simulation of neutral and non-sorptive breakthrough curves using soil hydraulic parameters

solute transport processes are affected by soil pore water velocity distribution. pore size distribution, which can be used to infer pore water velocity distribution, can be estimated from a soil water retention curve (n). in this study, a solute breakthrough curve was simulated using soil hydraulic parameters in four different soils. to evaluate the proposed model, predictions were compared to that of the measured soil water characteristics and solute breakthrough data. a breakthrough curve contains two soil hydraulic parameters, one relating to pore size distribution (n), obtained from the soil water retention curve, and pore connectivity (m). in this study, m was in the range of -2 to -5. the silt content of the soil can play an important role in determining pore connectivity, so an equation is proposed for the relationship between soil silt content and pore connectivity.