Hydraulic and chemical transport properties are required to predict movement of water and chemicals through soils. Field methods used to determine such properties are often hampered by extensive time and energy constraints. The objectives of this study are to present an experimental setup and a procedure for rapid and simultaneous measurements of hydraulic and chemical transport properties of a field soil. Hydraulic properties are saturated hydraulic conductivity and macroscopic capillary length. Chemical transport properties are immobile water fraction and mass transfer coefficient. A total of 15 sites of a field soil are evaluated for hydraulic and chemical transport properties. The setup allows simultaneous measurements to be made at multiple locations with minimum labor requirements. The procedure produces reasonable values for all transport parameters. We recommend the use of the setup and procedure for studies involving spatial and temporal evaluation of soil hydraulic and chemical transport properties.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert-horton/23/
This proceeding was published as Al-Jabri, S.A., R. Horton, and D.B. Jaynes. 2001. Measurement of soil hydraulic and chemical transport properties. p. 105-108. In 2nd International Symposium Preferential Flow. Honolulu, HI. Jan. 3-5, 2001. ASAE. doi: 10.13031/2013.2078.