| Abstract: | Similarity and scaling theory are applied to soil physics, specifically to several parameters of unsaturated soil water movement. Following a dimensional analysis of Richards' equation, a mechanical similarity criterion of the hydraulic parameters is developed. Dimensionless factors which conform to assumptions of kinematic and dynamic mechanical similarity in the flow system are converted to relations using the scale factor a derived under the assumption of geometric similarity. As an example, the infiltration process is assessed through scaling of the parameters in Philip's equation, using experimental data from double-ring infiltration measurements at 54 locations in a study catchment as the scaling test. |
