings (Bagnall, 2014;Neely et al, 2018).…”

Section: Water Resources Researchsupporting

confidence: 72%

A Dynamic Multidomain Green‐Ampt Infiltration Model

Stewart

2018

Water Resources Research

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Shrink‐swell soils possess dynamic hydraulic properties, which may limit the applicability of traditional models for simulating infiltration and overland flow. This study incorporates Green‐Ampt infiltration concepts into a multidomain porosity framework to account for variations in pore size distributions and saturated hydraulic conductivities caused by soil shrinkage and swelling. The model requires three input variables (initial water content, rainfall rate, and time) and up to 15 parameters to simulate infiltration and overland flow, though most of the parameters are universal constants or can be estimated from auxiliary measurements. In comparison, the classic Green‐Ampt model, which assumes constant hydraulic properties and a single domain, requires the same three inputs and up to seven parameters to use. Performance of the proposed multidomain model was verified with two data sets. The first came from a study in Mexico where time to ponding and soil matrix infiltration were quantified under simulated rainfall, and the second came from a study in Chile where overland flow was measured during irrigation experiments on runoff plots. By tuning two (Chile) or three (Mexico) parameters, the multidomain model provided accurate estimations of infiltration/runoff partitioning at multiple scales. Compared to the classic single‐domain model, the multidomain model had lower root‐mean‐square deviations (reducing simulated infiltration errors by 2–3 times) and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) scores (ΔAIC ~100), thus providing better simulations of infiltration, ponding, and runoff. These results demonstrate that modeling hydrological processes in shrink‐swell soils necessitates separating soil properties mediated by the matrix from those associated with interblock shrinkage cracks.

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Section: Water Resources Researchsupporting

confidence: 72%

A Dynamic Multidomain Green‐Ampt Infiltration Model

Stewart

2018

Water Resources Research

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“…The wetting event in Fig. 4A occurred when soil VWC was relatively moist, and we expect no cracks were open, above 0.35 m 3 m −3 (Neely et al, 2018). After 25 mm of rain, the soil profile wet quickly at depth and simulations agree more closely with measurements when PALMS M&M is used.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The M&M module's nine parameters were chosen based on the official series description of a Burleson clay (National Cooperative Soil Survey, 2018) as interpreted by the National Soil Survey Center (2002), with the exception of the COLE value, which was measured as 0.17 m m −1 by a previous study at this location (Neely et al, 2018). The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the ped (K s,ped ) was assigned the Rawls et al (1992) look-up table value of 0.06 cm h −1 .…”

Section: Palms Pedon-scale Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing a Water Redistribution Model in a Cracked Vertisol at Two Scales

Bagnall

Morgan

Molling

et al. 2019

Vadose Zone Journal

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Core Ideas Time for water to fully drain from cracks and mesopores was 24 to 72 h. In moist, cracked soil, water moved to 60 cm after 2 h. On dry, cracked soil, water moved to >120 cm in <1.5 h. The mesopore infiltration module improved estimation of soil profile water content. At the pedon scale, the mesopore module improved ponding predictions. Water is preferentially conducted away from the soil surface through large cracks formed in shrink–swell soils, which complicates our ability to calculate the partitioning of water into infiltration and runoff. Preferential flow paths affect the hydrology of a landscape but often are not included in hydrology models. The Precision Agricultural‐Landscape Modeling System (PALMS) contains a Mesopore and Matrix (M&M) module that allows preferential flow and was tested on cracking soil at the pedon and small watershed scale for this study. Four irrigation events were conducted on 10‐m by 10‐m plots of a cracking soil, and volumetric water content (VWC) output for PALMS with and without the M&M module was compared with that measured by a neutron moisture meter. Additionally, measurements of VWC on a 4.4‐ha small watershed were compared with PALMS predictions. At both scales, the M&M module simulated water movement down the soil profile more quickly and eliminated unobserved ponding at the pedon scale relative to the PALMS matrix only. Simulations of water content of the soil profile were generally improved when the M&M module was used. Furthermore, PALMS M&M was relatively easy to parameterize using obtainable and physically relevant parameters, rendering it applicable to shrink–swell soils in a variety of systems.

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“…Comparison of the percentage of area occupied by cracks measured at the site by Neely et al (2018) to the percentage of area of the neutron moisture meter (NMM) measurement volume that was occupied by large‐ and small‐annulus voids used in this experiment. The NMM measurement volume was dependent on soil water content and was calculated using Eq.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1]. Error bars for measured crack area are standard deviations of areal crack volume around four access tubes (Neely et al 2018). Error bars for annuli are the standard deviations from five small and six large annuli measurements.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Air‐ and Water‐Filled Voids on Neutron Moisture Meter Measurements of Clay Soil

Bagnall

Gutierrez

Yimam³

et al. 2018

Vadose Zone Journal

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Air-and water-filled voids around neutron moisture meter (NMM) access tubes have been cited as sources of volumetric water content (q v ) measurement error in cracking clay soils. The objectives of this study were to experimentally quantify this potential error stemming from (i) uncertainty in bulk density (r b ) sampling and (ii) the impact of air-and water-filled voids. Air-and water-filled voids were simulated using ~0.6-cm (small) and ~1.9-cm (large) annuli around access tubes. After NMM measurements were taken in a tightly installed access tube, either a small or large annulus was installed in the same borehole. Additional NMM measurements were taken with the annulus filled with air, and then water and r b and q v were measured. The RMSE of the NMM calibration using all 11 installations was 0.02 m 3 m −3 . However, if two cores were used for calibration, the ratio of NMM-measured q v to in situ q v was significantly different (p < 0.05) from measured q v half the time (RMSE, 0.012-0.05 m 3 m −3 ). Small air-filled voids created drier estimates of q v (bias, −0.039 m 3 m −3 ; p < 0.001), wherease small water-filled voids were not significantly different from the calibration. Air-and water-filled voids from larger annuli were significantly lower and higher (p < 0.001) than core-measured q v , with biases of −0.068 and 0.080 m 3 m −3 , respectively. Although this work does not correct NMMpredicted q v to matrix q v , it does bound NMM error under field conditions in a cracking clay soil.Abbreviations: NMM, neutron moisture meter. Ackerson. 2018. Effect of air-and water-filled voids on neutron moisture meter measurements of clay soil. Vadose Zone J. 17:180137.

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Modeling Soil Crack Volume at the Pedon Scale using Available Soil Data

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

A Dynamic Multidomain Green‐Ampt Infiltration Model

A Dynamic Multidomain Green‐Ampt Infiltration Model

Testing a Water Redistribution Model in a Cracked Vertisol at Two Scales

Effect of Air‐ and Water‐Filled Voids on Neutron Moisture Meter Measurements of Clay Soil

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