Weighting the differential water capacity to account for declining hydraulic conductivity in a drying coarse-textured soil
C. D. Grant A and P. H. Groenevelt B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
B School of Environmental Sciences, Alexander Hall, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.
C Corresponding author. Email: cameron.grant@adelaide.edu.au
Soil Research 53(4) 386-391 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR14258
Submitted: 16 September 2014 Accepted: 20 January 2015 Published: 24 June 2015
Abstract
Water availability to plants growing in coarse-textured soils during a drying cycle relies on the declining abilities of the soil to release water (differential water capacity) and to deliver it to the plant (unsaturated hydraulic conductivity) under varying evaporative demand. In this context, the availability of water can be quantified using the concept of the integral water capacity, IWC, in which the differential water capacity is weighted by means of a restrictive hydraulic function before integrating. We argue here that the diffusivity is an appropriate component of the restrictive hydraulic function, which leads to the employment of the so-called ‘matric flux potential’ (which we propose to re-name as the ‘matric flux transform’). As the starting point to apply the diffusivity function, we choose the inflection point of the water-retention curve drawn on semi-log paper, which, for the Groenevelt–Grant equation, occurs at a matric head, h, of precisely k0 metres. An illustrative example of the procedures is provided for a coarse-textured soil, which reveals that the restrictive function may not be sufficiently restrictive for all cases. We therefore apply an additional weighting coefficient to account for varying sensitivity of different plants to hydraulic restrictions.
Additional keywords: diffusivity, Groenevelt–Grant equation, hydraulic conductivity, integral water capacity, matric flux potential, matric flux transform, soil-water availability, weighting function.
References
Chahal SS (2010) Evaluation of soil hydraulic limitations in determining plant-available water in light-textured soils. PhD Thesis, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, SA, Australia.Czyż EA, Dexter AR (2012) Plant wilting can be caused either by the plant or by the soil. Soil Research 50, 708–713.
| Plant wilting can be caused either by the plant or by the soil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Czyż EA, Dexter AR (2013) Influence of soil type on the wilting of plants. International Agrophysics 27, 385–390.
| Influence of soil type on the wilting of plants.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
de Jong van Lier Q (2014) Revisiting the S-Index for soil physical quality and its use in Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo 38, 1–10.
| Revisiting the S-Index for soil physical quality and its use in Brazil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
de Jong van Lier Q, Metselaar K, van Dam JC (2006) Root water extraction and limiting soil hydraulic conditions estimated by numerical simulation. Vadose Zone Journal 5, 1264–1277.
| Root water extraction and limiting soil hydraulic conditions estimated by numerical simulation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dexter AR, Czyż EA, Richard G (2012) Equilibrium, non-equilibrium and residual water: Consequences for soil water retention. Geoderma 177–178, 63–71.
| Equilibrium, non-equilibrium and residual water: Consequences for soil water retention.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Elrick DE, Reynolds WD, Tan KA (1989) Hydraulic conductivity measurements in the unsaturated zone using improved well analyses. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation 9, 184–193.
FAO (1992) ‘Irrigation Water Management: Training Manual No. 6—Scheme irrigation water needs and supply.’ Prepared by C Brouwer, JPM Hoevenaars, BE van Bosch (International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, ILRI) and N Hatcho, M Heibloem (FAO Land and Water, Development Division) (FAO: Rome) Available at: www.fao.org/docrep/s2022e/s2022e07.htm
Gardner WR (1960) Dynamic aspects of water availability to plants. Soil Science 89, 63–73.
| Dynamic aspects of water availability to plants.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gardner WR, Nieman RH (1964) Lower limit of water availability to plants. Science 143, 1460–1462.
| Lower limit of water availability to plants.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:STN:280:DC%2BC3cvjslyquw%3D%3D&md5=024c3eb933f62485356434619dbfcbedCAS | 17807850PubMed |
Grant CD, Groenevelt PH, Robinson NI (2010) Application of the Groenevelt–Grant soil water retention model to predict the hydraulic conductivity. Australian Journal of Soil Research 48, 447–458.
