Soil infiltration

Soil infiltration functions:

Function hydrology_infiltrationBoughton calculates the amount of water that infiltrates into the topsoil, according to the USDA SCS curve number method (Boughton 1989).
Function hydrology_infiltrationGreenAmpt calculates the amount of water that infiltrates into the topsoil, according to the model by Green & Ampt (1911).
Function hydrology_infiltrationAmount uses either Green & Ampt (1911) or Boughton (1989) to estimate infiltration.
Function hydrology_infiltrationRepartition distributes infiltration among soil layers depending on macroporosity.

Usage

hydrology_infiltrationBoughton(input, Ssoil)

hydrology_infiltrationGreenAmpt(t, psi_w, Ksat, theta_sat, theta_dry)

hydrology_infiltrationRepartition(I, widths, macro, a = -0.005, b = 3)

hydrology_infiltrationAmount(
  rainfallInput,
  rainfallIntensity,
  soil,
  soilFunctions,
  model = "GreenAmpt1911",
  K_correction = 1
)

Arguments

input: A numeric vector of (daily) water input (in mm of water).
Ssoil: Soil water storage capacity (can be referred to topsoil) (in mm of water).
t: Time of the infiltration event
psi_w: Matric potential at the wetting front
Ksat: hydraulic conductivity at saturation
theta_sat: volumetric content at saturation
theta_dry: volumetric content at the dry side of the wetting front
I: Soil infiltration (in mm of water).
widths: Width of soil layers (in mm).
macro: Macroporosity of soil layers (in %).
a, b: Parameters of the extinction function used for water infiltration.
rainfallInput: Water from the rainfall event reaching the soil surface (mm)
rainfallIntensity: rainfall intensity rate (mm/h)
soil: A list containing the description of the soil (see soil).
soilFunctions: Soil water retention curve and conductivity functions, either 'SX' (for Saxton) or 'VG' (for Van Genuchten).
model: Infiltration model, either "GreenAmpt1911" or "Boughton1989"
K_correction: Correction for saturated conductivity, to account for increased infiltration due to macropore presence

Value

Functions hydrology_infiltrationBoughton, hydrology_infiltrationGreenAmpt and hydrology_infiltrationAmount return the daily amount of water that infiltrates into the soil (in mm of water).

Function hydrology_infiltrationRepartition returns the amount of infiltrated water that reaches each soil layer.

Details

When using function hydrology_infiltrationGreenAmpt, the units of Ksat, t and psi_wat have to be in the same system (e.g. cm/h, h and cm).

References

Boughton (1989). A review of the USDA SCS curve number method. - Australian Journal of Soil Research 27: 511-523.

Green, W.H. and Ampt, G.A. (1911) Studies on Soil Physics, 1: The Flow of Air and Water through Soils. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 4, 1-24.

Author

Miquel De Cáceres Ainsa, CREAF