Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(3):135-147 | DOI: 10.17221/33/2019-SWR

A comparative assessment of the estimates of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of two anthropogenic soils and their impact on hydrological model simulationsOriginal Paper

Mouna Feki*,1, Giovanni Ravazzani1, Stefano Barontini2, Alessandro Ceppi1, Marco Mancini1
1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (D.I.C.A.), Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Architettura, Territorio, Ambiente e di Matematica, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Brescia (BS), Italy

In this study, different methods were compared in order to determine the soil hydraulic conductivity at the saturation (Ks) of two heavily anthropized soils in northern Italy: an irrigated field and a landfill cover. In situ, laboratory measurements (falling head and evaporation method) and pedotransfer functions (ROSETTA and HYPRES) were used for the Ks estimation. In accordance with scientific literature, the results have shown that Ks is largely dependent on the type of technique used in taking the measurements. The ROSETTA and HYPRES pedotransfer functions show quite similar performances, while their easiness and convenient use make them potential alternative techniques for the Ks estimation in comparison with the in situ and laboratory measurements. The Ks estimate is sensitive to the selected method and this sensitivity affects the hydrological model simulations. Therefore, none of the tested methods can be considered as a benchmark, but the results found in this study confirm that the applied method for the determination of Ks, may provide a first estimate of Ks to be subsequently optimised after the simulations.

Keywords: double ring infiltrometer; evaporation method; Guelph permeameter; hydraulic conductivity at soil saturation; laboratory experiments; pedotransfer function

Published: September 30, 2020  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Feki M, Ravazzani G, Barontini S, Ceppi A, Mancini M. A comparative assessment of the estimates of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of two anthropogenic soils and their impact on hydrological model simulations. Soil & Water Res.. 2020;15(3):135-147. doi: 10.17221/33/2019-SWR.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    Supplementary files:

