Sensitivity Analysis and Validation for Numerical Simulation of Water Infiltration into Unsaturated Soil

A FORTRAN code for liquid water flow in unsaturated soil under the isothermal condition was developed to simulate water infiltration into Yolo light clay. The governing equation, that is, Richards' equation, was approximated by the finite-difference method. A normalized sensitivity coefficient was used in the sensitivity analysis of Richards' equation. Normalized sensitivity coefficient was calculated using one-at-a-time (OAT) method and elementary effects (EE) method based on hydraulic functions for matric suction and hydraulic conductivity. Results from EE method provided additional insight into model input parameters, such as input parameter linearity and oscillating sign effect. Boundary volumetric water content (θ L (upper bound)) and saturated volumetric water content (θ s ) were consistently found to be the most sensitive parameters corresponding to positive and negative relations, as given by the hydraulic functions. In addition, although initial volumetric water content (θ L (initial cond)) and time-step size (Δt), respectively, possessed a great amount of sensitivity coefficient and uncertainty value, they did not exhibit significant influence on model output as demonstrated by spatial discretization size (Δz). The input multiplication of parameters sensitivity coefficient and uncertainty value was found to affect the outcome of model simulation, in which parameter with the highest value was found to be Δz.