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Hydraulic Properties and Non-equilibrium Water Flow in Soils

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Application of Soil Physics in Environmental Analyses

Part of the book series: Progress in Soil Science ((PROSOIL))

Abstract

Accurate knowledge of hydraulic properties for unsaturated soils is critical in the estimation of soil water fluxes by simulation models that are based on the Richards equation. The purpose of this chapter is to review the characterization of unsaturated soil hydraulic properties for their applicability in models simulating unsaturated water transport. We start with a short review of the fundamentals that lead to the definition of the hydraulic functions in the framework of continuum hydromechanics. Next, we address problems of common parameterizations of hydraulic functions in the critical regions near and at saturation, towards dryness, and on hysteresis. We find that traditional approaches have deficiencies, but recent progress has been significant in particular with respect to including film and corner flow components in the hydraulic conductivity function. The chapter closes with a discussion of the phenomenon of dynamic non-equilibrium in soil water flow, which shows to our opinion toward the need for a paradigm change in the modeling of soil water transport.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Geoecology, Soil Science and Soil Physics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Langer Kamp 19c, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany

    Wolfgang Durner, Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Sascha C. Iden & Benedikt Scharnagl

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  1. Wolfgang Durner
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  2. Efstathios Diamantopoulos
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  3. Sascha C. Iden
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  4. Benedikt Scharnagl
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Durner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Physics, Embrapa Soils, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Wenceslau Geraldes Teixeira

  2. Soils Department, Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil

    Marcos Bacis Ceddia

  3. Department of Hydrology, Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais (CPRM), Geological Survey of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Marta Vasconcelos Ottoni

  4. Soil Physics, Embrapa Soils, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Guilheme Kangussu Donnagema

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Durner, W., Diamantopoulos, E., Iden, S.C., Scharnagl, B. (2014). Hydraulic Properties and Non-equilibrium Water Flow in Soils. In: Teixeira, W., Ceddia, M., Ottoni, M., Donnagema, G. (eds) Application of Soil Physics in Environmental Analyses. Progress in Soil Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06013-2_17

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