Hydraulic Conductivity Measurements in the Unsaturated Zone Using Improved Well Analyses |
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| Authors: | DE Elrick WD Reynolds KA Tan |
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| Institution: | David E. Elrick (Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1) received his B.S.A. in agriculture from the Ontario Agricultural College (University of Toronto) in 1953, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1955 and 1957, respectively. With the exception of two years (1960–62) as a research scientist at the Division of Plant Industry, CSIRO, Australia, he has taught and carried out research in soil physics at the University of Guelph since 1957. Professor Elrick has authored and co-authored more than 90 papers and reports, primarily in the area of water and solute transport through soils.;W. Daniel Reynolds (Land Resource Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 0C6) received his B.Sc. in geology (1975), and his M.Sc. in hydrogeology (1978) from the University of Waterloo;and his Ph.D. in soil physics from the University of Guelph (1986). He has authored or co-authored more than 20 articles on water and solute movement in both the vadose and saturated zones and is involved in both field and laboratory investigations of contaminant transport.;Kim-Ann Tan (Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1) received his B.Sc. (English) and M.Sc. in water resources engineering from the University of Guelph. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in hydrogeology at the University of Waterloo. |
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| Abstract: | The flow of ponded water into and through the unsaturated zone depends on both the saturated and unsaturated components of the hydraulic conductivity. Recent studies indicate that the ratio of the saturated (Kfs) to the unsaturated (φm) components (Kfs/φm=α*) of flow lies within prescribed bounds for most field soils, i.e., 1m?1≤α*≤ 100 m?1. In addition, the fact that the calculation of Kfs and φm is not strongly dependent on the choice of α*, suggests that a site estimation of α* leads to reasonable "best estimates" of Kfs and φm when using the constant head well permeameter technique. As a consequence, measurement of the steady flow rate using only one ponded head may be all that is necessary for many practical applications. Multiple head measurements or independent measurements of α* or φm can be used, however, to give more accurate estimates of Kfs if required. |
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