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Soil, Plant and Atmosphere pp 217–240Cite as

Water Infiltration into the Soil

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Abstract

The infiltration of water into soils is first studied for homogeneous soils for a better understanding of the process, and later cases of heterogeneous soils are introduced in the discussion. The simplest case, horizontal infiltration, is studied analytically with the solution of differential equations that govern the process. Basic concepts are introduced along these solutions. Thereafter, the more common vertical infiltration is treated in detail, also solving its differential equations. Hydraulic conductivity and soil water diffusivity measurement methods are also introduced. An overview is given on the infiltration process in all directions, and also aspects of infiltration into heterogeneous soils. The fundamentals of the numeric solution of differential equations are shown in order to discuss approaches used in the cases of heterogeneous soils.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura and Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiróz”, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Klaus Reichardt

  2. Rural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agronomy, Federal University of Pelotas, Capão do Leão, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Luís Carlos Timm

Authors
  1. Klaus Reichardt
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  2. Luís Carlos Timm
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Reichardt, K., Timm, L.C. (2020). Water Infiltration into the Soil. In: Soil, Plant and Atmosphere. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19322-5_11

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