Estimation of Infiltration Rate in the Vadose Zone: Compilation of Simple Mathematical Models Volume 1 February 1998

ii NOTICE The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development partially funded and collaborated in the research described here as indicated through the authors' affiliations. Additional support for this project was provided by the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA) of the Office of Air and Radiation in collaboration with the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and the U.S. Department of Energy (EM-40). Dynamac is an off-site support contractor to NRMRL/SPRD under 68-C4-0031 (Dr. David S. Burden, Project Officer). Ron Wilhelm and Robin Anderson (ORIA) provided valuable technical review and administrative support to this project. The assistance of Sierra Howry, a student in the Environmental Research Apprenticeship Program through East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, in the completion of this project is greatly appreciated. This report has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review and has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. All research projects making conclusions or recommendations based on environmentally related measurements and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are required to participate in the Agency Quality Assurance Program. This project did not involve environmental related measurements and did not require a Quality Assurance Plan. iii FOREWORD The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is charged by Congress with protecting the Nation's land, air, and water resources. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support and nurture life. To meet these mandates, EPA's research program is providing data and technical support for solving environmental problems today and building a science knowledge base necessary to manage our ecological resources wisely, understand how pollutants affect our health, and prevent or reduce environmental risks in the future. The National Risk Management Research Laboratory is the Agency's center for investigation of technological and management approaches for reducing risks from threats to human health and the environment. The focus of the laboratory's research program is on methods for the prevention and control of pollution to air, land, water, and subsurface resources; protection of water quality in public water systems; remediation of contaminated sites and ground water, and prevention and control of indoor air pollution. The goal …