    Download fileFeki_ESM.pdf

    File size: 369.22 kB

    References

    1. Allen R.G., Pereira L.S., Raes D., Smith M. (1998): Crop Evapotranspiration: Guidelines for Computing Crop Water Requirements. Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, Rome, FAO.
    2. Bagarello V., Provenzano G. (1996): Factors affecting field and laboratory measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 39: 153-159. Go to original source...
    3. Baroni G., Facchi A., Gandolfi C., Ortuani B., Horeschi D., van Dam J.C. (2010): Uncertainty in the determination of soil hydraulic parameters and its influence on the performance of two hydrological models of different complexity. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14: 251-270. Go to original source...
    4. Barontini S., Clerici A., Ranzi R., Bacchi B. (2005): Saturated hydraulic conductivity and water retention relationships for Alpine mountain. In: de Jong C., Collins D., Ranzi R. (eds.): Climate and Hydrology of Mountain Areas. Hoboken, John Wiley: 101-121. Go to original source...
    5. Barontini S., Clerici A., Ranzi R., Bacchi B. (2009): A methodology to map the surface soil saturated hydraulic conductivity in mesoscale Alpine basins. In: Marks D. (ed.): Hydrology in Mountain Regions: Observations, Processes and Dynamics. IAHS Publication No. 326, Wallingford, IAHS: 112-118.
    6. Basile A., Mele G., Terribile F. (2003): Soil hydraulic behavior of a selected benchmark soil involved in the landslide of Sarno 1998. Geoderma, 117: 331-346. Go to original source...
    7. Boscarello L., Ravazzani G., Cislaghi A., Mancini M. (2015): Regionalization of flow-duration curves through catchment classification with streamflow signatures and physiographic-climate indices. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 21: 05015027. Go to original source...
    8. Bouma J., van Lanen H.A.J. (1987): Transfer functions and threshold values: from soil characteristics to land qualities. In: Beek K.J., Burrough P.A., McCormack D.E. (eds.): Proc. ISSS/SSSA Workshop on Quantified Land Evaluation Procedures. Publication No. 6, Enschede, International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Science: 106-111.
    9. Bouwer H., Jackson R.D. (1974): Determining soil properties. In: van Schilfgaarde J. (ed.): Drainage for Agriculture. ASA Agronomy Monograph No. 17, Madison, ASA: 611-672. Go to original source...
    10. Brooks R.H., Corey A.T. (1964): Hydraulic Properties of Porous Media. Hydrologic Paper No. 3, Fort Collins, Colorado State University.
    11. Cambardella C.A., Gajda A.M., Doran J.W., Wienhold B.J., Kettler T.A. (2001): Estimation of particulate and total organic matter by weight loss-on-ignition. In: Lal R. et al. (eds.): Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon. Boca Raton, Lewis Publications: 349-359.
    12. Cameira M.R., Fernando R.M., Pereira L.S. (2003): Soil macropore dynamics affected by tillage and irrigation for a silty loam alluvial soil in southern Portugal. Soil & Tillage Research, 70: 131-140. Go to original source...
    13. Ceppi A., Ravazzani G., Corbari C., Salerno R., Meucci S., Mancini M. (2014): Real-time drought forecasting system for irrigation management. Journal of Hydrology and Earth System sciences, 18: 3353-3366. Go to original source...
    14. Dane J.H., Topp C. (2002): Methods of Soil Analysis. 1st Ed., Madison, Soil Science Society of America. Go to original source...
    15. De Pue J., Rezei M., Van Mervenne M., Cornelis Win M. (2019): The relevance of measuring saturated hydraulic conductivity: Sensitivity analysis and functional evaluation. Journal of Hydrology, 576: 628-638. Go to original source...
    16. Dorsey J.D., Ward A.D., Fausey N.R., Bair E.S. (1990): A comparison of four field methods for measuring saturated hydraulic conductivity. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 33: 1925-1931. Go to original source...
    17. Durner W., Lipsius K. (2005): Determining soil hydraulic properties. In: Anderson M.G. (ed.): Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences, Chapter 75, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons: 1121-1143. Go to original source...
    18. Fallico C., Migliari E., Troisi S. (2006): Comparison of three measurement methods of saturated hydraulic conductivity. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 3: 987-1019. Go to original source...
    19. Feki M., Ravazzani G., Ceppi A., Mancini M. (2018a): Influence of soil hydraulic variability on soil moisture simulations and irrigation scheduling in a maize field. Agricultural Water Management, 202: 183-194. Go to original source...
    20. Feki M., Ravazzani G., Ceppi A., Milleo G., Mancini M. (2018b): Impact of infiltration process modelling on soil water content simulations for irrigation management. Water, 10: 850. Go to original source...
    21. Fodor N., Sándor R., Orfanus T., Lichner L., Rajkai K. (2011): Evaluation method dependency of measured saturated hydraulic conductivity. Geoderma, 165: 60-68. Go to original source...
    22. Gupta R.K., Rudra R.P., Dickinson W.T., Patni N.K., Wall G.J. (1993): Comparison of hydraulic conductivity measured by various field methods. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 36: 51-55. Go to original source...
    23. Hargreaves G.H., Samani Z.A. (1985): Reference crop evapotranspiration from temperature. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1: 96-99. Go to original source...
    24. Huang M., Rodger H., Barbour S.L. (2015): An evaluation of air permeability measurements to characterize the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil reclamation covers. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 95: 15-26. Go to original source...
