Knowledge of the unsaturated soil hydraulic properties is essential for modeling water flow and solute transport processes in variably saturated subsurface systems. Various experimental setups have been developed over the years to measure the hydraulic properties. We devised a relatively simple setup for simultaneous measurement of the water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curves using multistep flux (MSF) and hanging water column (HWC) experiments. Our focus was especially on medium- and coarse-textured sands having relatively narrow particle-size distributions as reflected by the van Genuchten–Mualem (VGM) hydraulic parameter n. Values of the VGM parameter n for some of the sands we used were as high as 15. We also measured the hydraulic properties using the HYPROP evaporation method. The MSF and HWC results showed excellent agreement, but deviated slightly from independent data obtained with the HYPROP measurement system.
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Research Article|
May 01, 2017
Analysis of the Hysteretic Hydraulic Properties of Unsaturated Soil
L. Zhuang;
L. Zhuang
a
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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C.R. Bezerra Coelho;
C.R. Bezerra Coelho
b
Dep. of Civil Engineering, COPPE, Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21945-970, Brazil
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S.M. Hassanizadeh;
a
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlandsc
Soil and Groundwater Systems, Deltares, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB, Utrecht, the Netherlands*
Corresponding author ([email protected]).
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M.Th. van Genuchten
M.Th. van Genuchten
a
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlandsd
NIDES Interdisciplinary Center for Social Development, Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21945-596, Brazil
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L. Zhuang
a
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlands
C.R. Bezerra Coelho
b
Dep. of Civil Engineering, COPPE, Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21945-970, Brazila
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlandsc
Soil and Groundwater Systems, Deltares, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB, Utrecht, the Netherlands
M.Th. van Genuchten
a
Dep. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht Univ., Princetonlaan 9, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, the Netherlandsd
NIDES Interdisciplinary Center for Social Development, Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21945-596, Brazil*
Corresponding author ([email protected]).
Publisher: Soil Science Society of America
Received:
22 Nov 2016
Accepted:
08 Mar 2017
First Online:
03 Jan 2018
Copyright © by the Soil Science Society of America, Inc.
Vadose Zone Journal (2017) 16 (5): 1–9.
Article history
Received:
22 Nov 2016
Accepted:
08 Mar 2017
First Online:
03 Jan 2018
Citation
L. Zhuang, C.R. Bezerra Coelho, S.M. Hassanizadeh, M.Th. van Genuchten; Analysis of the Hysteretic Hydraulic Properties of Unsaturated Soil. Vadose Zone Journal 2017;; 16 (5): 1–9. doi: https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2016.11.0115
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- clastic sediments
- connectivity
- evaporation
- experimental studies
- gamma-ray methods
- hydraulic conductivity
- hydraulics
- hysteresis
- imbibition
- laboratory studies
- porous materials
- quantitative analysis
- sand
- sediments
- soils
- unsaturated zone
- water content
- Van Genuchten model
- Van Genuchten-Mualem model
- multistep flux method
- hanging water column
- HYPROP
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