[1] Application of time domain reflectometry (TDR) in soil hydrology often involves the conversion of TDR-measured dielectric permittivity to water content using universal calibration equations (empirical or physically based). Deviations of soil-specific calibrations from the universal calibrations have been noted and are usually attributed to peculiar composition of soil constituents, such as ...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) proliferate in soil pores, on the surface of soil particles and affect soil structure. Although modifications in substrate moisture retention depend on structure and could influence plant water extraction, mycorrhizal impacts on water retention and hydraulic conductivity were rarely quantified. Hence, we asked whether inoculation with AMF affects substrate wat...

The application of additives (e.g., wheat straw (WS) or rapeseed-oil residue (RR)) to soils is a common agronomic practice, used for improving soil water retention. Through a laboratory investigation, this study examined the effects of RR and WS on infiltration, evaporation, water distribution, and water retention. The results indicated that the migration rate of the wetting front, as well as t...

known (Tillotson and Nielsen, 1984): (1) the dimensional analysis technique, which is based on the existence of Results with an empirically based one-parameter model showed physical similarity in the system; and (2) the empirical that the pore-size distribution index ( ) described in the Brooks and Corey formulation of soil hydraulic properties can scale the soil–water method, called functional...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) proliferate in soils and are known to affect soil structure. Although their contribution to structure is extensively investigated, the consequences of those processes for soil water extractability and transport has, so far, gained surprisingly little attention. Therefore we asked, whether AMF can affect water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity un...

The unsaturated soil hydraulic properties, including soil water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity, are the crucial input parameters for simulating soil water and solute transport through the unsaturated zone at regional scales, and are expensive to measure. These properties are frequently predicted with pedotransfer functions (PTFs) using the routinely measured soil properties. 110 soi...