Quantification of wetting front movement under the influence of surface topography
Xuefeng Chu A C , Xinhua Jia B and Yang Liu A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108, USA.
B Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: xuefeng.chu@ndsu.edu
Soil Research 56(4) 382-395 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR17071
Submitted: 25 February 2017 Accepted: 22 December 2017 Published: 20 March 2018
Abstract
Soil surface topography affects fundamental hydrologic processes, such as infiltration and soil water percolation. Topographic variations potentially alter both the magnitude and directions of unsaturated flow. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of surface topography on wetting front moving patterns under different rainfall and soil conditions through combined experimental and numerical modelling studies. Specifically, laboratory-scale infiltration and unsaturated flow experiments and HYDRUS-2D modelling were conducted for different topographic surfaces, rainfall intensities, and soil types. The simulated and observed wetting front distributions were compared and evaluated. Two different stages were observed: topography-dominated two-dimensional flow and uniform one-dimensional flow. A uniformly distributed wetting front was eventually achieved although soil surfaces had dissimilar topographic characteristics. However, the timing or duration to reach such a uniform flat wetting front varied, mainly depending on surface topography, rainfall characteristics, and soil hydraulic properties. The findings from this study are important to better understand the mechanism of topography-controlled unsaturated flow, wetting front movement, and overland flow generation, and to further improve modelling of soil water flow and transport processes under such complex conditions across different scales.
Additional keywords: HYDRUS, surface roughness, unsaturated flow, vadose zone.
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