Advances in Moisture Migration in Vadose Zone of Dryland and Recharge Effects on Groundwater Dynamics

The vadose zone is the zone in between the land surface and above the groundwater table at vertical profile with partial water saturation and under the unsaturation condition, which constitutes the connections among atmospheric water, surface water and groundwater. Soil moisture migration in the vadose zone is a rather complicate process, which controls the rates of groundwater depletion and recharge, and has close hydraulic connections with highly frequent water transfers on the interfaces among the irrigation farmland, sand dunes, wetlands, lakes, and other landscape types. Recent development on soil moisture migration simulations and the application of tracer techniques, geophysical techniques and other geological methods in the vadose zone research, the factors affecting soil moisture migration and groundwater recharge,and soil moisture migration effects on moisture exchange between different landscapes were reviewed in this paper. Several suggestions on the future research were presented here: ① An intense field observation and research database should be initiated and constructed to determine the soil hydraulic parameters, and quantify the influence of moisture migration in vadose zone on the groundwater recharge; ② The proposed observations and researches should learn from the “Critical Zone Observatory”, and focus on the coupling of the soil moisture migration, solute transport and groundwater recharge.