Methods for saturated soil hydraulic conductivity determination in different soils

Authors

  • Rafael Dreux Miranda Fernandes Departamento de Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Sevilla
  • José Geanini Peres Departamento de Recursos Naturais e Proteção ao meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal de São Carlos
  • Jefferson Vieira José Departamento de Engenharia de Biossistemas, Universidade de São Paulo
  • Sérgio Nascimento Duarte Departamento de Engenharia de Biossistemas, Universidade de São Paulo
  • José Antônio Frizzone Departamento de Engenharia de Biossistemas, Universidade de São Paulo

Keywords:

constant head permeameter, undisturbed soil sample, Guelph permeameter

Abstract

The article describes a study about the differences between three methods used to measure saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (K0) in four sites with different textural classes and soil managements. The completely randomized statistical design was used in a 3 x 4 factorial scheme, with four replicates. The three methods used were: (i) constant head permeameter with soil samples of undisturbed structure (USS), (ii) constant head permeameter with soil samples of disturbed structure (DSS) and (iii) Guelph permeameter (GP). The four sites in which the methods were performed were: clay soil in fallow (CSF); clay-sandy soil under virgin forest (CSVF); clay soil under sugar-cane crop (CSC); and sandy loam soil under horticulture (SLH). At the same time, measurements with the GP method, varying the water head from 0.02 to 0.16 m, were performed in eight replicates. In the sites with soils with higher clay content (CSF and CSC), there was significant difference between GP and the other two methods, allowing the use of DSS, since there was no significant difference between this method and USS. In the sites with lower clay content (CSVF and SLH), however, there was significant difference between the three methods; DSS overestimated K0 and PG underestimated K0 when USS is taken as the standard method. When comparing the different water heads used in the GP method, no significant difference was detected between them.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2015-12-31

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.