Hydraulic conductivity and water retention in peat soils

Evidence that piezometers vent gas from peat soils and implications for pore-water pressure and hydraulic conductivity measurements

Entrapped gas bubbles in peat can alter the buoyancy, storativity, void ratio and expansion/contraction properties of the peat. Moreover, when gas bubbles block water-conducting pores they can significantly reduce saturated hydraulic conductivity and create zones of over-pressuring, perhaps leading to an alteration in the magnitude and direction of groundwater flow and solute transport. Some pr...

simultaneous scaling of soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions

abstract scaling methods, which are based on similar media theory, are used to simplify the statistic description of soil spatial variations. to simulate the water flow in heterogeneous soils, simultaneous scaling of soil hydraulic functions, including soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions, is highly desirable. in the similar media theory, the simultaneous scalin...

Hydraulic conductivity in upland blanket peat: measurement and variability

A key parameter used in wetland hydrological and landform development models is hydraulic conductivity. Head recovery tests are often used to measure hydraulic conductivity, but the calculation techniques are usually confined to rigid soil theory. This is despite reports demonstrating the misapplication of rigid soil theory to non-rigid soils such as peats. Although values of hydraulic conducti...

An easily installable groundwater lysimeter to determine water balance components and hydraulic properties of peat soils

A simple method for the installation of groundwater lysimeters in peat soils was developed which reduces both time and financial effort significantly. The method was applied on several sites in the Rhinluch, a fen peat land 60 km northwest of Berlin, Germany. Over a two-year period, upward capillary flow and evapotranspiration rates under grassland with different groundwater levels were measure...

Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Fractal-Textured Soils