Pseudo-hysteretic double-front hiatus-stage soil water parcels supplying a plant–root continuum: the Green-Ampt-Youngs model revisited

Abstract

A tension-saturated water slug descends through a homogenous soil after a rainfall (irrigation) event and shrinks due to transpiration by a distributed root-sink and evaporation. The upper (drainage) and lower (imbibition) sharp fronts of the slug separate it from the superjacent and subjacent vadose zones, where water is immobile. In the slug, the hydraulic conductivity is constant according to the Green-Ampt model. The capillary pressures as well as effective porosities on the fronts are given (generally, different) constants that can be viewed as a kind of hysteresis. A volumetric sink models mild (no desaturation of the slug) soil water withdrawal by the plant roots. The sink intensity varies with the depth from the soil surface and with time. Mathematically, the hydraulic head is immediately expressed by double integration of a governing 1-D flow equation. The pressure and kinematic conditions on the fronts result in a Cauchy problem for a system of two ODEs, which is solved by computer algebra routines.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis

Citation Kacimov, A. and Obnosov, U., 2013. Pseudo-hysteretic double-front hiatus-stage soil water parcels supplying a plant–root continuum: the Green-Ampt-Youngs model revisited. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (1), 1–12.     

基于HYDRUS-2D的渗滤池回灌地下水数值模拟研究

人工回灌是提高水资源利用水平的重要工程措施。深入研究渗滤池回灌过程机理,基于Hydrus-2D,结合具体渗滤池回灌算例,建立渗滤池回灌的二维饱和-非饱和渗流数值模型。模拟结果表明：回灌水入渗形成的＂湿润峰＂逐渐向饱和带移动,同时饱和带的浸润线逐渐上升,形成不断扩大的饱和区,直到形成一个连续的饱和带。回灌水出流速率经过了迅速增大到一峰值后快速减小,然后又缓慢变小的过程,回灌水入渗速率随时间变化的这一特征与Green-Ampt入渗模型的结论是一致的。     

A watershed-scale study of climate change impacts on groundwater recharge (Annapolis Valley,Nova Scotia,Canada)

Abstract

The potential impacts of future climate change on the evolution of groundwater recharge are examined at a local scale for a 546-km² watershed in eastern Canada. Recharge is estimated using the infiltration model Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP), with inputs derived from five climate runs generated by a regional climate model in combination with the A2 greenhouse gas emissions scenario. The model runs project an increase in annual recharge over the 2041–2070 period. On a seasonal basis, however, a marked decrease in recharge during the summer and a marked increase during the winter are observed. The results suggest that increased evapotranspiration resulting from higher temperatures does not offset the large increase in winter infiltration. In terms of individual water budget components, clear differences are obtained for the different climate change scenarios. Monthly recharge values are also found to be quite variable, even for a given climate scenario. These findings are compared with results from two regional-scale studies.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor M. Besbes     

Improvement and comparison of the rainfall–runoff methods in SWAT at the monsoonal watershed of Baocun,Eastern China

ABSTRACT

A new physics-based rainfall–runoff method of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was developed, which integrates a water balance (WB) approach with the variable source area (WB-VSA). This approach was further compared with four methods—soil-water-dependent curve number (CN-Soil), evaporation-dependent curve number (CN-ET), Green and Ampt equation (G&A) and WB—in a monsoonal watershed, Eastern China. The regional sensitivity analysis shows that volumetric efficiency coefficient (VE) with river discharges is sensitive to the most parameters of all approaches. The results of model calibration against VE demonstrate that WB-VSA is the most accurate owing to its reflection of the spatial variation of runoff generation as affected by topography and soil properties. Other methods can also mimic baseflow well, but the G&A and CN-ET simulate floods much worse than the saturation excess runoff approaches (WB-VSA, WB and CN-Soil). Meanwhile, CN-Soil as an empirical method fails to simulate groundwater levels. By contrast, WB-VSA captures them best.

Editor M.C. Acreman; Associate editor S. Kanae     

Hydrological characteristics of betel nut plantations on slopelands in central Taiwan / Caractéristiques hydrologiques de plantations de noix de bétel sur des versants du centre Taïwan

Abstract

Betel nut or betel palm (Areca catechu Linn.) has become a major cash crop in southern and central Taiwan since the mid-1980s. Many slopeland fruit orchards and forests have been converted to betel nut plantations. The total area of betel nut plantations has increased over the past 30 years, reaching a peak of 56 542 ha in 1997. The public and conservation groups frequently express great concern over the potential negative hydrological impacts of betel nut plantations on steep slopes. This investigation in central Taiwan examines the effects of hillslope betel nut plantations on hydrological processes. Differences in hydrological characteristics between plots planted with betel nut trees and those with other ground cover types were evaluated at two study sites. The tall, single-layer canopy and wide spacing between planted betel nut trees led to low interception losses, high throughfall and high net rainfall. Plots planted with betel nut trees had lower infiltration, higher surface runoff and higher erosion than forested sites. These hydrological characteristics can be related to factors such as crown cover, soil organic content and soil porosity in betel nut plantations. Streamflow data from three gauged watersheds with different proportions of total area planted with betel nut showed that where greater proportions of total area were planted with betel nut trees, there were higher annual streamflow/rainfall ratios, higher specific peak flows, steeper recessions and higher peak flow/baseflow ratios. The results from this study suggest that, in general, betel nut trees are less desirable from the soil and water conservation viewpoints than natural forests.     

