Uncertainty in soil physical data at river basin scale – a review

Keur, Peter van der; Iversen, Bo V.

doi:10.5194/hess-10-889-2006

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(88 reference statements)

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“…(19). K s is one of the soil properties with strong in situ variations (van der Keur and Iversen, 2006). Variation of one order of magnitude is normal for K s between different locations in one field.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved method for determining Brooks–Corey model parameters from horizontal absorption

Zhang

Lai

et al. 2016

Geoderma

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Low-cost, simple, rapid and accurate approaches for measuring soil hydraulic properties are of great importance in the application of hydrologic models of the vadose zone. A recently proposed method of constant-saturation absorption (MCSA) for determining Brooks-Corey (BC) model parameters is promising. However, this method has not been tested using experimental data. In this paper, measured soil-water diffusivity or soil-water retention curves (SWRCs) of 20 soil samples were used to test the reliability of MCSA. The results indicate that MCSA consistently estimated soil-water diffusivities by the Bruce and Klute method, but it substantially overestimated air-entry suctions (h d ) and thereby soil suction. A new method (MCPA) is proposed herein to overcome the problems associated with MCSA. Using the improved method, estimated SWRCs are consistent with observation. With the estimated soil hydraulic parameters, HYDRUS-1D generated very accurate simulations of the cumulative absorption curves. Compared with direct or other indirect methods, MCPA is a more accurate, low-cost, and simple method, and it is especially useful for rapid determination of SWRC for soil-water movement simulations. However, if unsaturated soil-water diffusivity is of greater concern, our results also indicate that MCSA more accurately predicts this quantity and thus should be preferred.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved method for determining Brooks–Corey model parameters from horizontal absorption

Zhang

Lai

et al. 2016

Geoderma

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“…On the surface, both K s and microtopography play a key role in regulating surface runoff spatial distribution and intensity [31,32]. In their review of uncertainty in soil physical properties, [33] summarize the assessment of horizontal saturated hydraulic conductivity autocorrelation from the literature: it can vary from 1 m [34,30] to 120 m [35] for field areas from 0.25 ha [36] to 14 ha [35]. The land surface heterogeneity effect has been much less studied, but according to [37] and [38], ignoring small scale dynamics by representing complex slopes as smooth landforms leads to an inaccurate representation of the hydrological response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When K s heterogeneity is represented in studies, it is via a lognormal distribution per layer [41] or even for the whole soil [42,43,44,45], with the challenge being to define the relevant correlation scale, which is also dependent on the study scale [33]. For microtopography, most hillslope scale studies describe it with a Gaussian distribution [46,47,48,49], despite recognition that the degree and structure of this heterogeneity are scale and time dependent [50,51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of surface and subsurface heterogeneity on the hydrological response of a grassed buffer zone

Gatel

Lauvernet

Carluer

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology

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Grassed buffer zones are an effective method to reduce contaminant impacts on aquatic environments. The general objective of this study is to explore the impact of both surface and subsurface heterogeneity on the hydrological responses of a vegetative buffer strip. Heterogeneity is described by two variables, microtopography and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Numerous surface and subsurface heterogeneity scenarios were simulated with a physically-based numerical model of coupled surface/subsurface processes. The scenarios were evaluated relative to data from an experimental vegetative filter in a Beaujolais vineyard, France. The subsurface scenarios show that conductivity heterogeneity plays a key role on the buffer strip's capacity to infiltrate incoming surface runoff and on the ensuing runoff pathways. The conjunctive surface and subsurface scenarios indicate that microtopography variability is comparatively less influential on the hydrological interactions and pathways within the buffer strip, and that representing this heterogeneity via appropriate statistical distributions can be a good assumption in practice.

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Impact of land use on the hydraulic properties of the topsoil in a small French catchment

González-Sosa

Braud²,

Dehotin³

et al. 2010

Hydrological Processes

127

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International audienceThe hydraulic properties of the topsoil control the partition of rainfall into infiltration and runoff at the soil surface. They must be characterized for distributed hydrological modelling. This study presents the results of a field campaign documenting topsoil hydraulic properties in a small French suburban catchment (7 km2) located near Lyon, France. Two types of infiltration tests were performed: single ring infiltration tests under positive head and tension-disk infiltration using a mini-disk. Both categories were processed using the BEST--Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters--method to derive parameters describing the retention and hydraulic conductivity curves. Dry bulk density and particle size data were also sampled. Almost all the topsoils were found to belong to the sandy loam soil class. No significant differences in hydraulic properties were found in terms of pedologic units, but the results showed a high impact of land use on these properties. The lowest dry bulk density values were obtained in forested soils with the highest organic matter content. Permanent pasture soils showed intermediate values, whereas the highest values were encountered in cultivated lands. For saturated hydraulic conductivity, the highest values were found in broad-leaved forests and small woods. The complementary use of tension-disk and positive head infiltration tests highlighted a sharp increase of hydraulic conductivity between near saturation and saturated conditions, attributed to macroporosity effect. The ratio of median saturated hydraulic conductivity to median hydraulic conductivity at a pressure of − 20 mm of water was about 50. The study suggests that soil texture, such as used in most pedo-transfer functions, might not be sufficient to properly map the variability of soil hydraulic properties. Land use information should be considered in the parameterizations of topsoil within hydrological models to better represent in situ conditions, as illustrated in the paper. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Uncertainty in soil physical data at river basin scale – a review

Cited by 16 publications

References 90 publications

An improved method for determining Brooks–Corey model parameters from horizontal absorption

An improved method for determining Brooks–Corey model parameters from horizontal absorption

Effect of surface and subsurface heterogeneity on the hydrological response of a grassed buffer zone

Impact of land use on the hydraulic properties of the topsoil in a small French catchment

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