    25. HYPROP (2010): HYPROP-UMS - Operation Manual. Munich, UMS GmbH.
    26. Ibrahim M.M., Aliyu J. (2016): Comparison of methods for saturated hydraulic conductivity determination: Field, laboratory and empirical measurements (A Pre-view). British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 15: 1-8. Go to original source...
    27. Iovino M., Romano N. (2005): Inverse modeling of evaporation and multistep outflow experiments for determining soil hydraulic properties: a comparison. Rivista di Ingegneria Agraria, 2: 51-62.
    28. Jačka L., Pavlásek J., Kuráž V., Pech P. (2014): A comparison of three measuring methods for estimating the saturated hydraulic conductivity in the shallow subsurface layer of mountain podzols. Geoderma, 219-220: 82-88. Go to original source...
    29. Kanwar R.S., Rizvi H.A., Ahmed M., Horton R., Marlev S.J. (1989): Measurement of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity by using Guelph and velocity permeameters. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 32: 1885-1890. Go to original source...
    30. KSAT (2012): KSAT-UMS Operation Manual. Munich, UMS GmbH.
    31. Lee D.M., Reynolds W.D., Elrick D.E., Clothier B.E. (1985): A comparison of three field methods for measuring saturated hydraulic conductivity. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 65: 563-573. Go to original source...
    32. Mancini M., Ceppi A., Curti D., Ravazzani G., Feki M., Cerri L., Galletti L., Meucci S., Bianchi M., Senesi C., Cinquetti P. (2018): Real time monitoring of hydrological variables for operative landfill stability and percolation flux control. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 17: 2337-2348. Go to original source...
    33. Mohanty B.P., Ankeny M.D., Horton R., Kanwar R.S. (1994): Spatial analysis of hydraulic conductivity measured using disc infiltrometers, Water Resources Research, 30: 2489-2498. Go to original source...
    34. Mualem Y. (1976): A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media. Water Resources Research, 12: 513-522. Go to original source...
    35. Nash J.E., Sutcliffe J.V. (1970): River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I - A discussion of principles. Journal of Hydrology, 10: 282-290. Go to original source...
    36. Ravazzani G., Corbari C., Ceppi A., Feki M., Mancini M., Ferrari F., Gianfreda R., Colombo R., Ginocchi M., Meucci S., De Vecchi D., Dell'Acqua F., Ober G. (2017): From (cyber)space to ground: new technologies for smart farming. Hydrology Research, 48: 656-672. Go to original source...
    37. Reynolds W.D. (2008): Saturated hydraulic properties: Well permeameter. Chapter 76. In: Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis, 2nd Ed., Boca Raton, CRC Press. Go to original source...
    38. Reynolds W.D., Elrick D.E. (1986): A method for simultaneous in-situ measurements in the vadose zone of field saturated hydraulic conductivity, sorptivity, and the conductivity pressure head relationship. Ground Water Monitoring Review, 6: 84-89. Go to original source...
    39. Rezaei M., Seuntjens P., Shahidi R., Joris I., Boënne W., Al-Barri B., Cornelis W. (2016): The relevance of in-situ and laboratory characterization of sandy soil hydraulic properties for soil water simulations. Journal of Hydrology, 534: 251-265. Go to original source...
    40. Ross P.J. (2003): Modeling soil water and solute transport - fast simplified numerical solutions. Agronomy Journal, 95: 1352-1361. Go to original source...
    41. Schaap M.G., Bouten W. (1996): Modeling water retention curves of sandy soils using Neural Networks. Water Resources Research, 32: 3033-3040. Go to original source...
    42. Schindler U. (1980): Ein Schnellverfahren zur Messung der Wasserleitfähigkeit im teilgesättigten Boden an Stechzylinderproben. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 44: 1-7.
    43. Schwen A., Zimmermann M., Bodner G. (2014): Vertical variations of soil hydraulic properties within two soil profiles and its relevance for soil water simulations. Journal of Hydrology, 156: 169-181. Go to original source...
    44. Shouse P.J., Mohanty B.P. (1998): Scaling of near-saturated hydraulic conductivity measured using disc infiltrometers, Water Resources Research Journal., 34: 1195-1205. Go to original source...
    45. Ungaro F., Calzolari C. (2001): Using existing soil databases for estimating water-retention properties for soils of the Pianura Padano-Veneta region of North Italy. Geoderma, 99: 99-121. Go to original source...
    46. van Genuchten M. (1980): A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 44: 892-898. Go to original source...
    47. Ventrella D., Losavio N., Vonella A.V., Leij F.J. (2005): Estimating hydraulic conductivity of a fine-textured soil using tension infiltrometry. Geoderma, 124: 267-277. Go to original source...
    48. Webb T.H., Claydon J.J., Harris S.R. (2000): Quantifying variability of soil physical properties within soil series to address modern land-use issues on the Canterbury Plains, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 38: 1115-1129. Go to original source...
    49. Wind G.P. (1966): Capillary conductivity data estimated by a simple method. In: Proc. UNESCO/IASH Symp. Water in the Unsaturated Zone, Wageningen: 181-191.
    50. Wösten J.H.M., Lilly A., Nemes A., Le Bas C. (1999): Development and use of a database of hydraulic properties of European soils. Geoderma, 90: 169-185. Go to original source...
    51. Wösten J.H.M., Pachepsky Y.A., Rawls W.J. (2001): Pedotransfer functions: bridging the gap between available basic soil data and missing soil hydraulic characteristics. Journal of Hydrology, 251: 123-150. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content