Synonyms
Gas diffusion in soil; Heat diffusion in soil; Soil water dispersion; Solute diffusion in soil; Water diffusion in soil; Water transport in unsaturated soil
Definition
Diffusion is a process that causes the spread of a constituent mass within the medium under gradient of concentration. It originates from the random motion of particles (molecular diffusion). Diffusion equation describes well various spread processes of water, gases, solutes, and heat in porous media. In case of a porous material, diffusion coefficient is interpreted as dispersion coefficient with the value dependent on porous material structure. Diffusion equation allows to describe, in a simple manner, the transfer of mass or heat in porous media by inclusion of various effects into one parameter – dispersion coefficient.
Introduction
In soil, various diffusion processes occur. They comprise diffusive transport of heat energy, of gases, of solutes, as well as of water under unsaturated conditions. These...
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Stępniewski, W., Sobczuk, H., Widomski, M. (2011). Diffusion in Soils. In: Gliński, J., Horabik, J., Lipiec, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Agrophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_273
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_273
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