| Application of the Groenevelt–Grant soil water retention model to predict the hydraulic conductivity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Groenevelt PH, Grant CD (2004) A new model for the water retention curve that solves the problem of residual water contents. European Journal of Soil Science 55, 479–485.
| A new model for the water retention curve that solves the problem of residual water contents.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Groenevelt PH, Grant CD, Semetsa S (2001) A new procedure to determine soil water availability. Australian Journal of Soil Research 39, 577–598.
| A new procedure to determine soil water availability.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Groenevelt PH, Grant CD, Murray RS (2004) On water availability in saline soils. Australian Journal of Soil Research 42, 833–840.
| On water availability in saline soils.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
IASH-Unesco (1969) Water in the unsaturated zone. In ‘Proceedings of the Wageningen Symposium. Studies and Reports in Hydrology’. Vol. 1. (Eds PE Rijtema, H Wassink) p. 525. (International Association of Scientific Hydrology: Gentbrugge; UNESCO: Paris)
Kirchhoff GR (1894) ‘Vorlesungen über mathematische Physik. IV: Theorie der wärme.’ Released by M Planck. (BG Teubner Publisher: Leipzig, Germany)
Klute A (1952) A numerical method for solving the flow equation for water in unsaturated materials. Soil Science 73, 105–116.
| A numerical method for solving the flow equation for water in unsaturated materials.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaG3sXhsl2mtQ%3D%3D&md5=1bf74dbdc28a26f081570ca95756b5abCAS |
Leij FJ, Sciortino A, Dane JH (2007) Analytical solutions to evaluate the stream tube approach for field-scale modelling of evaporation. Soil Science Society of America Journal 71, 289–297.
| Analytical solutions to evaluate the stream tube approach for field-scale modelling of evaporation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2sXjsVSrtbw%3D&md5=4eb6d8c10ec992c517346d0ab3f40337CAS |
Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2011) The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 15, 1577–1600.
| The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Metselaar K, de Jong van Lier Q (2007) The shape of the transpiration reduction function under plant water stress. Vadose Zone Journal 6, 124–139.
| The shape of the transpiration reduction function under plant water stress.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nguyen DN (2012) Plant-availability of water in soils being reclaimed from the saline-sodic state. PhD Thesis, School of Agriculture, Food & Wine, University of Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Passioura JB, Cowan IR (1968) On solving the non-linear diffusion equation for the radial flow of water to roots. Agricultural Meteorology 5, 129–134.
| On solving the non-linear diffusion equation for the radial flow of water to roots.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Philip JR (1968) Steady infiltration from buried point sources and spherical cavities. Water Resources Research 4, 1039–1047.
| Steady infiltration from buried point sources and spherical cavities.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Philip JR (1988) Infiltration of water in soil. ISI Atlas of Science: Plants and Animals 1, 231–235.
Raats PAC (1970) Steady infiltration from line sources and furrows. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 34, 709–714.
| Steady infiltration from line sources and furrows.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Raats PAC (1971a) Steady infiltration from point sources, cavities and basins. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 35, 689–694.
| Steady infiltration from point sources, cavities and basins.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Raats PAC (1971b) Some properties of flows in unsaturated soils with an exponential dependence of the hydraulic conductivity upon the pressure head. Journal of Hydrology 14, 129–138.
| Some properties of flows in unsaturated soils with an exponential dependence of the hydraulic conductivity upon the pressure head.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rijtema PE (1969) Soil moisture forecasting. ICW Report No. 513. Instituut voor Cultuurtechniek en Waterhuishouding, Wageningen. University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Ritchie (1981) Soil water availability. Plant and Soil 58, 327–338.
| Soil water availability.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Shaykewich CF, Stroosnijder L (1977) The concept of matric flux potential applied to simulation of evaporation from soil. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 25, 63–82.
ten Berge HFM, Metselaar K, Stroosnijder L (1987) Measurement of matric flux potential: a simple procedure for the hydraulic characterization of soils. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 35, 371–384.
Tinker PB (1976) Roots & water: Transport of water to plant roots in soil. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 273, 445–461.
| Roots & water: Transport of water to plant roots in soil.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