Infiltration in the Corgo River basin (northern Portugal): coupling water balances with rainfall—runoff regressions on a monthly basis

Abstract

A combination of water balances and rainfall—runoff regressions is used to calculate infiltration, overland flow, baseflow and change to the surface water reservoir, on a monthly basis; evapotranspiration from the underground reservoir, on an annual basis; and a lag phase of maximum infiltration and maximum baseflow within a hydrological year. The water balance equations are written for catchment areas formed on crystalline rocks and located in temperate climates. The regression lines are fitted to precipitations and river flows. In a first run, the model is tested with the Corgo River hydrographic basin, a small watershed in the Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro province, northern Portugal. The results compare favourably with results of other groups, working under similar environmental conditions. The sensitivity of the model to changes in the basin characteristics and climate is tested by a second run using data from the Terva River basin, a nearby catchment that is much smaller than the Corgo basin and has a much lower effective precipitation, defined here as a difference between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. As a consequence of having a lower effective precipitation, the river dry-out starts earlier in the Terva (May) than in the Corgo (June).     

Remarks upon numerical solutions of infiltration into a soil profile

Abstract

A methodology of time-step estimation for numerically solving the Richards equation is discussed. Its importance in simulating water movement in unsaturated—saturated soils is shown for infiltration into a soil profile by applying various time-step estimations and boundary conditions for different soils. In order to test the results of the computations, infiltration theory was applied. According to infiltration theory, the pressure head in the initially unsaturated part will not take positive values as long as the moisture front has not reached the phreatic level, or, in the case of a profile with a free-draining lower boundary, it is not saturated at the base. In other cases, the appearance of positive values of the pressure head produces incorrect values for the inflow rate q.     

低温水入渗条件下土壤水分温度动态变化

自制土槽试验装置,室内模拟低温水在河岸带土壤中非饱和入渗的过程。以填装中细砂为研究对象,进行了3种不同水头下的低温水入渗试验,对低温水在土壤中的入渗过程和水分、温度时空动态作了连续监测,分析了水头对入渗参数、水分场与温度场的影响规律。试验结果表明:在相同时间内,入渗水头越高,湿润锋垂直(水平)运移距离越大,垂直湿润锋的运移速度随入渗时间的增加有逐渐减少的趋势,最后逐渐趋于稳定;水头5 cm作用时入渗率波动较大,稳定时间大于水头25 cm和45 cm作用时土壤达到稳定入渗率所需的时间;入渗水头越高,平均温度下降越快,温度场也更快地达到相对稳态,水头25 cm在低温水入渗420 min后基本上达到稳态,水头45 cm在240 min后基本达到稳态。     

50年来华北平原降水入渗补给量时空分布特征研究

针对华北平原水文地质条件复杂,地下水开发利用程度高,地下水位埋深和包气带岩性在时间和空间上差异大的特点,基于大量钻孔和地下水位监测资料,将华北平原划分为4个水文地质单元,以埋深7 m作为降水入渗稳定点,根据各分区的水文地质条件对钻孔岩层赋予入渗系数值,应用加权平均法求得华北平原20世纪60年代、80年代和21世纪初的降水入渗系数分布图.利用华北平原1956-2008年水资源四级区逐月降水量数据,求得华北平原20世纪60年代、80年代和21世纪初各分区单元的降水入渗量.结果表明,50多年来华北平原降水量呈减少的趋势,降水入渗系数呈增加的趋势,降水入渗量呈增加的趋势.3个年代的降水入渗量分别是118.86×108,147.91× 108和174.33×108 m3.     

卫生填埋场防渗层工作性能的数值模型研究

粘土衬垫的防渗性能和吸附阻滞性能对卫生填埋场防渗系统工作性能有着重要影响。通过建立一维对流-弥散模型,分析了渗透系数、扩散系数、入渗强度、吸附能力对渗漏量及衬垫击穿时间的影响。考虑实际工程的复杂性,建立能反映土体分层、土体非均质性、地下水运动及宏观弥散等复杂因素影响的污染物运移二维分析模型,并对各参数的敏感性进行分析。计算结果表明,保持填埋场在低渗滤液水位下运行,对提高衬垫的防渗效果及耐久性有重要意义;受材料本身性质、施工质量等因素的影响,粘土衬垫的渗透系数变异性往往较大,渗透系数提高一个数量级时,衬垫击穿时间显著缩短;渗透系数恒定时,衬垫击穿时间与材料阻滞因子成线性变化关系;地下水分布及运动情况对污染物运移及分布有重要影响,地下水位越低,竖向入渗越明显,入渗区下部土体的吸附性能发挥越充分,到达地下水及下部土体的污染物浓度越低。