Many studies of water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone require estimates of the unsaturated soil hydraulic properties, including the soil water retention curve ~WRC! describing the relationship between soil suction and water content. An artificial neural network ~ANN! approach was developed to describe the WRC using observed data from several soils. The ANN approach was found to pro...

We present a new two-parameter expression for relative hydraulic conductivity (RHC) of partially saturated soils. It is based on the premise of Assouline et al. [1998] that soil structures evolve from a uniform random fragmentation process. This assumption allows us to derive hydraulic properties of soils (water retention curves and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity) from primary properties, s...

Ground thermal properties, especially the conductivity, are of paramount importance for design ground source heat pump systems (GSHP), used space heating and cooling. However, very little information, if any, available from characteristics tropical unsaturated soils related to GSHP application. To evaluate behaviour a typical Brazilian soil, an extensive experimental investigation was conducted...

The paper proposed an enhancement to the Granular Material Point Method extending original framework for unsaturated granular materials. It discusses briefly key processes occurring during flows and gives a set of assumptions simplified analysis such with Method. Then it proposes algorithm materials shows how adjust code. Finally, presents two sets simulations involving comparing outcomes from ...

Numerical models can be valuable tools in the prediction of seepage. The results can often be misleading if proper variational analysis is not performed. Measurement of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) or saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity information is often neglected or minimized. The modeller is therefore forced to develop a seepage model based on estimated soil prop...

This study reports on the fate of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), alcohol ethoxylate (AE), and alcohol ether sulfate (AES) surfactants in a home septic system near Jacksonville (FL, USA) that has been used since 1976. The drainfield at this site resides in fine sand (< 6% silt and clay) with an unsaturated zone that ranges from 0 to 1.3 m. During the wettest times of the year, it is likely...

variables as input (e.g., Rawls and Brakensiek, 1985; Ahuja et al., 1989; Vereecken et al., 1989; Schaap et In many vadose zone hydrological studies, it is imperative that the al., 1998). Far fewer alternatives exist for unsaturated soil’s unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is known. Frequently, the Mualem–van Genuchten model (MVG) is used for this purpose behydraulic conductivity. Although som...